Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Quick Reference
Posted on 10/24/2007 8:22:10 PM PDT by Josh Painter
I think Thompson and his campaign have assessed that breaking these media rules will actually help him get to the real campaign. They might be right. Two benefits seem to be accruing to Thompson.
First, breaking the rules has earned him notice. This is ironic, as most candidates follow the rules of the perpetual campaign for precisely this reason. They do a lot of stump speeches to get on the evening news. They do the Sunday morning show circuit. They take any opportunity to appear on Hardball that they can get. And so on. But not Thompson. So, is the media ignoring him? Hardly! Instead, his rule breaking has earned him more attention. My favorite example of this so far was Thompson's declaration of his candidacy. The fact that he announced his candidacy on Jay Leno was taken as rule breaking. But consider the net result... Far from being punished, Thompson was rewarded for his defiance.
But much more importantly, I think Thompson has assessed that breaking these rules could win him support. People outside the Beltway, whose daily lives are not regimented by the news cycle, appreciate that the perpetual campaign has reached a point of asininity. Accordingly, a candidate could win supporters over in the real campaign by claiming that he ignored all of these rules, which essentially mandate twenty-two months of nonstop campaigning. This is a twist on running against Washington. It is running against the Washington press corps. A Republican candidate can do this all the more. After all, the perpetual campaign is mediated by the press, which conservatives loathe. Instead of saying that he broke the media's rules, a candidate instead can say that he broke the Drive By Media's rules. That is a great way to win conservatives over: run against the Drive By's.
(Excerpt) Read more at realclearpolitics.com ...
So what is his next rule breaking going to be, even less campaigning and debate preparation?
Oh, that's priceless. And by priceless, I mean not priceless.
Good article.
I want meat on the bones.
Fred’s got the credentials, but needs to get attention and votes.
If we as a party can’t get an electable candidate going strong, then we get President Hillary and that is the most NOT PRICELESS thing you want to face IMO.
/rollseyes
I said earlier today, he has a sniper like approach. He picks a target, say an issue or a campaign stop, hits hard and fast, one shot one kill. Like the snipper, while all the noise is going on around him, he sneaks in and you don’t realize he is there until the morning after the election when he has won by 20 points.
Interesting. The article talks about Fred breaking the rules. In the Ruffino article I posted, he uses the phrase “to be fair.”
That’s one phrase you’ll never see coming from the left.
Our side has been loathe to be unfair, slow to network, and we concentrate on long-term and big picture. There’s nothing wrong with that, except that it’s not working and it’s leaving us just barely hanging on.
No matter who any of us supports, one has to admit that Fred’s late entry and lack of campaigning still has him placed in the top tier. He must doing something right.
“So what is his next rule breaking going to be, even less campaigning and debate preparation?”
Well let’s see...where does more campaigning and debate prep get Ron Paul? Is he in the top tier yet? His people are like fire ants and yet he will remain marginalized.
I’m saddened to see how many are still at the ‘It’s all part of a master plan’ stage of denial. It’s going to be a real hard thing to bear when it dawns on them that Fred really isn’t going to put out the effort needed to win.
Look, guys, before everyone decides that . . . what conventional experts would call poor campaigning . . . is actually a shrewd decision to be different, don’t you think you should ask why?
What is the reason he thinks that the only, or even best, path to victory would be to pursue a program that has Never Led Any One In History To Victory?
What is the desperate reality that leads him to pursue a path that no political advisor would ever advise? What leads him to think that, on the basis of one term in the Senate, he knows better than those advisors how to win the presidency? The people who worked on the Bush campaign(s) and achieved victory and won the presidency . . . do you think his behavior is what they would recommend?
Yeah, when it said Thompson goes electric, I thought maybe someone was going to plug him in and get him started.
I thought for a moment someone stuck a cattle prod up somewhere. Maybe could do some good.
Other than the oft-repeated mantra about his lack of effort, is there any actual evidence that this is true?
Seems to be some evidence that he can put an audience to sleep.
From what I saw of the last debate, he won it....w/o preparation as you claim. Oh, I don’t have a fave yet.
Pray for W and Our Freedom Fighters
I guess I'm not plugged in enough to the campaign yet to know how bad a candidate he is. I'll probably still continue to support him, naysayers notwithstanding.
Just an idea of course...
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