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 ...
“Agree. Ron Paul attracts far too many wackos. Certainly there are things we all agree with him on, but frankly, there is something not quite right between the good doctors ears.”
Ron Paul reminds me of that guy a few years back who committed suicide with his followers to hop aboard a passing comet. Forget his name - and the name of the comet ;)
“Other than the oft-repeated mantra about his lack of effort, is there any actual evidence that this is true?”
Yes, his schedule.
Also, you are behind on your talking points. The ‘It’s all a media lie’ talking point doesn’t work when it is in fact true. The new talking point is ‘Being lazy is good’. Check here for the update:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1916050/posts?page=25
Wouldn’t it be awesome for a presidential candidate to explain the Constitution’s meaning of Article I, Section 8 (enumerated powers), how the 10th amendment reinforces that,
and to vow to veto every damn bit of legislation out of Congress that violates those restrictions?
Good morning. I’m with you on Fred. Along with Duncan Hunter, who unfortunately doesn’t have a chance it seems, Fred strikes me as the only candidate that is in this purely to serve the country. He was living large and comfortable and I think the birth of his children, the Islamic threat and where he saw the Democrats heading called him to run. I will support him in whatever way I can...
I find that meme particularly disgusting. It comes straight from the Hildebeeste itself, which began campaigning obscenely early.
We’ll just call it Fred’s timely entry. Everyone else entered too early and Hillary was born running.
2 posted on 10/24/2007 11:23:49 PM EDT by A CA Guy (God Bless America, God bless and keep safe our fighting men and women.)
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Oh, that's priceless. And by priceless, I mean not priceless.
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LOL! Fred's doing just fine, CA Guy.
Ah, I love the Fred effect...
That poor lady in the pink looks like she could break down at anytime...
It’s just sad. :)
Tragic really...
Great article.
The lady in black looks like she is almost suicidal..
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You got that right. The grief is almost palpable:
Seriously, the just sows that something was up with the Florida thing...
“So what is his next rule breaking going to be, even less campaigning and debate preparation?”
When he doesn’t seem to be campaigning, he is doing private events with no reporters there. Fundraisers you know? The things that get you knocked out if you don’t do enough? Also, he does plenty of debate preparation. He was a lawyer and a prosecutor and you can’t go in front of a jury unprepared. He was a successful lawyer and prosecutor. His campaign staff has talked about all of his debate preparation. That too, is something you cannot do with reporters hanging around to report on it.
First debate, an organization was fact checking and the info Fred gave was factually correct while Guiliani and Romney made errors.
So what is your beef? It is obvious he is doing plenty of debate preparation. He isn’t funding his own campaign, so all the money he raises is from supporters. That’s a plus.
If you read the book Marie by Peter Maas, that was one of the things that impressed Marie Ragghianti about him, he went through several feet high stacks of papers that she brought in, and mastered the content himself. Presented it to the jury, won the case, the governor lost. He didn’t give it to a staffer to do. Some staffers in Washington had to work late [until midnight] because Fred was still there in the office working. He worked some staff so hard they quit to find an easier job and had trouble keeping up with Fred.
Your argument is a lazy freeper argument, you didn’t do your homework.
FYI that guy over Fred’s left shoulder with the dark hair is his grandson, who is traveling with him on the campaign.
He was with him in South Carolina yesterday.
Very cool.
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