Posted on 11/13/2007 11:13:48 AM PST by pissant
The American electorate is a fickle mistress. Just ask former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.).
When Thompson announced his candidacy for president just after Labor Day most national polls showed him running a close second behind former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the majority of state polls had him in the top three.
No longer. Thompson's campaign has yet to take off as expected and voters -- especially in crucial early states like Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida.
The most recent data comes from New Hampshire where two surveys were released over the weekend. The first, conducted by theUniversity of New Hampshire for the Boston Globe, put Thompson in sixth (yes, SIXTH) place with just three percent of the vote. (Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney led the way with 32 percent.) In a Marist University poll Thompson again took sixth place with just five percent support. To be clear, Thompson was never a frontrunner in New Hampshire but polls conducted in the run-up to his announcement and just after he formally entered the race show him regularly polling in double digits.
Thompson's shrinking support is apparent in other early states as well. The last three polls taken in Iowa put Thompson in fourth, fifth and fourth place, respectively, and his high water mark in any of those surveys is 11 percent. In Florida, too, Thompson appears to be fading. A new poll conducted for the Miami Herald and St. Petersburg Times showed Thompson in fifth place (eight percent) behind Giuliani (36 percent), Romney (19 percent), Arizona Sen. John McCain (12 percent) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (nine percent).
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.washingtonpost.com ...
I saw it too... and I disagree with your version STRONGLY!
LLS
Vote your conscience in either case.
One what? Poll?
That's not a poll.
Has Mitt said anything about an explanation of why Jim Bopp could not deliver National Right to Life yet...
Just askin'
Plenty of time to change the dynamics, and put Hunter into the top tier. People will peel off big time from the moderates and support Hunter. It’s already happening.
Fred Thompson is not Duncan Hunter’s problem. Rudy is.
I guess if all the Thompson and Huckabee folks went for Duncan he’d be looking good. But, most of them will just accept the fact that the Republican establishment is going for Rudy.
I heard from one of the “Pioneer Fundraisers” that is the case.
I just hope Mitt kept the receipts. Otherwise, getting a refund will be a b*tch.
Go find the results of the FR poll that asked about who you would vote for if “can win” were not an issue. Hunter won. Voters like him better.
“Not having the fire” is a media creation. It was also used on President Bush.
Republican candidates for President, who are not Pro-Life, don’t win the election, hence the major problem with Giuliani and Romney. Remember the last Republican nominee, who was not Pro-Life, was President Ford in 1976. I don’t look forward to another result like that.
“I’m not a FredHead, yet. There’s no doubt he’s trending down...to the MSM’s delight.
Worst case, if Rudy is elected, the MSM can spend four years talking about how the country is moving left by electing a liberal Republican who supports abortion and gay marriage.”
I was just remarking that it’s not just MSM polls that show him trending down. As to why he’s trending down, I have no idea. Maybe he waited too late to declare. The rap I’ve read on him so far is that he just doesn’t come across very well. Since I’ve only seen him in short bytes, I don’t know if that’s correct or not. That same Rasmussen Poll has Huckabee trending up.
I will vote for Hunter or Thompson in the primary.
You know, if Fred were too “perky” the complaint would be, “There goes that ACTOR again! “
My mental image of "floundering" is literally of a newly caught Flounder flopping about on the deck of a boat. :-))
Pissant, let me ask you a question. Why is it that you actually think Hunter has a popsicle's chance in a sauna of actually winning the GOP nomination? Mike Huckabee, who was actually below Hunter (I know, doesn't seem possible) has skyrocketed past him, as has Ron Paul. Thompson wasn't even running and had roughly 20 times the support that Hunter had at his "peak", and even now, he still thrashes DH. What earthly reason do you possibly have to think that Hunter is suddenly going to come flying out the gates and win it all?
We are in treacherous times. Our national identity and culture is at stake. The MSM and GOP made it clear Hunter(a fine man) will not be given airtime. Even Thompson is anathema to the MSM and GOP. They promote Huckabee and Rudy shamelessly and relentlessly. I’ll wager Bush is for open borders Rudy, and is quietly helping him out. What a damn mess we have!
A very misleading statement. The American electorate never promised Fred Thompson anyting other than a forum to make his case for why he wanted to be president.
That Fred is falling in the polls reflects nothing more than disillusionment with both his message and the lack of enthusiasm he has shown in presenting it.
If he doesn't want to work for it, won't commit himself to the effort required or can't generate the energy to spark his supporters and create new ones along the way, he doesn't deserve it.
Fred should lead, follow or get out of the way. Right now he's doing none of the above.
pissant wrote: “Time to ditch Fred and join the Hunter Campaign folks.”
As if Duncan Hunter has the slightest chance of winning the nomination?
Personally, I’m ashamed of some of my fellow Christians who are favoring Huckabee, aka Bush III. Apparently they haven’t had enough big government conservatism. Yeah, Bush III is going to right all the moral wrongs and fix our society with MORE government. Yikes!
Then you have those so-called pragmatic folks who support Rudy, because “he can win.” What good is winning if you sell out every single conservative principle worth having (except MAYBE fiscal conservatism).
Of course Mitt has his share of support, too. He’s so handsome, and he really WANTS to be president (you can tell by his aggressive campaigning). Let’s just forget his recent conversion to conservative principles and his membership in a cult (albeit one with decent family values).
Need I really discuss those who are still standing by McPain?
Finally we have Fred Thompson, the only one of the top candidates who best supports conservative values AND has the record to back it up. I shouldn’t have to sell Fred Thompson to any conservative. All they have to do is step back, take a fresh look at the other top candidates (sorry Hunter), and ask themselves if their guy REALLY supports limited government and individual liberty? The answer is blatantly obvious.
Otherwise we will indeed be stuck.
Hunter can’t make it, sorry I love him but there is a much larger audience than hardcore conservatives, that is not nearly enough votes for the big show.
Get Hunter to expand a lot on the issues, all of them, and work more on having a broader appeal, like Reagan had, and maybe, but time is running out and you have to call the shot you have, not the one you may want.
For me, it is Fred, even if Hunter had a shot. I think he is more rounded for that particular office.
I don’t believe squat in the WaPo, but other - CREDIBLE - sources appear to support this. Fred’s campaign is off to a terrible start.
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