“You seem to have absorbed the MSM line about Fred. He HAS been campaigning, since the day he announced.”
No, I’m talking about him getting in so late. The peak of his popularity was around July 4th. If he would have announced shortly after that, he could have capitalized on it. Instead, waiting until after labor day fizzled the excitement about him. He also could have participated in more debates and been sharper sooner. Its like a football player not playing for a while. He may be in great shape, but he’s not in game shape. Well, Fred wasn’t in game shape when it came to campaigning and debating. He did not impress at his earliest debates and this coming from one of his supporters. He has just rounded into form IMHO and I fear it may be too late. I hope not. If he can get into third place in Iowa with about 15% or more, I think that would be great. He could slingshot into New Hampshire. If he could get second place there, I think it would set him up well to take South Carolina. At least thats the game plan I’m looking at. If he could knock Huckabee out of the race there, he could set himself up as the conservative alternative to fast fading Rudy.
I don’t think Fred got in too late. He had professional obligations that he needed to complete, and entered the race after those were met. His entering time frame was similar to those of previous years. It just seemed so late because everyone else seemed to have jumped in as soon as the 2006 elections had ended! Yeah, there was a lot of buzz about him in the summer, and some of that cooled, but remember, MOST folks, even MOST Republican primary voters haven’t decided on a candidate. Having Fred around and about in those last couple of weeks before the Iowa Caucus vote will put him front and center in their minds, and as those who jumped for Huckabee realize what a nanny-stater he is, I think they’ll give Fred another look.
I think he’s got no chance of doing anything in NH. Didn’t he publicly write them off already? He gets like 3% in NH polls.