Posted on 10/25/2007 9:07:19 PM PDT by Calpernia
Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign continues to have more departures than a Greyhound bus terminal.
Thompson personally hired Jim Mills, a highly respected Fox News producer, as his press spokesman. Two weeks later, after Thompson hired William Lacy as his campaign manager, Thompson fired Mills.
Mills gave up a hefty paycheck at Fox to join the Thompson campaign. He told friends he considered Thompson essential to the future of America. His firing outraged colleagues at Fox. Because Mills joined a campaign, his chances of being re-hired are diminished. He is still looking for a job.
J. T. Mastranadi, Thompson’s director of research, quit in horror after Thompson’s wife Jeri began taking attendance at campaign headquarters in McLean, Va., one late Friday afternoon. Jeri Thompson actually called staffers at home to ask where they were and why they should be paid.
“The younger ones thought they were going to lose their jobs,” a former staffer said. “The more established ones were offended and asked themselves, why do I need this? One asked if Jeri would be calling him at 1 a.m. to check up on him when he was doing campaign work.”
Despite that incident, Jeri, formerly with the Republican National Committee and Senate Republican Conference, is highly respected in Republican political circles.
“Message-wise, Jeri is great,” said a former staffer. “She understands him and how he is best presented. She is a very bright and a good political thinker.”
However, this week, Nelson Warfield, Thompson’s media consultant, left in disgust as well, Top advisor Mark Corallo quit previously.
Warfield was offended by Mills’ firing, Jeri Thompson’s meddling, and Thompson’s “lazy” approach to campaigning, according to one former staffer. Corallo left out of loyalty to Mills and dismay over what he considered Thompson’s mismanagement of the campaign.
Asked for comment, Thompson advisor Mary Matalin called a story about the departures “a very old item” that “very much mischaracterizes the campaign effort.”
She said Lacy was hired “to pull together a first class professional operation commensurate with the task at hand, namely, getting the best conservative elected, which is the only way to unite the party, which is the only path to beating the liberals next fall.”
Matalin said Lacy “has in fact accomplished his mandate above and beyond what anyone thought possible after the other money throwing campaigns vacuumed through the political community.” Lacy “is doing far more with are fewer and less paid staff who are all there because they believe in Fred,” Matalin said.
Many staffers who have quit or were fired felt Thompson misled them about the energy he would put into the campaign. While Thompson shows up at fund raisers, he leaves quickly and doesn’t spend much time making calls to raise money.
“That’s just distasteful to him, or else he’s busy doing other things,” a former staffer said.
Early on, Thompson told campaign aides he was not going to be frenetic. As they understood it, that meant he would not pop in and out of states. Instead, he would spend three or four days in a state like Iowa, for example.
“We thought he would be going from town to town, spending two hours at a time and talking to people,” a former staffer said. “Instead, he gets out of a bus and wears a baseball hat. The reporters laugh about it,” he said.
Often, Thompson attends a few events a week.
“Instead of an all-out campaign, it seemed he thought of campaigning as a break from the rest of his life, which entailed hanging out at home with his wife,” a former staffer said. Meanwhile, he noted, campaign aides are expected to work around-the-clock.
If Hillary Clinton is the candidate and Thompson is matched against her, the former staffer predicted a Republican disaster.
“Hillary is tireless,” he said. “She doesn’t take anything for granted. Nor do the rest of the candidates on the Republican side.”
Good grief.
LOL!!!
Written with all the objectivity of an msm hitpiece.
I highly doubt that NewsMax would write a hit piece because it helped Hillary. Instead of criticizing the post, tell us which of the staffers really didn't quit, or get fired. I am not saying each and every quote is accurate, but I am willing to bet that the former staffers listed are no longer part of the Fred campaign.
NewsMax isn't liberal MSM.
Still sitting in front of your computer??? Why aren't you out there raising money for Duncan Hunter?? He's about to run out of money!! And here you sit converting no one to your point of view.
How many campaign managers has Fred Thompson had during his presidential campaign?
Did YOU listen to Laura’s show? Probably not.
I like Fred, I would vote for him against Hillary. I would not vote for Rooty against Hillary.
So, quit being snarky. I was just being honest. Check out what was said on Lauras show yesterday. Fred will need to take fire and soon. Constructive criticism is useful.
Don’t make me dislike Fred because his followers are as stinky as Rooty’s.
I moved past wondering and started discounting Newsmax a long time ago. Newsmax has become a tabloid.
Reagan fired his entire campaign staff at one point....and went on to victory.
The Dunderheads here on FR are smelling the increasing stench of despair and desperation with each passing day, so they lash out at the candiate they perceive as taking votes away from the poor performer they are backing.
More evidence that Jeri is running things, and that Fred is just going along for the ride.
I wouldn’t elect any man who lets his young wife push him around like this...
From Newsmax??? Surely you jest......
(/s)
But some say that what a former staffer said is what defines the character of a presidency!
Seriously though, has anyone ever talked to a recently fired individual who did not characterize his firing as unjust?
I find it amusing that half the staff was sitting at home (or having a beer) on Friday afternoon yet complain about working 24 hours a day and calling FRED lazy!
I don't see why people are having a problem with this. I think the key word is paid. If I was home on Friday afternoons I probably would be home permanently.
I must say I'm very disappointed with some of the Duncan Hunter fans that are posting on this topic. I consider Duncan a good man even though I'm supporting Fred. Don't act like Paulestinians please. If any Fred Fans area acting like that on your topics ping me and I will chastise them for it also.
Let's fight the enemy not each other.
Well there you go again LibLieSlayer.
Next you'll be posting "Thou shalt not speak ill of a fellow Republican."
signed,
a Fred fan
FRiend, if this is the first example you’ve seen of how the Duncan Hunter fans behave on Fred threads, you’ve been living a very charmed FR life indeed. :)
I’ve lost so much respect for some people on this forum due to their lies, smuttiness and vitriol that it makes me just shake my head sometimes.
Oh well.....
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