Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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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 ...
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Hunter isn't making any friends with you as a supporter.
"Federal campaign law requires broadcasters to give all candidates equal time on the airwaves. That rule applies to entertainment programs like "Law & Order," meaning stations which run the show would be required to give other GOP candidates a like amount of prime time television exposure.
With as many as a dozen or more Republican candidates competing for the nomination, that would be prohibitively expensive.
"As a practical matter, [the television stations] would in all likelihood have to pull all of the Fred Thompson shows for the duration of his candidacy," said Andrew Jay Schwartzman, president of the Media Access Project."
More:
Thompson has already announced that he will not be returning to Law and Order in September, and it would seem likely that many TV stations will not be running movies in which he has appeared once his candidacy becomes official and he is legally qualified.
Therefore, I would say September is the answer everyone is looking for.
Bookmarking for November 2008 retrospective when Fred wins.
Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
WARNING: If you want to join, be aware that this ping list is EXTREMELY active.
I guess the writer knows based on the number of times he has run for the office.
God what a moron!
I don’t speak for Hunter, trisham. I am free and over 21. I have my own opinions.
Me, too.
I think we should all ignore any campaigning, polls, debates until 3 months before the election.
It’s to the point of stupidity that we start two years before an election.
Whatever. Fred will be POTUS in 2009.
There is no doubt in my mind that Thompson missed the crest.
He’s still, though, one of the most viable candidates, imho, to conservatives.
I don’t know why he waited so long.
This idiotic race to move all the primaries up to New Years eve, and to frontload everything to pick the nominee based on a few states....it's ridiculous.
Anything Thompson can do to reverse this trend is a good thing.
They are all suffering from premature electioneering.
“I think Fred may be rethinking whether he even wants the job. You can’t have a winning candidate who doesn’t have the conviction to run. That’s what all this indecision says to me. Fred can talk a good game but he doesn’t have the stones to jump in.”
I’m wondering if he make a “not-running” announcement, despite his repeated comments on Hannity to the contrary.
We don’t gnat slap adverse Fredheads on Hunter threads. To the contrary, they are stimulating and we welcome them.
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If I were Hunter I'd be embarrassed. The way some of his supporters behave is tacky. It makes him look like, well, someone who would have them as fans.
Oh, I get it. You're actually a Fred supporter, trying to make Hunter look bad. Got it.
Al Gore hasn’t announced yet either.
Reid Wilson takes on blind faith the heads of both the RNC and DNC can ‘dictate’ how an election cycle is going to run.
The facts say otherwise. The average voter isn’t paying any attention to this way too early nonsense, much to the chagrin of both parties HQ dear leaders.
All thats being accomplished by this ridiculous ‘perpetual campaign’ nonsense is those running are going to set records for money spent on ‘the campaign’.
Thats it. Nothing has happened as a result of this year early starting gun thats made the race any clearer.
The time to evaluate who’s strategy was the best will be next year in 2008.
Not in August of 2007.
It amazes me that there seems to be a gratuitous assumption going around (which is the only way I know to describe it) that those Law & Order reruns will have to be pulled once Fred Thompson officially announces his candidacy.
Why?
I believe that in the 1970s there was some flap over a similar situation when Fred Grandy (The Love Boat's "Gopher") ran successfully for Congress. But even then, the claims against Grandy were highly tenuous, I thought (to put it as charitably as possible). Moreover, the idiotic "Fairness Doctrine"--in which these specious claims were grounded--has since gone the way of the stegasaurus.
So under what conceivable principle could others demand that the L&O reruns be pulled--while still being able to keep a straight face?
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