John Zogby, president and chief executive officer of Zogby International, noted that Huckabee was already leading the polls in South Carolina, before picking up momentum with his Iowa win.
Zogby said he has a hard time envisioning a scenario in which Thompson can get himself back into contention.
"What can he do?" Zogby asked. "Short of praying for a room full of candidates to get struck by lightning, it's very hard."
Thompson was running in fifth place nationally last week, according to an average of the polls compiled on the Real Clear Politics Web site.
Of course, no candidate is mathematically eliminated from a presidential race after one or two or even five primaries.
However, money is the lifeblood of political campaigns.
Candidates can't be effective if they aren't able to raise enough money to run campaign organizations in the competitive primary states.
And the big money donors who finance those statewide campaign organizations tend to stop writing checks to candidates who can't get any traction early in the race.
U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp, a Chattanooga Republican, is hopeful Thompson's campaign will have at least enough financial resources to keep fighting through the Feb. 5 primaries.
Thompson might have to drop out sooner than that if he can't quickly reverse his fortunes.
Which would be a rather surprising turn of events for Thompson, who last summer was being hailed by some Republicans as the second coming of Ronald Reagan.
John Ryder, a local Republican activist, believes those lofty early expectations are part of what has hurt Thompson so far.
When Thompson got into the race, some Republicans were expecting him to blow away the rest of the field with a commanding media presence.
"These (other challengers) are strong men in their own right," Ryder said. "They didn't just melt away."
Also, Thompson waited until fall to get into the race, while most of his opponents began campaigning months earlier.
Consequently, although many Republicans might warm to Thompson's limited-government philosophy, he hasn't really had enough time to explain his beliefs, Ryder said.
Wamp said Thompson, unlike the other candidates, was drafted to run. And, he said, Thompson hasn't yet demonstrated the kind of fire in his belly many people expect from a presidential candidate.
"The one thing that hasn't happened is that he hasn't really convinced people he wants to be president," Wamp said. "That's very important. That's the only thing that's been missing from his campaign."
Ryder believes Thompson could have one advantage if he can avoid being eliminated during the early primary contests and fight to the end: If the Republicans go to their convention without any candidate winning the majority of the delegates, Ryder said Thompson might emerge as a consensus choice because he has fewer perceived negatives than the other top contenders.
The Republican National Convention won't begin until Sept. 1, though, which is an eternity away in politics. If Thompson has any hopes of prevailing under that type of scenario, he'll first have to figure out how to survive the month of January.
Politics Today aims to provide depth and perspective on political happenings in Memphis and the Mid-South. It runs on the Comment page every Monday.
Zzzzzz...
We’ll see in March when it actually counts. Iowa and NH mean very little other than tv time.
Winning every debate and propounding solid Conservative principles will pay off. This primary is going to Conference anyway.
People other than us politics junkies are just now starting to pay attention.
Winning every debate and propounding solid Conservative principles will pay off. This primary is going to Conference anyway.
LOL.
It’s amazing the amount of ink they spill about Fred not being competitive...
A brokered convention....
Hum....
Heh heh, always have a plan B...
No mention that Fred came in second in Wyoming. Or that Duncan Hunter came in third. What a goofy reporting process there is. The reporters see only what other reporters tell them they should be seeing.
Okay. But only when it suits the audience he's pandering toward. I heard Huckabee on Hannity the other day...talking about the tenth amendment, lower taxes, limited government, reducing spending, being tough regarding what our foreign policy should be...I thought I was hearing things. This is the same guy who railed against CEO pay, called the CFG the Club for Greed, thinks it's a good idea to implement smoking bans in restaurants and bars, would give children of illegals tuition rates at public subsidized higher education institutions that are on par with a legal resident, and has a record of supporting the raising taxes during a period of time where he governed a state. But that's not all, he bad-mouthed our current foreign policy in an interview.
I'm not trusting this guy! If he happens to get the Party's nomination -- I hope that his campaign and support are decimated before then -- I will hold my nose very tightly from around August onward.
Bill Clinton got 3% in Iowa in 1992.
Fred Thompson got 13%. ‘Nuff said.
Since midnight last night, Fred has gain 218 friends on MySpace. That’s kinda a big deal.
LLS
~snip~
Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, who finished first in Iowa’s Republican caucuses, is a fellow Southerner who espouses many of the same conservative principles that Thompson does.
~snip~
The only things Thompson and Huckabee share in common is they’re both running for the Republican nomination for president.
Fred Smith endorsed McCain very early, if that means anything.
Fred’s wife wants him to be President, I’m not so sure Fred does.
They don't know any more than we do.
I'd prefer it, if Fred were comfortably in the lead, but I'm not disappointed with his current positioning. The only thing that worries me is that the MSM is studiously ignoring him.
I’ll be voting for FRed here in MI. Just had a call from “Romney for President”. Didn’t bother to pick up the phone.
BS.