The mark scheme for each question is designed to reward candidates who make good progress towards a solution.

Like any other lobby, this one (the authors are speaking specifically here of Aipac) succeeds at the legislative level "due to its ability to reward legislators and Congressional candidates who support its agenda and to punish those who challenge it."

"The earlier process will reward candidates who truly have a succinct, credible, authentic and passionate message which can sustain itself over the long nature of the campaign," said Matthew Dowd, the chief strategist for Mr. Bush's re-election campaign in 2004.

In its current mood, some politicians said, the nation may reward candidates who appear a bit vulnerable: confessional politics may also be smart politics.

The major candidates' public messages on the stump, by contrast, were upbeat and optimistic, adhering to an Iowa tradition that rewards candidates who take the high road.

It would be treading on dangerous ground if it rewarded candidates with participation by trying to guess the fleeting trends in opinion polls.

With the passage of the first important gun-control law in 1968, the N.R.A. transformed itself into the prototype of the modern single-issue lobby, turning out dedicated supporters at the voting booth to reward or punish candidates based solely on their voting records on gun control.

His measure would lower contribution limits and adjust public matching funds to reward candidates who receive many smaller donations instead of a few big ones in the voluntary system.

What results is a system in which voters consistently reward candidates who promise change, but in which men like Tyson consistently reward those who preserve the pro-business status quo.

Some people believe she was defeated because of Republican crossover voting in Georgia's open primary election, which permits anyone from any party to vote in any party primary and "usually rewards moderate candidates and penalizes those outside the mainstream."