[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

I dunno, I hear Fred just doesn’t have any fire in the belly....

/

[Politicalmom]

I love it. “His initial fundraising efforts came up short.” even though he took in 10 times as much as Giuliani in the same period.

[Reagan Man]

>>>>>Is this any way to get to the White House?
Probably not, according to political scientists who’ve been closely watching Thompson’s unorthodox campaign. But, they say, it’s a good start.

Another contradiction. Its either good or its not. I think Fred has handled his official announcement in a unique and successful fashion.

[Paperdoll]

Yup. Thumbed his nose at the Republican field and now, by skipping the Value Voter Debate in Florida Sept. l7, is mooning the Christian Conservatives in the Party.

[SnakeDoctor]

>> He went on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno.” He skipped a television debate with the other GOP candidates in New Hampshire and ran his first campaign ad right before the broadcast began. Then he went on the Web in what amounted to a 15-minute infomercial and spelled out his reasons for diving into the race.

People always say this as if the primary is tomorrow, and Thompson has just missed his last chance to appear in a televised debate.

The real primary campaign is just starting. No one, outside of journalists and political junkies, pays attention prior to Labor Day. Most voters may not know there have been several debates already - and those that do know, are aware of what a collossal waste of time most of them were.

There will be plenty of time for Thompson to appear in plenty of debates between now and the primaries. By appearing on the Tonight Show, Thompson reached a larger, broader, audience that wouldn’t be touched by a random GOP debate consisting of a couple of candidates, and a half-dozen political irrelevancies.

Thompson is doing fine.

H

[Sun]

I was disappointed that Fred didn’t commit to attending the Values Voters debate on September 17. It would set him apart from the other front runners.

[Fred]

There will be plenty of debates. FDT will be at all of them. All old news...
As of today Rasmussen Polls show FDT in the lead 26% to 22% RG.

[SuziQ]

But Thompson can’t stay away from the debates forever, Freedman said.

He didn't intend to. He'll be at the next one, as he described to Laura Ingraham, up there on stage with the rest of them, waiting for a fish. But he likely won't take part in all of them.

[TommyDale]

[Mr.FixIt]

On Leno's show Fred said (paraphrasing) with the new media he didn't need to jump in until now because if you can't get your message out in four months, you aren't going to get it out at all.

I have to agree with him.