Posted on 08/31/2007 5:41:48 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Fred Thompson has been acting like he has all the time in the world to get his campaign going, with his aides and advisers saying they wanted to get a first-class organization humming before the “Law & Order” actor steps out for his close-up.
One adviser, seeking to calm down an excitable reporter, even pointed out that “there will be two World Series” before the 2008 election.
But in fact Thompson – who plans to travel the country with his family in a luxury bus emblazoned with the words “Security, Unity, Prosperity” -- is in a race against time that even some of his core advisers admit he has a chance of losing.
Thompson had raised only a moderate amount of money – below his advisers’ expectations – when he finally filed his first financial statement with the Internal Revenue Service at the end of July.
The excuse was that donors were staying on the sidelines till he made it official.
Now Thompson needs the cash spigot to begin gushing as soon as he appears Thursday at Des Moines’ Polk County Convention Center. He needs to swiftly validate the premise of his campaign, which is that there’s pent-up demand among Republican donors and activists for some alternative to Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani.
So Thompson’s deadline is not Election Day 2008, or even the January nominating contests.
The make-or-break date for his campaign is Sept. 30 – the Federal Election Commission cut-off for the next financial report. That document, which must be filed by Oct. 15, will determine Thompson’s fate. If he looks weak, he is unlikely to get the money, endorsements and grass-roots support that he’ll need to pull off his Houdini act, insiders say.
It amounts to a three-week, do-or-die sprint, and even Thompson does not claim to be a sprinter.
Critics in both parties had suggested that Thompson might try to game the system by not formally launching till Oct. 1 in order to avoid the third-quarter disclosure requirement.
But a Thompson official tells Politico: “The Thompson committee will file a disclosure report with the FEC on Oct. 15 covering all money raised and spent through Sept. 30.”
'We're prepared'
Thompson’s challenge is all the greater because he’s dallied for so long that he won’t get a honeymoon.
His advisers are convinced the press will unleash a blizzard of skeptical and hostile coverage to punish him for taking a nontraditional route to his candidacy.
People close to the campaign say a critical question is whether it was really necessary to begin campaigning two years before the election.
“Look, history could be written, and we got in too late,” said one close Thompson adviser. “We’re prepared for that. Or history could be written and we blew the whistle on this two-year project, and we can do it shorter and faster, and be the guys that end this madness.”
Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Tenn.), who was among the leaders in the House to push Thompson into the race, said Thompson's announcement of an announcement Thursday will provide a needed spark.
"It allows us to go ahead and firm up all these commitments from people who have said, 'If he runs I'm with him,'" Wamp said in a telephone interview from Tennessee after getting off a conference call with Thompson supporters on Thursday.
Wamp, who took a turn firing up supporters on the call, dismissed questions that Thompson's wait had harmed his prospects, but acknowledged that some Republicans had held back this summer.
"[The delay] caused certain people in grass roots and fundraising to say, 'I want a commitment,'" he said. "Well, now a commitment has taken place."
The pressure's on
Still, Thompson’s late money start, and his seeming acknowledgment in an interview with Politico.com last weekend that his summer cash haul had been disappointing, puts intense pressure on him to shake the money tree ferociously in September.
Thompson will hold a fundraiser in Chattanooga on Sept. 10, but other events are in the early states have yet to materialize. Thompson won’t raise cash in Iowa and the chairmen of the New Hampshire and South Carolina GOP said they had yet to hear any word about fundraising in their states.
Thompson is still interviewing consultants and aides and does not yet have a fundraising infrastructure in the early primary states.
“There is nobody here to do it,” said South Carolina GOP Chairman Katon Dawson. “And a good fundraiser will cost you 10 grand a month.”
Thompson’s need to ramp up his money machine is urgent, Dawson said. “When you come in with $3.5 million, you’ve opened yourself up to get pounded,” he observed, referring to the amount of money Thompson raised in June.
But Dawson emphasized that Palmetto State GOP voters were still undecided on a presidential pick.
“Hillary just scares the hell out of them down here. ‘Who can beat her’ is the question I get asked at every gas pump. Who can throw the Hail Mary and wield the veto pen.”
Thompson will underscore his independence from the rest of the field by appearing next Wednesday on “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” on the same night that the other GOP candidates are appearing on a Fox News debate moderated by Chris Wallace in New Hampshire.
On a conference call for reporters yesterday, Thompson political director Randy Enwright sketched the rest of the roll-out plans, which include “a grass-roots-oriented tour that will go to Iowa and New Hampshire and South Carolina.
“There will be a second tour that will be the tail end of next week, the 13th through the 15th. We’ll spend several days in Florida and end up in Tennessee for a welcome home party for the senator in his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., on the 15th.”
Jim Mills, the spokesman for Friends of Fred Thompson, said the organization has “great confidence that once the American people truly get to know Fred Thompson, they will be quite impressed with his life story and his intellect and his passion, and his seriousness for solving some of the big problems.
“This is a mature adult who has a sense of humor and can be self-effacing and truly loves to mix it up with real people,” Mills said. “Fred Thompson is going to surprise some people how engaged he is on some very serious issues.”
>By your own admission you do not. Why bring it up, then?
Say when is Hunter going to start up his campaign?<
If it’s any of your business, it was posted right here just the other day. So I guess we cannot believe anything that is posted on FR. You are too much! :)
My library card is expired; I wonder what the best excuse might be for wasting time here?
Giuliani supporter, eh?
The polls are run by the Establishment’s RNC. They are in full control of the results, believe me. The polls mean nothing. If FDT wins, it will be because the Establishment wants him to. They have their ways.
It is so obvious by your reported numbers that the one man they DO NOT WANT TO WIN is Duncan Hunter. That’s why I am so for him! I don’t want more of the same that we’ve been spoon fed for the past 21 years.
There has been little difference between the RNC and the DNC since the RNC deserted it’s Contract With America. A fact very disturbing to me.
Yeah, the RNC is totally in charge of media polls. That's how they are able to miraculously keep the media from bashing Republicans all the time.
They are in full control of the results, believe me.
Oh, yeah, I believe you 100%. The RNC is definitely controlling polls to keep Duncan Hunter from doing well in them.
The polls mean nothing.
...If Duncan Hunter isn't doing well in them apparently. Whatever floats your boat.
If FDT wins, it will be because the Establishment wants him to.
Oh sure, if FDT wins, it's because he's the 'establishment guy'. That totally makes sense. Of course, your little moronic theory here is blown wide open by the fact that the establishment has been against him at every step of the way and is still working against him. It also ignores the draft of Fred that has taken place, that all you jealous fans of Hunter are loathe to admit is real.
On the other hand, it explains how he works weekends checking coats at CFR meetings and cooks clams casino on Saturdays for LaRaza. If you're going to expose this stuff, you really should be careful and watch your windows for the black helicopters.
They have their ways.
They do indeed...they do indeed...
If it's more of your moonbat nonsense, I'm inclined to agree.
The only quoted date from the Fred camp is September 6.
I tend to agree with you. As far as I’m concerned, he is not the best candidate.
I like either Hunter or Huckabee.
But even though he’s a Tennessee conservative, I don’t see Thompson as a winner.
That kind of sheer idiocy will only work on the terminally gullible (The Dem Base) and morons. I’ll let others decide which category of those two that you fall into.
You should do something about that stutter. It's annoying.
Mittheads have that problem. They can’t help it.
I don’t think he’d win a general election either. From what I saw of him in the senate, he seemed more interested in getting along with democrats than defeating them.
Still, I’ll keep an open mind.
Uh, he has no more baggage than anyone else.
Certainly less than the other GOP frontrunners.
hahaha, and the “lazy” line. When you have one blog or article having their own little gossip session about supposed laziness, it becomes the only thing people can come up with to question fred’s chances(along with the lymphoma, which is in remission) This probably means the libs are scared. very scared.
I got a call from Fred this evening. He spent one minute talking to me and wanted to know what is going on in WV. Then his “testing the waters” campaign worker asked for $100. I told her I’m not ready to donate yet. I’m still shopping. Told her that I have heard lots of people say they are “holding” their money until Fred announces. She thanked me for the info and hung up. Well, I guess that means there really is somebody working the states.
Sounds like something a ron paul supporter would say.
LS sure disagrees with Mr. Thompson’s timing and feels that history means little; it’s a new day. He has some experience in these matters, I guess. We’ll just see what the affect of a Thompson campaign is on that score.
are you on the staff for Hillary???
sure sound like it.
so if you are take your posts else where, where maybe someone cares..
You are “dome and gloom”
Fred is the choice of this PENNSYLVANIA household...
I pledge my 100% support behind any candidate who will use the phrase “such as” and “the Iraq” during the debate. Miss Teen South Carolina for VP.
I thought he did not have to disclose until December since he waited until Sept. 6????
I am confused!!
Unity as a country, numbnuts.
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