Romney did such an effective job building the best Republican organization in the Hawkeye State that two other GOP candidates, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain, blinked at the thought of challenging him at the Iowa straw poll, leaving that event to him and to second-tier Republican hopefuls.
Polling in Iowa and New Hampshire currently shows Romney leading in both states, with Thompson trailing badly.
In Iowa, Romney generally draws around 30 percent in polls of likely caucus attendees, while Giuliani and Thompson fight it out for second, drawing in the low to mid-teens. In New Hampshire, Romney gets the support of about 30 percent of primary voters, while Giuliani is about 10 points back and McCain and Thompson battle it out for third, often in the low teens.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/09/how_thompson_hurt_his_own_pros.html
In delaying his entry into the Republican race, Thompson has looked indecisive and weak. He has lost potential supporters and contributors to other campaigns. And he has limited the strategic options of his campaign. http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2007/09/how_thompson_hurt_his_own_pros.html
I think he might make a fine POTUS.
After 8 years of training from FRed. LOL
I hear a peculiar high-pitched sound ... cant quite place it ..
Oh, yeah, It’s the Romney supporters whistling past the graveyard.
We'll see how he's doing a week from today.
Nothing has changed. Romney is still roadkill, no matter how much money he spends.
The juggernaut call Fred Thompson is about to hit the tracks, and not much in the way to stop it once it begins. Romney will just be a speed bump, like the others.
JFK waited until January 1960 to announce. The only ones saying September is too late for Fred are the ones who are afraid he will.
Just like the dems and the MSM everybody is scared of slow walking slow talking Fred. We’ll just have to wait and see won’t we.
Meanwhile, Romney supporters have shoveled out millions of dollars and all they have to show for it is good numbers in Iowa and NH. Thompson’s supporters have huge amounts of cash waiting to donate, and while Romney supporters have been tapped, Thompson will post huge numbers in the coming months. Thompson will have momentum going into the busy part of the campaign, while Romney wasted huge sums in the summer months when no one was watching.
Romney proved that tossing bales of money from a helicopter in a state with no opposition can raise your polling numbers substantially.
I’ll wait for the real campaign.
Oh, and it’s going to be between Mitt and Fred, no doubt.
If Thompson fails to get the nomination and ultimately win the Presidency, I doubt if it will be because of strategic mistakes. Bush beat Gore and Bush beat Kerry by very close decisions. But it was not because of failed Democrat strategies, but because Bush did a better job of making a connection with the American people on level beyond simply the political level. The same argument could be made for Clinton beating Dole. The criminal and scoundrel Clinton connected better than Dole. I have some hopes that Thompson when given the spotlight that an announced candidacy affords will make a connection with the GOP and that ever decreasing group of swing voters that have decided the last two elections. My gut feeling is that Hillary will probably not make any strategic mistakes, that the writer of this article could wax on endlessly about, but whether she can make any connection with those swing voters, that really is the BIG question, isn’t it?
I tend to be skeptical of anything Rothenberg produces.
Pure verbal "kool-aid".
I think Kerry and Gore had pretty big organizations, too, didn’t they?
Hunter is going to win. The RINOS can fight it out to see who he picks to be his secretary of the interior decorating.
Romney has run a very good campaign so far...and its too early to tell if Fred Thompson’s bucking the new system will pay off, or cause him to implode politically.
All the more reason to get behind Fred and push him over the top. But I agree that he has to kick his campaign in the butt and get it rolling hard and fast.
Romney probably is lighting candles and making offerings to the political god altar for keeping Thompson out for so long. Thompson’s delay solidified Romeny’s overall hold on IA and NH. Romney is about to overtake Thompson in 2nd place.
In still predict in the end the big early states will put Giuliani over the top.
Romney probably is lighting candles and making offerings to the political god altar for keeping Thompson out for so long. Thompson’s delay solidified Romeny’s overall hold on IA and NH. Romney is about to overtake Thompson in 2nd place.
In still predict in the end the big early states will put Giuliani over the top.