Posted on 10/05/2007 11:16:43 PM PDT by Plutarch
Fred Thompson, appearing at the Americans for Prosperity event today, was supposed to give a press availability, which would have been his first big question-and-answer session with the national press corps in Washington. The availability never happened, and the campaigns description for why has a decidedly, anti-Washington press corps bent which probably wont hurt him too much with key constituencies. (That is, outside the one with all those barrels of ink, television viewers and Web readers.)
Todd Harris, a campaign spokesman, said Mr. Thompsons speaking engagement ran later than expected and it came to a decision between doing a media availability or spending time with the Virginia delegation, adding, We opted to spend time with the delegates as opposed to the Washington press corps.
For good measure, Mr. Harris added, Its not all about the D.C. press corps. Though, he added, Mr. Thompson whose performance on the stump has come under withering criticism that continued through his appearance at the Americans for Prosperity event has held plenty of press availabilities out on the road.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com ...
Did Fred actually have a presser set up, or did the staff simply tell the press that he’d try to make himself available to them if he had time? The story isn’t clear; it only talks about the fact that he didn’t show.
VA Atty Gen Bob McDonnell introduced Fred:
See some more photos:
http://flickr.com/photos/7630621@N06/sets/72157602274679066/
I don't think the married is to the opposite sex.
“Unfortunately FT is doing a good job of that himself as of late. Schaivo, Soviet Union, oil in FL, etc.”
I’d rather a candidate be truthful with his comments than BS their way through it and attempt to tell me what they think “I want to hear”.
Besides anyone who thinks that any land is permanently sacred from eventual oil exploration is naive, Schiavo might be a campaign issue to an infinitesimally minute fraction of voters and a strong military has kept the “Soviets” at bay for 60 years—I haven’t seen Fred indicate any appeasement in that direction.
It's a matter of degree, but an important one, I think.
Fred WILL need to show good knowledge and positions in the debates - but no one I’ve ever met would make a decision based on a press corps Q&A. Those exist to pamper the self image of the press corps, not to get out the news.
Well done.
Okay, wait a minute, folks.
Does Thompson not know his press secretary is openly gay? If he does know, then what exactly was the point of that hiring?
Is the GOP not supposed to be a family values party? Are the true conservatives going to get so invested in this guy that they will start ignoring rather loud warning sirens like this?
Now, let’s be sure we understand this . . . there is nothing illegal about putting openly gay employees on your senior campaign staff. And there is nothing “wrong” with having signs of not being purely conservative. After all, Romney has such signs in his background, and certainly Guilliani has many liberal aspects.
But I don’t think there are any “openly gay” press secretaries on Romney’s senior campaign staff. Maybe not on the other GOP candidate staffs either. This makes no sense.
I think it is smart of Fred not to bother with the MSM much. Especially THIS early in the campaign.
And can you tell me who has a lower approval rating with the general public than Congress, who's at 11% or so?
No need, I'll tell you.
The MSM...
I don't think it's eerie at all. You find a lot of gays either divoriced or currently married simply because they don't like the gay lifestyle. They still like men but try to live in a traditional marriage and suppress their urges.
It can't be easy but they do it.
“Screw the media.
I think it is smart of Fred not to bother with the MSM much. Especially THIS early in the campaign.”
THIS early in the campaign is just 3 months away from the first primaries. 21% of likely voters are STILL undecided. When, exactly, should Thompson start helping them decide?
Yeah that's it. I've watched the man speak 5-6 times, either on the Giuliani News Channel or the few videos I've found posted online of his speeches. Fell asleep everytime. The man is boring. He rambles and his speeches don't actually offer much meat. A bunch of thrown together catchphrases that lead to nowhere.
but trying to feed the grassroots first to continue the bottom up momentum
What grassroots? I've read posts elsewhere from supporters that are questioning him. If that's what big government 'conservatives' chose as the better choice than St. Rudy they made a mistake. I really believe the only reason the man is still up in the polls is because not too many people have heard him speak on a widescale.
Would you read my post #69? This guy doesn’t do the “openly gay” routine. He was privately gay until his privacy was violated.
“Does this subtract out the money Romney gave to his own campaign??? I doubt it.”
NOTE: Romney never “gives” his campaign money. He simply
loans it so he can get it back later from the pockets
of his supporters, sparing him having to pay for what he
says he believes - or write it off as a bad loan when
he fails to capture the nomination...
Give? Never.
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