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.
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?