Low-Key Thompson Stumbles Toward Finish Line

ABC ^ | 1/2/08 | Rick Klein

[pissant]

Two days before the Iowa caucuses — day 15 of his 17-day "hands down" bus tour — former senator Fred Thompson's campaign bus stood motionless in the snowy parking lot of a West Des Moines motel, across from a movie theater and a suburban strip mall.

Thompson's campaign scheduled only one event for New Year's Day, a meet-and-greet at the Iowa Veterans Home in Marshalltown, about an hour outside Des Moines. Thompson, R-Tenn., shunned the bus, emblazoned with his picture, for the relative comfort of a black Chevrolet Suburban.

(snip)

Thompson has staked his campaign's prospects to Iowa. In seeking to jump-start his campaign last month, he promised to crisscross the Hawkeye State with visits to 50 cities and towns in 17 days aboard his new campaign bus.

[fr_freak]

Thompson/Hunter ‘08

[pissant]

You are talking nonsense.

I never said Fred IS pro-choice, I said he WAS. And you know it from his very own lips.

As far as building up Hunter, who has by far the most threads on Hunter and who brought him onto FR for the press conference?

In fact here is a sample from today in building up Hunter.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-bloggers/1947202/posts

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Now for something completely off-topic! Where do you all score on Political Brew's not-time-consuming political test?

I scored an 87 (Strong Conservative) on Non-fiscal issues, and a 93 (Strong Conservative) on Fiscal issues.

[Vanbasten]

Well, I won’t be happy if a RHINO wins it, but let’s not pull a Ward Churchill and start talking Gestapo. That’s a bit much.

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

I never said Fred IS pro-choice, I said he WAS. And you know it from his very own lips.

Er, so was Ronald Reagan. You know, the guy that you claim is emulated by DH?

[DoughtyOne]

I agree with that. What really bothers me is the seeming avoidence of truely conservative candidates. Man, what do we really stand for? This is rather revealing...

[Gabz]

He's still on the re-runs of "L&O."

You've got to be kidding me? What network is going to do that?

If they run his L&O reruns they will have to give equal (free) time to all other candidates, so I seriously doubt they are currently running.

[ImpBill]

Unfortunately you are correct. It seems to be an American pastime - spending more energy slurring the one you don't support rather than extolling the reasons why you support your choice!

This activity diminishes not only your candidate in the eyes of others but is counterproductive to the republic as a whole.

And that diminishes us all.

[trisham]

Oy vey. Not another one. I’m getting burned out.

[Gabz]

Even negative publicity is publicity. It means the name is put to the public, regardless of the context, the name is out there far more than the others.

[<1/1,000,000th%]

What’s Huckabee doing in 2nd place?

He might as well run as a Democrat.

[Grunthor]

On Non-Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Conservative (77).
On Fiscal Issues, you rank as a Moderate Conservative (78).

Your score is on a scale of 0 to 100, with 0 being fully liberal and 100 being fully conservative.

[Gabz]

I understand, and I was not referring to you personally, but rather the entire situation which you so very well summed up in your response. But it is not just Pissant — it is several others who only attack rather than discuss.

[tillacum]

Let’s see, mcpain has been running for president since 1999, hillary since 1989 or earlier, romney,huckie, over a year, Fred began running when most Presidential Campaigns began, so the screaming media thinks he began to late. I wonder why the screaming media tries to run things?

[DoughtyOne]

At one point Thompson was the number one candidate in the Republican field.

I don't remember it that way.  Thompson didn't enter the race until after Labor Day, so it would have been next to impossible for him to outpoll Giuliani and Romney prior to that.  Giuliani was the early leader, and that was by a large margin.  How could Thomposon have been ranked higher?  I don't believe he was.

He appeared on the Jay Leno show, he was the front-page headlines on every newspaper.

Front page appearances don't guarantee a top spot.  It's not even an indication of standing.  It's simply a matter of what is deemed news on any given day, perhaps a slow news day otherwise.

Before that he was the fill-in for Paul Harvey, was a long-time cast member on a top-rated TV series, and did ABS News radio commentaries.

That may be so, but you'll have to understand that somewhere in the neighborhood of 97.5% of the populace doesn't tune in to those programs.

I’m sorry, but I can’t see how a guy who is so unknown he gets 1% in the polls could possibly be expected to “raise Thompson’s visibility”.

Any candidate that withdraws draws attention with his announcement.  Both Tancredo and Hunter could have or could still help someone who should be the closest to their views.

But if Thompson back in September had come out and said “I appreciate the 40% support I’m seeing, but frankly, there’s already a great man in the race, and I’ll spend the next year campaigning for him, our next President, Duncan Hunter” — THAT would have raised Hunter’s visibility.

40% hugh...  I'm not buying that.  That would imply Giuliani, Romney and McCain were each getting about 20%.  Even if the polls had looked that way, it would have been my premise that you never put too much stock in a poll that is taken directly after a big event/announcement.  You have to give things a little time to shake out, then look at the figures.

Thompson hasn't run the robust campaign the others have.  He's still in the hunt, even if down to around 14 points.

As for Hunter, I don't see the point of throwing your support behind a guy with two or three percent in the polls.  While I may wish for better as it relates to Hunter, it's up to him to sell his ideals.  If he can't, I sure can't win it for him and neither can Thompson.

I don't find any fault with Thompson.  I like the guy's stance on the issues and his refreshing take on things.  He'll get my vote.

[luvadavi]

Third Party time.

[pissant]

No, I’ve posted Fred’s less than conservative positions more than a few times, yet the Fredheads treat it as an attack because there is no rebuttal to a quote or a voting record.

[Gabz]

Don’t bother trying to drag me into a “pro-choice not pro-choice” argument. It is not an issue high on my list of priorities.

[Gabz]

Yes, very revealing, and very disturbing.

[for-q-clinton]

but by super Tuesday, there will only be two viable candidates left, Romney and Thompson

I hope you're right. But what do you base this on? How do you see Thompson holding on? I'm looking for some encouraging news.