(Fred) Thompson Fundraising Not Meeting Expectations

NBC News/Political Wire ^ | July 26, 2007

[West Coast Conservative]

Sources close to Fred Thompson tell NBC News that the presumptive candidate's fundraising is down "markedly."

"The pace is described as a consequence of the delayed announcement to enter the race." Sources says the campaign will report raising about $3 million in July, instead of the target of $5 million. "Sources describe an early burst of donations in June and say the summer fundraising has fallen off. While additional fundraisers are planned, sources say the scheduling of fundraisers was 'frozen' for a time while the team was going through some internal strains."

A footnote: It's now expected that Thompson will formally announce his presidential candidacy on September 4th in Nashville, "with Thompson possibly heading to South Carolina (if time permits) and then to New Hampshire for the September 5th GOP debate."

[Blue Turtle]

wow, even the media is afraid of fred....

[IGOTMINE]

He got $500 from me the night his website went up...and not a dime since.

Get in, Fred, and my checkbook will open again.

[GingisK]

He isn’t doing too badly for someone who isn’t officially running.

[Ikemeister]

Fred has to jump in or out. He’s waiting too long to announce.

[Nonstatist]

Why doesent he contact his Arab friends?

[MayflowerMadam]

He’s got to become an actual contender. I think we’ll see a big change then.

[Clara Lou]

That’s the thing—many are holding back until he announces.

[3AngelaD]

Spencer Abraham should get right on that.

[TexasAg1996]

Agreed. I won’t donate to someone who is thinking about running, only someone who is actually running. Enough testing the waters!

[Bobbisox]

DITTO! Thompson got my contribution on day 1, and will continue just as soon as it is official! I am sure that there are many out there just like me!

[Dreagon]

A lot of conservatives might be looking askance at his choice of new campaign managers.

[ridesthemiles]

When FRED formally announces, people will formally send in the bucks, I predict.

[SouthernBoyupNorth]

When Fred officially tosses his hat in the ring I will open my check book. Not before then.

[prairiebreeze]

NBC’s “sources”, eh?

uh-huh......

[UlmoLordOfWaters]

Yep, here’s one more. I sent a bit day one and will send more the day it’s official.

[jimfree]

I’m in for $100 until later in the year and assuming there is an announcement.

[eastsider]

I’m sending in modest amounts every month just to keep the cash flowing, but intend to increase that monthly contribution significantly the day he announces ... the continuing attacks by innuendo notwithstanding.

[mnehring]

Mine opens when he is official too..

Still.. another article citing ‘sources’.. I wonder if that source is John McCain??

[aligncare]

I’m not wasting a dime contributing to a candidate with an uncertain life expectancy...and a ZERO probability of winning the general election against the Clinton’s.

[nathanbedford]

Cassandra would say that Fred Thompson is experiencing difficulty raising money not because he has failed to declare but because all Republicans are having immense difficulty raising money. Thompson will soon declare, there is no hurry for that, but I doubt if it will significantly change the financial landscape.

I understand that Republicans, even Romney, are gravely behind the Democrats not only in the amount of money collected but in the critical number of donors. We are losing the Internet wars for money to the likes of Obama who is running about four donors to every one for Romney. The disparity is even greater in the amount they contribute.

We had better hope that, with all the plagues and trials which are about to befall the Republican Party in this election season, we will not for the first time in modern memory fall behind the rats in raising money as well as in sheer numbers.

[tennmountainman]

In addition, a lot of conservatives are now alarmed at his hiring of losers from McCains train wreck express, to Spencer Abraham (another loser), and most likely loser... Snakehead Carville’s wife.

Thompson has surrounded himself with well-seasoned losers.

It did not have to be this way. I like Fred Thompson. It’s a shame he’s now surrounded by proven losers.

[Sue Perkick]

He’s going to be fine once he finally announces.

[Clara Lou]

I like Fred Thompson.
Right. I believe you. It shows in your post.

[Paperdoll]

There’s going to be a GOP debate on Sept. 5? I thought it was set for the 17th.

[saganite]

I’m a little frustrated with Fred myself. I plan to contribute to his campaign but not until he gets in the race. Hopefully he’ll announce soon. Get off the dime Fred!!!

[b9]

LOL! Very sincere personal page also “;^P

[claudiustg]

Maybe the Republican leadership will step back next time, instead of stepping off into a war with their own base.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I've been giving him $25 a paycheck, and will until the race is over.

http://www.imwithfred.com/

[tennmountainman]

I do like Fred Thompson. He was my senator from tennessee.

[eastsider]

On Sunday evenings, the guys in my unit and I used to go to the NCO club to play Bingo, and we'd amuse ourselves by coming up with names for the different numbers. "B9" was known as the "non-cancerous" number ...

Your screen name brings a smile to my face.

[Clara Lou]

Explain how anyone Thompson hires from McCain’s campaign is a loser. I could have sworn that it’s McCain who’s the loser, who ran his campaign stupidly. (I understand that he put the cart before the horse, among other things.) McCain is widely known to be a jerk. He finished himself off with the immigration bill vote. Tell me how his personnel are losers because McCain is a cluck.

[b9]

“;^)

[Clara Lou]

At least he’s got one. I don’t know what to put on mine.

[tennmountainman]

Could these staffers not “see’ he was a cluck? A lot of us here have seen through McCain for years. And these brilliant staffers could not?

[counterpunch]

I like Fred Thompson too, and I tend to agree with tennmountainman’s remarks.
I think Fred needs to face the fact that his honeymoon is starting to fade. He needs to get out there as a real candidate, declaring the specifics of his positions, and proving he can be an articulate and passionate spokesman for them. I don’t think anyone has the energy to prop up another message bumbler like GWB. We need to see him in action to know he’s not.

Romney has some issues that are hashed out regularly. I certainly have concerns over his “electability” factor. But one thing is for sure, when he speaks, he wins you over to his side, at least for the duration of his speech. All of this goes double for Newt Gingrich.

I think the more we see Giuliani and McCain speak, the more we see they’re media creations. Taking issues with their positions aside, they also seem to be quite a bit less sharp and concise on their points than Romney.

Like I said, I like Fred, and I have high hopes for him. But I need to see how he stands up in a debate on the issues. I hope he proves himself beyond all our hopes and expectations and is able to rally the country around him.

[b9]

You don’t have to put a thing. Your posts show your true core. “;^)

[Clara Lou]

Can you not see that people take jobs and tend to need them for a while? That’s called financial stability.

[Greg F]

Great. Low fundraising for F. Thompson, conservatives holding on to their checkbooks, bad (i.e. not conservative) choices in his campaign staff. We will be left with Romney or Guilianni.

Isn’t it time to support Duncan Hunter and help him out of the pack?

[counterpunch]

Why Duncan Hunter specifically, and not Huckabee, for example?

[nathanbedford]

You're absolutely right! And the aching frustration of seeing the Republican Party and the conservative movement bashing itself to pieces is made only the more insupportable by the knowledge that we are utterly impotent to deflect George Bush from his obdurate course of destruction.

By God, George Bush dreams of a multicultural society without Borders and he will see that we get it even of it does cost us everything.

[gogeo]

wow, even the media is afraid of fred....

So, the question is...is NBC pulling this out of their...ear? Does Fred have an advisor who's out of school on this? Is NBC being played to manage expectations?

That's the problem with unnamed sources...you never know.

[Clara Lou]

Nice post--but you didn't mention anything about "losers from McCain's campaign," as was tennmountainman's point.
I think Fred needs to face the fact that his honeymoon is starting to fade.
I do think some people feel that way.

[Badeye]

I’d say the ‘sources’ are those released from the campaign. And given its not official yet, what exactly were the expectations, according to those still with Thompson’s campaign?

[counterpunch]

Perhaps this is actually a brilliant Rovian strategy?
Make it easy for Republicans to run against Bush with impunity, so they can be the “anti-establishment” candidate in a race against Clinton & Bush, Inc.

[maxwellp]

We are waiting until Fred announces before sending money. If we send money now, and then he does not run for the Presidency, what happens to our money?

[nckerr]

I too will give to Fred when announces. I wish he would surprise everyone and throw his hat in. But I understand why he hasn’t yet. His Law and Order reruns will not be allowed to run due to equal time rules on tv.

[tennmountainman]

I’m all for people even from loser campaigns such as McCains supporting their family with jobs. However, why would I want to hire people who helped McCain get into the position he is now in?

They knew what they were getting into when they signed up with McCain.

[Ultra Sonic 007]

Huckabee was a tax-raiser as governor, and he was weak on illegal immigration issues. Ask any Arkansas Freeper.

[Greg F]

I like Hunter on all issues. Defense, immigration, and trade, and he was right on all of them before they came to the fore recently. From what little I know of Huckabee he has a more mixed record as a conservative. My basic fear is that if conservatives are frozen by a fantasy about Thompson and it doesn’t pan out, they are stuck with liberal / flip-flopping candidates (again). Bush I, Bush II, Romney/Guilianni . . . not sure how much more of it the party can take and still pretend to be conservative.