Posted on 08/02/2007 12:07:20 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Fred Thompson's fundraising for his budding presidential bid garnered lackluster reviews Tuesday, but one little-known town in Central Florida emerged as a financial bedrock: Plant City, hometown of former state House Speaker Johnnie Byrd.
Thanks to Byrd -- who rounded up his college-age daughters, wife, law partner, clients and friends -- Thompson received more donations from Plant City than from any other municipality in Florida, according to his first report as an unofficial candidate.
''I think Fred Thompson is the right man at the right time,'' said Byrd, who held one of the most powerful positions in state government from 2002 to 2004. ``He's the one we've been waiting for.''
Only $148,900 of the $3.4 million Thompson has raised came from Florida, typically one of the top sources of money for presidential contenders. A campaign aide noted that the report covers donations only through June 30, and Thompson made his Florida debut in July.
Some supporters had hoped the former Tennessee senator and actor would report $5 million in donations.
''Friend-raising is more important than fundraising early on,'' Byrd said. ``Once he officially gets in, the floodgates will open.''
A Miami Herald analysis found that two-thirds of the top Florida donors to President Bush have yet to write a check to a 2008 Republican contender. Another sign that the Republican primary in Florida is up for grabs: Thompson nearly tied the front-running candidate, Rudy Giuliani, in a recent Mason-Dixon poll.
The numbers may encourage Thompson to wage a competitive campaign in Florida, which will be the first big state to host a presidential primary in 2008. A longtime GOP strategist based in Tallahassee, Randy Enwright, was tapped one week ago to be Thompson's campaign manager.
Unlike the official presidential candidates, who have to disclose their donations every three months to the Florida Elections Committee, a potential candidate like Thompson only files twice a year with the IRS. His only Florida expense in June was $7,500 for catering at the Young Republican National Conference in Hollywood, where Thompson made his Florida debut on July 7.
is this some kind of a Perot attack....drawing attention away while someone should be going full bore?
we can beat Hitlery....
Ping!
Excellent point. I keep wondering why Thompson keeps waiting and waiting. If he wants to be serious about this, he really needs to declare soon.
That first sentence is a corker, isn’t it? $3.6 million for the campaign raised in something like 24 days in June, and the campaign got “lackluster reviews.” No agenda there.
You do know that, traditionally, and up until this year, campaigns declared in Sept.- Nov.? What’s the rush? He isn’t likely to declare in August because August is a dead political news month.
He has said something about it in almost every interview for the last several months. If you really want to know it isn’t hard to find out.
He didn’t start thinking about this until the draft Fred idea, months after others had declared. And months after Republicans were dissatisfied with who was running. He’s getting up to speed fast. He is doing really well thus far. You can’t turn your whole life on a dime.
This is a promising sign for Fred Thompson.
Contrary to popular belief, Newt also is running, and he is and has been adamant that he won’t participate in the circus spectacle we now have, which he says is demeaning to the presidency and to the country.
I don’t think Thompson shares those reasons (I could be wrong), but there you have it.
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