Posted on 08/31/2007 6:24:51 AM PDT by jellybean
A daily round-up of Fred news.
Intriguing Announcement Day Sepculation about Fred Thompson There is some speculation that Fred Thompson may have an announcement surprise in his plans. Joe Lerner, over at National Review Online, has a piece out this morning speculating that Fred may be planning to name his Vice-Presidential running mate as he announces on Sept. 6! He never cites any sources, but it makes you wonder why he ever thought of such a thing unless he had heard the idea floated by someone. It is certainly intriguing to consider. Here is an excerpt from the piece:
There is one thing, however seemingly unlikely, that could explain the otherwise puzzling delay. What if Fred Thompson is preparing to announce his choice of vice president when he announces his candidacy next week?Craig Shirley notes in his authoritative book on Ronald Reagan’s 1976 presidential campaign that a non-incumbent candidate for president had never named his running mate prior to his nominating convention — until Reagan did so that year. Reagan chose moderate Pennsylvania senator Richard Schweiker as his running mate as a strategic move to alter the dynamics of his challenge to Gerald Ford. He did so several weeks before the convention, at a time when the outcome was still very much in question. The national media, no friend of Reagan’s, widely hailed the move as “bold” and “dazzling”.
The nominating calendar in 2008 is vastly different from 1976. In 1976, there were primaries and state conventions well into July, with Reagan and Ford trading victories and fiercely battling for uncommitted delegates at each stop along the way. This time around the nominee will be determined almost certainly by the slew of primaries on February 5, if not sooner. To have the same effect, a Republican candidate attempting to follow Reagan’s precedent in 2008 would need to name his running mate this December at the latest.
What if Ryan Sager wrote an article and didn't mention Fred? Would anyone even know?Fred Thompson's Endless Summer BY RYAN SAGER
August 31, 2007It's going to be June 5 all over again for the Fred Thompson campaign — as if the summer never even happened. At least that's what they hope.
What happened on June 5? That was the last time Mr. Thompson skipped a Republican debate in order to carve out his own TV niche, away from the 10 or so poor sops stuck up on stage with each other in front of actual voters and the glare of a skeptical press.
In fact, it's almost eerie. On June 5, Mr. Thompson skipped a debate in Manchester, N.H., at the height of the buzz about his potential candidacy — right after he announced a "testing the waters" committee — in favor of appearing on Fox News for a one-on-one with conservative talker (and Thompson fan) Sean Hannity. Next Wednesday, September 5, Mr. Thompson will skip **another** debate in Manchester, N.H., this time in favor of jetting out to Los Angeles to talk to Jay Leno, ahead of his Thursday Webcast announcement.
That's right, folks, an announcement. Not an announcement about announcing. Not an announcement about "testing the waters" in advance of someday thinking about announcing that he's announcing. An announcement. As Mr. Thompson's recently hired national political director put it on a conference call to supporters yesterday afternoon: "Fred Thompson will officially become a candidate for president of the United States."
It took him long enough.
Of course, from the Thompson camp's perspective — at least according to their initial thinking, eight or so staffs ago — there was precious little to be gained by wading into the presidential race before now. The summer months are slow. Americans aren't paying attention to politics. The Iowa Straw Poll happened, but Mayor Giuliani and Senator McCain of Arizona boycotted, so Mitt Romney's victory there was of little value.
The problem, though, as the newest Thompson staff may have begun to realize, is that while the public may have been tuned out, the pundits and the political activists were definitely tuned in. And Mr. Thompson's Hamlet act was wearing thin, beginning to do real damage to the campaign.
The Thompson organization already disclosed lackluster fund raising for June, when it took in roughly $3 million. It's also let on in recent days that July and August won't be so hot, either. Republican donors were already holding back this campaign season; a noncandidate who couldn't commit to the race wasn't doing much to get people's checkbooks flapping.
Down in Florida, which is likely to be decisive in this year's Republican primary, much of the damage may already be done. If leaders and donors in Jacksonville and other parts of the state being targeted by Mr. Thompson, such as the panhandle and the I–4 corridor, break against him and for Mr. Romney, it's hard to see how the former Tennessee senator and "Law & Order" actor can compete.
(Mr. McCain is essentially out of the race in Florida; he has no staff there and no future visits planned.)
Of course, Mr. Thompson may pull out of it. Donors and activists who needed a commitment, well, now they've got one. Mr. Thompson may be missing the next New Hampshire debate, but there's yet another coming up on September 27. As for Florida, Mr. Thompson has already announced a multiday "grassroots tour" of the state, right after he hits the traditional early three.
Still, it's hard to look back at the last three months and say that the Thompson campaign hasn't suffered for its sluggishness.
When Mr. Thompson skipped the first Republican debate, back on May 3 in California, the clever thing for pundits to say was that he won by staying away. It was, in many ways, true — but it was also the last time it would be. By the time June 5 rolled around, the staying-above-the-fray tactic was already starting to backfire. That night, Mr. Giuliani turned in a debate performance that pulled his campaign out of a tailspin brought on by his dismal answers to questions on abortion.
What if Mr. Thompson had been there to help that Rudy tailspin keep on spinning? What if he now were entering a two-man race for the Republican nomination (Giuliani vs. Thompson) as opposed to a two-man race to take on Mr. Giuliani (Thompson vs. Romney)? Perhaps the New Hampshire debate organizers should leave out an empty podium Wednesday night — a tombstone in memory of missed opportunities.
News: Thompson's Campaign Theme An aide to Fred Thompson tells me that the campaign has settled on its mantra: Security, Unity and Prosperity. Those words will be emblazoned on the side of a Big Ol' Fred bus that will tour the early primary states next week.
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By coming out with a definite date for announcing his officical camapign start up, he really pissed off many of his detractors. And they all happen to be Republicans. Lots of whining going on around FR too.
Go Fred go.
http://Vets4Fred.net It's time for Vets to sign up!
I kept sayin’ “they got nothin’” but now they’ve got even less. That’s what happens when you jump in too early, you find out the best horse isn’t even in the field yet....
The Mittwits seem to have decided on going with "he's too scared to debate", despite there being seven more debates already on the calendar, including two in New Hampshire.
The rabid wing of the Hunter supporters seem to be reviving their ill-founded attacks on illegal immigration.
In other words, they've got nothing so they're repeating old material.
They've got nothing and thats the way its gonna remain. Fred doesn't have an extensive paper trail of nuanced rhetoric. My one area of concern is immigration reform. His recent remarks indicate a stronger anti-amnesty stance and that is good. Overall, his eight years in the Senate did produce a solid conservative voting record. That is something he can run with.
Some conservative folks better start realizing, the main target remains Rudy Giuliani. We can't allow a liberal to get the GOP nomination. No ifs, ands or buts about it!
Fund Fred Day Yes, we’re launching what we would like to consider an official “Fund Fred Day”. Before we get into that, we have a few other announcements to make.
Let’s get started!
Now that Fred Thompson is taking his campaign to the next level, we here at Blogs for Thompson are gearing up to go to that level with him.
Over the past couple of months we’ve been rather quiet with our site. Our blogroll has grown tremendously, and we’ve continued to accept all bloggers who request to be added. But we haven’t done a whole lot beyond that.
That’s about to change. We’re getting ready to pump out a plethora of “e-activism” and we’d like to bring all of you along for the ride. Better yet, we would LOVE to see you join us in getting this ball rolling.
What are we up to? Well, over the next few weeks we will be firing up the following:
and much, MUCH more!
- Several blogosphere based pro-Fred Thompson contests
- Fredosphere blog carnivals
- State of the art Blogs for Thompson newsletters and e-mail chains
- Monthly “Fund Fred Days”
The first of these actions is the kick off of our new Fund Fred Day campaigns. This will be a monthly event starting in September. The day of this event has yet to be determined, however, we feel the kick off would be appropriate for Friday, September 7th, 2007.
The 7th of September will be Fred Thompson’s first full day as an official candidate. Plus, for many of us, it will be PAYDAY!!
So why not throw a couple of bucks into his campaign to get things started?
The money is just the first part of this campaign. Secondly, we want to use this monthly event as a way to bring the Fredosphere together for some “group backscratching”. You know… you scratch my back and I’ll scratch yours sort of thing.
To do this, we will open this post up and link to every blogger who links back to the post. All you have to do is write a quick post about Fund Fred Day, link to this post (or the post for that particular month, this being the one for September of course), and comment here. In return, we will add your blog to this post and come comment on your blog.
To get this started, I’ll throw in the first donation on September 7th. And I’ll donate every month after that as well. I personally commit to $20.00 per month from now until Fred wins the general next year.
What say you?
-Eric
I have a question about donating. I’ve donated twice in August. Every two weeks, which would put me after his declaring on Thursday. Would that donation count towards his primary campaign?
I thought there were limits on each phase, a limit for testing the waters phase, a limit for the primary, and a limit for the general election.
I might want to donate on Wednesday so it would go towards testing the water and that would allow me to give more during the primary season.
I noted your brave taking on of the rabid Hunterites on another thread. They want to talk about deportation, but Hunter is less than candid about deportation. Check his website, he talks about the border fence [which I agree with] but nothing about deportation.
I checked interviews on the subject and the one that I could find where a reporter pressed him to talk about more than the fence, he said it is possible to deport [no specifics] and when pressed further said “tell them to go home.” I think that is lame and non specific. If he has another answer he should put it on his website. Any thoughts?
He is a declared candidate, and can get specific about what he would do, but doesn’t.
Thanks. Seen it before, watching it again now. That was my first FredT video back earlier in 2007. Good stuff.
Check this one out:
Charlie Rose Roundtable Sept.20,2001
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-8488220643971012556&q=fred+thompson
There are only 2 campaign segments, the primary and the general.
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