Posted on 08/16/2007 9:30:03 AM PDT by Plutarch
Fred Thompson's window of opportunity could hardly have been wider. His opponents were fatally flawed in the eyes of the socially conservative Republican base; he's well-known, can raise money, and speaks language that both Republicans and independents leaning right can embrace. Even thinking of entering the race put him above double digits in polls.
But, thanks to a number of missteps and opportunities his pseudo-campaign has failed to capitalize on, Thompson's window is now closed...
The Law & Order star, running a "testing the waters" committee, raised approximately $3.46 million in June after launching June 4th. The campaign's goal was $5 million raised in the same period. Missed expectations are not enough to doom a campaign, but Thompson's media team did little to dampen expectations when they released the report on the last day of July, even though they had to know for weeks that the numbers were lower than expected....
...Fred Thompson had his chance to make a splashy entrance into the race. In fact, he has had many chances to do something to impress political watchers and his fans on the right. Time and again, though, he has missed those opportunities. Instead of managing expectations and raising impressive sums, his campaign reported disappointingly low numbers. Instead of hiring a staff and sticking with it, his campaign has already been beset by turnover. Instead of serving as the conservatives' best hope, they are forced to make excuses as to why his positions are acceptable to them.
Every day he remains out of the race is another day of organizing and winning support lost. At some point, time simply runs out. Thompson has simply waited too long to take advantage of the good will, good fortune and good position that awaited him once he entered the race.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
I’d be careful chucking that kinda stuff around, especially with a tagline like yours.
Just sayin’
A candidate can ALWAYS declare he is running but REFUSE to take part in a debate. Happens all the time, often accompanied by the words "scheduling conflict".
Not debating is not the same as not running. At this point, Fred is still stuck on "not running".
And, FWIW, I wanted Thompson in the campaign because I think he has the best shot of appealing both to conservatives and moderates. This isn't personal. I just feel he's lost his chance to ride in on a tsunami of anticipation the way he could have done in June or early July. The ball was teed up for him and he chose not to swing. Maybe it is not too late but I fear that it is.
How long do top advisors and staffers wait around for the phone to ring before deciding to latch onto another candidate who has declared he's running? The longer he waits, the harder it will be to get the best people in his corner.
hm what do you think Fred’s been doing for the last month or so? he’s been in the hiring cycle, building a campaign apparatus. That argument about advisers waiting for the calls isn’t flying here. He’s been making those calls for the last month or so.
If this guy is looking for some early action he might go look up a chicken-plucking contest.
Are we there yet?? Are we there yet?? Are we there yet??
Shaddup already.
Got your letter today, Captain. Thanks a million. We’ll put it to good use, I promise.
All I need now is an address.
That may be so but how many are going to wait around for months while the boss makes up his mind? If I were a professional campaign organizer, I'd want to know the guy I'm working for is "all in" rather than just mulling it over. If he waits for everything to be perfectly arranged before he declares, it will be too late when he finally does.
A candidate should have a shell of support staff in place, then declares, then adds more staff as the campaigns builds up momentum. If he's still making calls while a dozen other candidates have their staffs in place, Fred is way behind. The pros don't stay on the sidelines long because they want to draw a paycheck as early as possible.
If there are two potential employers and one says "I can pay you right away. When can you start?" while the other says "I might have a really great job for you in another 2-3 months if I decide to go into business at all...", which one do you think most people will decide to work for?
I don’t think he’s waited too long - if he can live up to the hype - which peaked a month or so ago and now is turning to impatience.
He’s just setting the bar higher for himself...meaning he’s going to have to impress that much more in order to run away with this thing.
From what I’ve seen, he’s just not that type of candidate.
If he can communicate better than Romney - which would really surprise me, then I’ll support him.
Actually I am operating deep in side the CFR...
I am down to a case a day, what do you expect...
Thank you, you grace me with you praise..
Who’s Reid Wilson?
Some guy who’s afraid Fred’s gonna win.
Reid Wilson, an associate editor and writer for RealClearPolitics, formerly covered polls and polling for The Hotline, National Journal’s daily briefing on politics. Wilson’s work has appeared in National Journal, Hotline OnCall and the Arizona Capitol Times. He can be reached at reid@realclearpolitics.com.
The difference is I never claimed Tommy Thompson was unstoppable and destined to the GOP nominee -- unlike the loudmouths here who all insisted Condi Rice/George Allen/Fred Thompson had it in the bag before they even announced.
I didn’t even have to hold the envelope to my forehead for that one.
George Allen was governor of Virginia, nimrod. People, using the same line of reasoning that you used to justify backing Tommy Thompson, were backing Allen because he had the coveted ‘executive experience’. You could substitute ‘George Allen’ for ‘Tommy Thompson’ in your tagline and you would be uttering the same nonsense.
Class dismissed.
LOL
That was my thought, too. I've noticed that some older, maybe not so busy anymore, actors show up there from time to time. I'm sure the royalties help them, too.
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