Posted on 09/01/2007 1:23:05 PM PDT by Brices Crossroads
Reagan ended his Iowa campaign as nonchalantly as he had conducted it. On caucus day, he was home in Pacific Palisades, Calif. That night, while the votes were being counted, he went to a friend's house to see the film Kramer vs. Kramer. He learned of the results from a TV reporter who came to call. Reagan's second-place finish was a setback for John Sears, his highly touted strategist, who had kept his leading candidate out of the fray and especially out of Iowa. In August, Reagan led in the polls with 48% of the vote; Bush had 1%. Explained Sears: "It won't do any good to have Reagan going to coffees and shaking hands like the others. People would get the idea that he's an ordinary man like the rest of us."
(Excerpt) Read more at time.com ...
Notice the attacks on Reagan for being lazy and disengaged, refusing to debate. The same as the attacks on Fred. The Gipper was able to completely reverse the Iowa defeat in a matter of weeks. He came out swinging in New Hampshire and three weeks later, defeated Bush 51-29. And that was the old ball game.
Interesting piece of history.Thanks.
ping
Romney's bet his entire campaign on Iowa and New Hampshire. He has to win both, and win NH decisively, or he'll be "dead candidate walking".
An organization will only take you so far. You must have a candidate with whom the voters identify and one whom they trust. Mitt falls short on both scores which is why his organization will not save him (any more than Phil Gramm’s saved him in 1996 or Steve Forbes’ in 2000).
That is why, although Bush had a far superior organization than Reagan in New Hampshire and momentum from his Iowa win, Reagan clobbered him.
Its a new age for the primary season, but the MSM and the powers that be aren't quite getting it, but the major players are.
The thing is that information is exponentially more available now than then. We shall see. It’s probably diluting the impact of the debates thus far. Otherwise, you’d have seen Romney rising more on the national level and McCain falling more quickly than what he did. You’ll note 58% of the state watched that debate.
But then you make the point of Reagan snubbing Iowans. Who was it who refused to walk through the people and rode around in Iowa County Fair in a golf cart accompanied by his entourage? Who gave a very short speech and got out of town? Who skipped the Ames Straw Poll? Who skipped the Iowa debate? Who has yet to sign on for the debate in September? There’s the same pattern there that you saw in your piece of history...
I don’t know how much it will matter in this information age, but again, we shall see.
Read the article. The Eastern preppie candidate was behind 48-1 in August. The current eastern preppie candidate is leading by about 10 right now. My point is that his lead is not secure four months before the caucuses. Bush surged into a lead of 20 in New Hampshire after the Iowa caucuses, only to lose the state by 29.
Repeating the golf cart talking point from the mainstream media does not make Fred Thompson an elitist. Just like there is no way for you to make your man, Mitt, into a man of the people. That dog won’t hunt.
The Mitt cheering section ought to be very careful about not counting their chickens this early in the game. Those chickens can turn into crows pretty quickly.
Well, the point of the article was not eastern preppie. The point of the article was relating to the people of Iowa and hard work.
Romney has out-hustled pretty much every candidate in Iowa. Thompson has sat on the golfcart—so to speak—for a long time awaiting his coronation. He has allowed his status as Hollywood Thompson to carry his name to this point and has not made himself accessible.
That may well change. “Folksy” or not, who gives a rip when you fail to make an appearance until the awards ceremony.
I agree. With Florida going early on the primary date, I think that it will decide who the Rep nominee will be. I’m not much of a Guiliani supporter, but he is focusing on FL and that is a VERY smart strategy.
If “golf cart!” is the only thing you got, then you’re not much of a gnat today.
>>>>If “golf cart!” is the only thing you got, then you’re not much of a gnat today.<<<<
I see you skipped over the most relevant point I did mention and went back to join Hollywood on the golf cart.
Fair enough.
ahhh....we’re posting to each other on the same subject on different threads.
Well, see Hollywood’s opposition to a federal Marriage Amendment in a state that just had its marriage law overturned by an activist judge. Think Iowa conservatives are going to eat that one up?
Perhaps this doesn’t mean much but I’m in Iowa and I can say that almost to a person, everyone I know says they’re leaning to Fred. A couple of families I know that were Tancredo are saying they don’t think he can pull it off and they’re going Fred. A soft Democrat friend of mine today told me he is going to support Fred. It’s looking good for Fred.
No. The point of the article was that, even a 47 point lead in August is not secure if the Awards Ceremony (as you put it) is not until mid January. People do not vote for organizations; they vote for candidates, and they vote principally based upon issues and character. If a candidate has flip flopped on a number of issues, it calls into question his character. It makes him look slick and opportunistic. That can be a winning formula, but it usually works in the Democratic party, not this one. It is not too late for one more flip flop....on party registration.
Romney will make a fine VP.
Then he was on the Mickelson radio talk show for half an hour before he left for the GOP booth at the Fair.
He gave a great speech after the appearance at the GOP booth. I assume it was after the speech that he took the tour of the fair. The fact he used the golf cart probably had more to do with the time factor than any thing else. To criticize him for using a golf cart is grasping at straws looking for something to criticize.
He left from the DM airport around 5:00 pm.
All those around me during the speech were very favorably impressed.
How does that work with the FCC? Does FDT have a contract regarding the old L&O re-runs of shows he appeared in? Would USA network then be obligated to give every candidate equal time if he did spend more time looking a lot more like a candidate? Are there rules about this? I don't know...do you?
This does not surprise me, but I am glad to hear it from someone who is actually in Iowa. I think Fred is going to surge in Iowa between now and the caucuses. It is a state that is tailor made for him, a farm state with a lot of rural areas, not that different from Tennessee. Once that ads go up and Iowans get a taste of the flip flops of Romney, they will choose a real conservative and one who can win...Fred.
Ho Chi Kerry came in 1st and John Edwards second.
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