“Actually, Since Fred started campaigning in October, his numbers have dropped steadily and drastically. His campaign ads and appearances actually tend to work against him. The more people see him, the more his support drops off.”
This is one of those cases, I think, where his supporters hyped him up so high that there was no possible way he could live up to expectations. The people who recruited him to run were excited about the prospects (and you can see how dramatically it’s dwindled even here on FR) and talked him up a great deal... He’s either been unable, or unwilling, to build on that work. And again, not entirely his fault. In a way, the people who most wanted him to succeed may actually have set him up for failure.
But yes, he could still pull a surprise victory out of the air. It’s looking less and less likely by the day, tho, as his shrinking share of primary votes is currently getting split up between the other top-tier candidates.
When you build up someone to the degree that was done (basically that Thompson was the second coming of Reagan), there is no where for them to go but down if they aren't the real deal. The MSM knows this and applies this pattern repeatedly - built up, tear down, repeat.