Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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Posted on 10/29/2007 10:16:39 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
If it’s Monday morning, it means I’m talking to one of the Thompson Associates, who offers his thoughts on Jay Cost’s contention that Fred Thompson is running against the mainstream/drive-by media and its expectations as much as his rivals.
The Thompson Associate said that he and others close to Thompson had studied the campaign of McCain in 2000, and began to wonder if glowing profiles from the mainstream media, and the traditional definition of ‘good press coverage’ no longer applied in Republican primaries.
“What happens if you start from the assumption that the conservative base has no respect at all, and in fact has contempt for, the people that McCain spent all his time cultivating in 2000?” the Thompson Associate asked. “If you start from that supposition, the way you approach media changes dramatically.”
“There are a comparatively small pool of people who vote in the primaries, and you need to cultivate them before you worry about the New York Times or Washington Post, and that’s what Fred did,” the associate continued. “He spent his time posting on NRO before he did anything else, and it’s just carried over. If he had his choice between doing radio show in Iowa or doing an interview with the Times, he’ll do the radio show.”
Of course, this strategy has a cost, as the mainstream media still is read or watched by at least some Republican primary voters. “You see that with L.A Times – the campaign’s been burned a couple of times. But I don’t see him pulling away from that too much… They’re going to come back and bite you in the ***… They’re the New York Times, they want their pound of flesh.”
“We did things a little differently out of necessity, and because we understood what the base required, in terms of building a relationship with a candidate. In that 2000 race, [McCain] was a phenomenon of the guys who rode on the bus with him. In a different setup, maybe something like that would have worked for Fred, but that wasn’t the hand he had been dealt.”
‘In that 2000 race, [McCain] was a phenomenon of the guys who rode on the bus with him. ‘
If nothing else, Thompson’s campaign understands exactly what was happening in the 2000 race.
The first couple of primaries are going to surprise quite a few people, both in the MSM and here at FR is my guess.
We’ll see.
I like Fred even more.
Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
WARNING: If you wish to join, be aware that this ping list is EXTREMELY active.
This is why the Rasmussen pollsters have Sen. Thompson doing better than others, in that they are trying to poll folks who are most likely to vote in Republican primaries and caucuses.
“This is why the Rasmussen pollsters have Sen. Thompson doing better than others, in that they are trying to poll folks who are most likely to vote in Republican primaries and caucuses.”
The interesting thing is Iowa, both Thompson and Huckabee aren’t far behind Romney. If Thompson takes Iowa by stealth, and everyone writes off New Hampshire as being Blue anyway, the dynamics of the race might get very interesting.
Ask why the media never told us about the stuff Hillary and Bill stole from the White House. Ask if it's ever been returned, and let's have proof. Point out that the media will not ask Hillary about her lying to the American people about Bill's affair. Why did she cover up and should we trust someone who can lie so blatantly to us. And should we trust the media when they cover up Hillary's lies.
Then pass it on to Obama and Edwards to do the same thing. They shouldn't have to compete in an environment where one candidate is safe from criticism.
This is why we want Hillary as the Democratic nominee; she is wrapped in the liberal MSM cocoon. Her already high negatives will be easy to enhance by the Republican nominee, and many who wouldn’t normally vote Republican will as the Not Hillary Candidate.
“What happens if you start from the assumption that the conservative base has no respect at all, and in fact has contempt for, the people that McCain spent all his time cultivating in 2000?”
Sounds like someone “gets it.”
“The first couple of primaries are going to surprise quite a few people, both in the MSM and here at FR is my guess.”
I think Fred will do well in Iowa, not so much in New Hampshire....but look out for the southern states.
I honestly can’t say how they will turn out, or ‘not turn out’ at this point. We’ve found too many push polls cited as ‘hard fact’ as well as the laughable ‘text polls’.
It depends entirely on how educated the primary voters are on the candidates track record.
We’ll know by the end of January, if not much sooner.
Or 3rd party.
I live in NYC, and the number of liberal democrats I know who won't vote for Hillary Clinton under any circumstance seems to be getting higher.
Alot of them are now also convinced she is a racist (where they got that from, I'm not sure).
There are just a huge number of liberals who do hate her, DU hates her almost as much as they hate Bush.
And I read that the Republican Party gives delegates to a given state not merely according to EV count but also allowing for the success of the Republican Party in the last election in that state. Which could mean that a candidate who wins most of the Red states would get a majority of the convention delegates without winning any blue state.
And if McCain had won the nomination, those same guys would have stabbed him in the back at every opportunity.
IMHO, any Republican with half a brain should understand that the MSM hates him regardless of how friendly they can be when it suits them. Get the message Republicans. These people want you to lose and will do whatever they can to see that it happens. Act accordingly.
“Fred and other Republicans should start a “whisper” campaign against the media for their love of Hillary.”
The MSM have protected Hillary from the shouting, blaring, bellowing & yelling campaign against her for the past decade or so — why would whispering help?
“The interesting thing is Iowa, both Thompson and Huckabee aren’t far behind Romney.”
Boring rebuttal - Romney is way out in front:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1918003/posts
REPUBLICANS
Mitt Romney, 36 percent
Rudy Giuliani, 13 percent
Mike Huckabee, 13 percent
Fred Thompson, 11 percent
John McCain, 6 percent
___
“The interesting thing is Iowa, both Thompson and Huckabee aren’t far behind Romney. If Thompson takes Iowa by stealth, and everyone writes off New Hampshire as being Blue anyway, the dynamics of the race might get very interesting.”
Except that he won’t, and really doesn’t care if he does...because for the GOP, Iowa and New Hampshire are largely irrelevant because they’ve both trended Democratic. We knew that about New Hampshire already, but Iowa will now join it on the irrelevant list. McCain won New Hampshire in 2000. See where that got him.
South Carolina is the bellweather for the GOP nomination now. And the rest of the south following it. The GOP candidates have to lock up the south first now.
Rasmussen Iowa Caucus poll
Mitt Romney 25%
Fred Thompson 19%
Mike Huckabee 18%
Rudy Giuliani 13%
John McCain 6%
Mr. Romney's Iowa lead is due to the 10-20 million dollars worth of advertising he has purchased here. Fred Thompson has yet purchased no advertising.
I don’t think the not Hillary vote is going to go to a third party, as the Not Hillarys want someone else to win, and so they will pick someone that can win, and that will be the Republican nominee.
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