Posted on 12/21/2007 5:44:36 PM PST by devere
DAVENPORT, Iowa — Fred Thompson’s plan is simple: Get on a bus and haul around to some 50 Iowa towns and cities between now and Jan. 3.
It’s the only option he has.
Thompson has little money left in bank and has had to slash his television presence here to a level well below that of Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. His cash crunch is so severe that he’s even had to freeze his direct mail plan.
So now, for the next two weeks before the caucuses, he'll be largely living off the land.
Thompson fell in the polls as Mike Huckabee rose — in seeming direct correlation to one another. One network pulled their embedded reporter from the Thompson beat and another network divided their embed between the two candidates.
But a different Fred Thompson showed up at the GOP debate last week outside Des Moines. The funny, commanding performance turned some heads, perhaps not the least of which that of conservative Iowa congressman Steve King, who threw his support to Thompson in a press conference Monday.
King’s support, and Thompson’s debate showing, also caught the eye of veteran Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen, who made the case this week that Thompson should not be counted out.
The confluence of events has combined to give Thompson aides at least the appearance of optimism.
“The important thing for Thompson was to get into the mix in this final fortnight,” said senior adviser Rich Galen. “He needed to be part of the conversation. And that has happened.”
So now they’re trying to capitalize.
Thompson’s bus tour is aimed less at retail, one-on-one politicking than at earning media attention to compensate for his lack of ads and direct mail.
(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...
You’re not paying attention man. Fred will do well in IA; he wrote off liberal NH a long time ago and will finish fourth or fifth. The stakes then increase geometrically in SC, and the game is on. Wake up to the dynamics!
Same shape Kerry was in last election. This one will go to the convention.
Pray for W and Our Troops
Clinton had national fund raising and faced opponents who did not have funding networks that drained the donors. This is a year when the GOP donor base in general has closed its pocketbooks — and no, it doesn’t matter why. All that matters is that they are closed.
Thompson is late to the party. This means the top quality staff was already divided among the well-funded competition. They have drained all available donors.
Talk of what states to pass by and what states to work for based on where one thinks one’s chances are best is meaningless if you have no money and can’t survive until those states arrive on the calendar.
The decisive state this year is Michigan. Thompson can’t afford Detroit or Grand Rapids media buys.
We'll see. If he is still alive when Delaware is choosing, he'll get get my vote. Ha ha.
A month after the Ames Straw Poll is "normal time?" You could have fooled me...
To do that Fred needs a good showing in Iowa and Michigan.
Sent mine too...
keep it going, pay it on.
“he’s snubbing everyone to whom he should be reaching out”
Who are you referring to? Yourself?
Good one
Fred underestimated the strength of evangelicals within the Republican party. When he came out against a federal marriage admendment, he hurt himself.
At the same time, the MSM probably wanted to minimize Fred. It may be true that the Democrats think Huckaby is a “glass jaw” and the MSM might be helping Huckaby as a result. But it’s possible they think Huckaby will be easy to knock out, simply they are liberals and they think things like religion and evolution is going to hurt him. And it won’t, it’s a plus with most of America. Evolution isn’t very relevant, but it won’t hurt him. Religion is relevant to character, and it will help him.
lol, no. I live in upstate New York. Nobody cares about my votes, it never counts anyway.
I’m talking about the people of Iowa and New Hampshire.
And your alternative is?
I think an announcement even in July would have helped— it would’ve given him more time to campaign and raise money. Now he’s way behind and playing catch-up with limited funds.
And who’s to blame for the current state of Fred’s campaign? Hmmm? Look. If this guy can’t get his act together on the campaign trail, I don’t see how anyone could think he’d would be an effective leader. Move on...
“The decisive state this year is Michigan.”
Mitt Romney was born in Detroit, Michigan. His father George was a very well-regarded Governor, and the building housing the Michigan governor’s main office in Lansing, Michigan is known as the George W. Romney Building.
Michigan will only be decisive for Romney, if he somehow loses it.
The decisive state this year will be South Carolina. The winner in South Carolina will likely be the Republican nominee.
With all the trash coming against Huckabee, Romney and Giuliani, it might just be Fred’s time. I sure hope so. Fred would be awesome!
Answer the question. Prove you have a IQ over an ice cube and not some lame attack FUD wacker.
Your observation is spot on.
Those many weeks when his supporters thought, this is the week he is jumping in, the week passed and the weeks passed and the anticipation when out of many of his supporters like air out of a balloon.
I appriciate a candidate dealing straight on with the people early on.
If you settle for something less than what you really want in a candidate, you reduce your chances of getting someone who better represents your views.
This was demonstrated, very well, in the California recall election of 2003.
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