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 ...
Oh, good Lord. {shakes head in frustration}
Fred is doing the right thing, waiting until all these so-called ‘3rd tier’ candidates are weeded out, which IMO is about 98% of them!! From all parties! Fred is doing things the right way, the way they used to be done, and he’ll get the job done as President, the way they used to be done. Enough already with this ‘instant gratification’ business. No need to jump into the pool yet, not while it’s full of boneheads who pee in the water! ;-)
All he’s done so far is help the RINOs in the race as people sit back and wait for him.
Oh well, he writes nice essays.
“Anthrax Scare?” Did you hit the wrong checkmark there?
Fred Thompson will be the next president of the United States. Rudy McRomney is far too liberal for the republican party and Mike Huckabee is for open borders...so who does that leave? Exactly!!
I'm willing to give him a look along with anyone else except Rudy, who should be running as a Democrat, and McCain who is just too mentally unstable for the office, but I'm going to need to see some fire in the belly and willingness to work hard for the nomination. Because no matter who is the nominee, they are going to have to fight uphill against the Queen and her court.
So did the author criticize John Kerry for declaring in September back in 2004?
We shall see.
Probably not but then 2004 was many many many years ago and a whole different type of election. 2008 will be the ninth Presidential election I will vote in and they've all been different.
With so many states moving up their primaries--as each fights and tries to outdo the other by being earlier--delaying any longer makes little sense. With the current earlier primary system in place--the nominee will be selected by February.
no, everyone else got in too early.
Reid Wilson Has Not Waited Long Enough.
Talk about jumping the gun.
You don't understand. the old way is gone. The new Reality is The Apprentice President. The comtestant who raises the most money is given a rose and goes on to the next round.
No,,,,and even Ronald Reagan didn’t declare until November in 1979. But the primary system has been so greatly accelerated by competition between the states to be earlier—that any further delay is just plain wasting the precious time left until February, by which time the process will likely have selected a nominee.
We’re doooomed?
Gee—imagine you posting an article like this. Needless to say, I’m disregarding it.
Don’t you wish! LOL. There’s plenty of time. Patience Mr. Wilson. Patience.
I agree that he’s doing the right thing by waiting, if only to keep the fatigue level on the part of the voters down to a minimum. The earliest announcers will be the first to be dropped.
Nah, not by a long shot. But it is foolish not to have a Plan B. ;-)
I wonder about the motives of RCP. Are they MSM media? Regardless, the train has left the station with a lot of passengers, and Thompson is still organizing his staff. He has no substantial team. He has no substantial policy positions. He is NOT RONALD REAGAN who spent a decade running for President! I wish he were, but he isn’t. His money is all from Tennessee, which traditionally doesn’t swing the nation. I also don’t see his track record of having substantial influence in Congress. He needs to do something fast.
I so can’t wait for all these pundits to be proven wrong and end up looking like fools when Fred takes the Republican nomination.....and the the Presidency. ;)
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