And from the point of view of party actors, name recognition is one of the many things they may take into account when assessing the candidates. In my view, it's one that should receive zero weight: Whatever it's worth in the primaries and caucuses, it's certain that after the convention any nominee will be equally well-known. But the issue isn't what I'd do; it's what actual real-world party actors value, and it's certainly possible some of them do believe that a candidate already known to the public before the campaign has some advantages.