Posted on 08/31/2007 5:41:48 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Fred Thompson has been acting like he has all the time in the world to get his campaign going, with his aides and advisers saying they wanted to get a first-class organization humming before the “Law & Order” actor steps out for his close-up.
One adviser, seeking to calm down an excitable reporter, even pointed out that “there will be two World Series” before the 2008 election.
But in fact Thompson – who plans to travel the country with his family in a luxury bus emblazoned with the words “Security, Unity, Prosperity” -- is in a race against time that even some of his core advisers admit he has a chance of losing.
Thompson had raised only a moderate amount of money – below his advisers’ expectations – when he finally filed his first financial statement with the Internal Revenue Service at the end of July.
The excuse was that donors were staying on the sidelines till he made it official.
Now Thompson needs the cash spigot to begin gushing as soon as he appears Thursday at Des Moines’ Polk County Convention Center. He needs to swiftly validate the premise of his campaign, which is that there’s pent-up demand among Republican donors and activists for some alternative to Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.
So Thompson’s deadline is not Election Day 2008, or even the January nominating contests.
The make-or-break date for his campaign is Sept. 30 – the Federal Election Commission cut-off for the next financial report. That document, which must be filed by Oct. 15, will determine Thompson’s fate. If he looks weak, he is unlikely to get the money, endorsements and grass-roots support that he’ll need to pull off his Houdini act, insiders say.
It amounts to a three-week, do-or-die sprint, and even Thompson does not claim to be a sprinter.
Critics in both parties had suggested that Thompson might try to game the system by not formally launching till Oct. 1 in order to avoid the third-quarter disclosure requirement.
But a Thompson official tells Politico: “The Thompson committee will file a disclosure report with the FEC on Oct. 15 covering all money raised and spent through Sept. 30.”
'We're prepared'
Thompson’s challenge is all the greater because he’s dallied for so long that he won’t get a honeymoon.
His advisers are convinced the press will unleash a blizzard of skeptical and hostile coverage to punish him for taking a nontraditional route to his candidacy.
People close to the campaign say a critical question is whether it was really necessary to begin campaigning two years before the election.
“Look, history could be written, and we got in too late,” said one close Thompson adviser. “We’re prepared for that. Or history could be written and we blew the whistle on this two-year project, and we can do it shorter and faster, and be the guys that end this madness.”
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), who was among the leaders in the House to push Thompson into the race, said Thompson's announcement of an announcement Thursday will provide a needed spark.
"It allows us to go ahead and firm up all these commitments from people who have said, 'If he runs I'm with him,'" Wamp said in a telephone interview from Tennessee after getting off a conference call with Thompson supporters on Thursday.
Wamp, who took a turn firing up supporters on the call, dismissed questions that Thompson's wait had harmed his prospects, but acknowledged that some Republicans had held back this summer.
"[The delay] caused certain people in grass roots and fundraising to say, 'I want a commitment,'" he said. "Well, now a commitment has taken place."
The pressure's on
Still, Thompson’s late money start, and his seeming acknowledgment in an interview with Politico.com last weekend that his summer cash haul had been disappointing, puts intense pressure on him to shake the money tree ferociously in September.
Thompson will hold a fundraiser in Chattanooga on Sept. 10, but other events are in the early states have yet to materialize. Thompson won’t raise cash in Iowa and the chairmen of the New Hampshire and South Carolina GOP said they had yet to hear any word about fundraising in their states.
Thompson is still interviewing consultants and aides and does not yet have a fundraising infrastructure in the early primary states.
“There is nobody here to do it,” said South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson. “And a good fundraiser will cost you 10 grand a month.”
Thompson’s need to ramp up his money machine is urgent, Dawson said. “When you come in with $3.5 million, you’ve opened yourself up to get pounded,” he observed, referring to the amount of money Thompson raised in June.
But Dawson emphasized that Palmetto State GOP voters were still undecided on a presidential pick.
“Hillary just scares the hell out of them down here. ‘Who can beat her’ is the question I get asked at every gas pump. Who can throw the Hail Mary and wield the veto pen.”
Thompson will underscore his independence from the rest of the field by appearing next Wednesday on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on the same night that the other GOP candidates are appearing on a Fox News debate moderated by Chris Wallace in New Hampshire.
On a conference call for reporters yesterday, Thompson political director Randy Enwright sketched the rest of the roll-out plans, which include “a grass-roots-oriented tour that will go to Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina.
“There will be a second tour that will be the tail end of next week, the 13th through the 15th. We’ll spend several days in Florida and end up in Tennessee for a welcome home party for the senator in his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., on the 15th.”
Jim Mills, the spokesman for Friends of Fred Thompson, said the organization has “great confidence that once the American people truly get to know Fred Thompson, they will be quite impressed with his life story and his intellect and his passion, and his seriousness for solving some of the big problems.
“This is a mature adult who has a sense of humor and can be self-effacing and truly loves to mix it up with real people,” Mills said. “Fred Thompson is going to surprise some people how engaged he is on some very serious issues.”
I saw that somewhere. What a real airhead she is.
BTW, you've got mail.
Agreed...my enthusiasm has cooled considerably.
But, if he gets into the race, I will be energized, and I think everyone else will as well.
Can he win? I am not sure. His response to Michael Moore a couple months ago was lively, spunky, and brilliant.
Some of his actual speeches, on the other hand, not so much. We will see. If he could do his web performance in speeches, he would kick butt.
Don’t go wobbly on us - he’ll be fine. Momentum is easily recaptured now that the slow summer is over.
You are so weak - FEAR THE FRED. Don’t dishonor Western PA.
If it's okay I think I'll not believe you.
Hunter held a $100 a head fundraiser in Houston on Tue at the 'Taste of Houston' and a freeper who was in attendance said he'd estimate the attendance at 75-100. That would be $10,000 or most likely less. He held a press conference at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine a few days ago and only one reporter and one tv station showed. He was at TCU in Fort Worth, at a VFW meeting in Houston on Tuesday after his fundraiser and no publicity at all of each of those events. He has no organization in place to run a national campaign. How in heck can he expect to win much less organize and govern if he won.
That's not to discredit him as a person or what he stands for but just the reality of the situation. Not everyone that attempts or thinks he's the person to be President is always cut out or fit to do so, most aren't.
>I can only guess he is trying to set himself apart from the rest of the clowns by not being seen in stage with them.>
Yup. Spoken like a true Fredhead. Either he holds himself above them all, or he isn’t ready to tip his hand.
How much longer can you keep your powder dry?
I thought he did not have to disclose until December since he waited until Sept. 6????
I never heard him say, or read anywhere that HE said he'd announce on Sept. 4th. Fred has now said that Sept 6th is the day. I'll go with what HE said.
ROTFL! Like Her Heinous working long hours in the Senate did ANYTHING to help our country in general or our soldiers in particular?
If you want to see blind obedience or hero worship, visit a Ron Paul or Mitt Romney thread. We Fredheads merely wish for a competent, plain-talking, articulate, conservative candidate to face Hillary/Obama next Fall.
I am aware of the shortcomings, but I am not responsible for them. All I can do is report the complaints I receive, and I do that. But I do think that the main problem is that the leftwing MSM will not cooperate with the campaign.
Yes, the paltry $100 a head infuriates me. This man is worth diamonds, so $1000 a head would not be too much to ask. I would pay it in a heartbeat.
Yep, spoken like a true Hunter supporting moonbat. How much longer can you keep supporting your vanity candidate?
Just look where he’s from, and read what he posts.
He’s, obviously, a rooty or mitty troll.
I definitely read a letter supposedly written by FDT on FR, asking to be included in the Sept. 5 debate if he had declared by then. Then one day it was all over FR that he would announce at 4:30 that very afternoon. I know that now he has said it would be announced 9/6. So your guess is as good as mine. We shall see what we shall see.
In other words, when President (of Fantasy Land) Hunter is a complete and total failure, you'll blame the media or maybe his political enemies for not cooperating with him as well.
Here's a radical idea. How about Duncan actually overcomes these 'leftwing MSM' and 'opponents' that 'will not cooperate with his campaign' and takes responsiblity for his own actions?
“Keep your powder dry” is standard hold your water with Fred. Fredheads have amazing bladders! :)
I am aware of the shortcomings, but I am not responsible for them.
Fred is stepping out and we’ll see how he performs. He has less time since he didn’t join the fray until late in the game. Thus he must have his organization in place, plans laid out, finances must come in rapidly or in very short order he’ll be stagnant or on the downward path like McCain. If that happens it will be down to Romney vs. Giuliani.
Please, when you figure it out, let us all know, would ya'?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.