Reading this it's not Fred's people, per se, but the folks in Deleware who came out to what few events he had. Fred was generally right about the viability of his entering when he did, but it looks like he didn't take into account the continued rush to get the primaries earlier and earlier that's happened since he entered. It looks to me like he just ran out of time in Deleware (and Washington state it appears, too).
He has to make priorities and if dropping Delaware from the list on Feb 5 allowed him to get on the ballot in the other states then it's a good trade off. No one will stand up and shout "Fred lost Delaware" on Feb 5th if he takes a few of the other big prizes that day.
Here are the states holding Republican primaries on 2/5
Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Georgia, Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Missouri, Montana, New Jersey, New York, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah
So if he had to skip investing time in one, Delaware was the right one to pick. After all, there's only one real conservative voter in the state and we already know how she's leaning <g>
Tennessee is a lock for Fred, as Arkansas (probably) is for Huck, Massachusetts and Utah for Mitt and NY/NJ are likely going for Rudy. CT is a toss up between Mitt and Rudy and all of those states can be written off as "favorite son" states for those people. The only news out of those states will be if Fred loses TN, Huck loses AR, Mitt loses Mass or Utah, or Rudy loses NY or NJ.
So what's left on Super Tuesday?
Alabama, Arizona and Georgia are Fred's big targets on Feb 5 and he's counting on South Carolina on Jan 19, a week before, as his "big get" in the South to lead into those three on Super Tuesday. Florida is 1/29 and that's where Rudy is putting all of his efforts (going after NY retirees, mostly) but I understand that Fred has invested there heavily. If Fred wins SC that will increase his chances in Florida. Getting both, or even coming in a close second to Rudy in FL (based on relative positions now) would be both hugh and sirius.
I don't have a feel for the others, with the possible exception of Missouri and Oklahoma. Like Tennessee, I have a feeling that being from Arkansas will work against Huck. Being from TN won't necessrily help Fred in those states, but being a southerner and a gentleman will.
That leaves Alaska, California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Minnesota, Montana and North Dakota. I've got to think that Fred will have a good shot at all of those if he wins South Carolina only a week before. Anybody have any feel for Republican leanings in those states or rules that would allow Dems/liberal independents to screw with things, as McCain is counting on in NH?
The guy who runs the web site you quote....First State Politics...is Dave Burris. He was the FORMER head of the Sussex county GOP. I spoke to the new guy who replaced Dave.
Hey, Fred Thompson is very, very well liked in Sussex county. We’re all going to write him in, yes we are.
I still am not convinced that bypassing Delaware was intentional on Thompson’s part although it could be. Delaware is a small state and that 2/5 primary date is a big one. It’s just that somebody DID try to get Fred on the ballot but just ran out of time.
This is bad campaign work, duh.
I didn’t know about Washington state.
I think Fred’s going to do very well in the upcoming voting events. Even though, ahem, he treated Delaware shabbily. Heh. Here in Sussex county we think Rush Limbaugh is too damn liberal.
Harrumph.