A hard look at Fred’s troubles on the trail
I know I’ve got a lot of readers who support Fred Thompson. You know that I’m not incredibly enthusiastic about any one of the GOP candidates. So, don’t bite my head off when I point out to you that it’s not just the liberal media who are reporting on Fred’s troubles on the campaign trail. What happened with Fred’s campaign in Delaware (which votes on Super Tuesday, Feb. 5)–or rather, what didn’t happen–embodies Fredinertia. Let’s take a closer look.
First, here’s an interesting comment at conservative stalwart Patterico’s site from a few days’ ago about the Delaware debacle that shows the lack of basic organization plaguing the campaign:
Unfortunately, Mr Thompson has run a campaign that’s a joke. Oh, sure, he’s got all of the positive attributes our host mentioned, but it’s almost as though he thought he could put all of his position points on the internet and then everybody would just then flock to the polls to vote for him.
Perhaps this will seem like a little thing to a lot of people, but to me it demonstrates something larger. In the small state of Delaware, it requires only 500 signatures of registered Republicans to get on the Republican primary ballot. His campaign staff, which made plenty of calls asking for money, declined the volunteer help of a GOP worker, a man who has done the grunt work of canvassing neighborhoods for candidates, and then fell short, very short, of the 500 signatures needed.
That campaign worker didn’t sign the petition, because the only place he could have signed it was at Thompson headquarters in Wilmington; he’d have had to have driven to HQ to sign it.
Out of 178,000 registered Republicans in Delaware, the Thompson campaign got less than 300 valid signatures.
Another Thompson campaign story: In Iowa (a rather important state at the moment), a conservative blogger who was important enough to land a one-on-one interview with Mike Huckabee, but had still come out in support of Mr Thompson, was notified by the campaign (via e-mail) of a Thompson appearance in his home town of Ottumwa just six hours before the appearance.
Unlike the governors running, Mr Thompson has very little experience in actually running anything that we can see; about his only managerial experience is in his own campaign. And, quite frankly, in that one job, he has done very poorly.
If the man can’t even run his own campaign well (or find good managers to whom to delegate responsibility), why should we have any confidence that he’ll be able to run the government of the United States?
Comment by Dana — 1/2/2008 @ 5:17 am
Good question.
Delaware Grapewine shared details from disappointed Fredheads last month:
Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign, which has a reputation for being lackadaisical, gave that image a mighty boost this week in Delaware.
It was heavy lifting by inertia. Just perfect.
Thompson, a Republican probably better known for his television and movie roles than his tenure as a Tennessee senator, was trying to get on the ballot for the presidential primary here. He needed 500 signatures from Republican voters by Monday afternoon to make it.
His operation ended up only 209 signatures short. It came cantering into the Elections Department in Dover about 10 minutes before the deadline with petitions that appeared to be in order, but they were honeycombed with signatures that did not count because they were not from Republicans. “A lot of independent voters, unaffiliated,” said Paul Baldwin of the Elections Department. There are more than 178,000 Republican voters in Delaware, and Thompson’s campaign could not find 500 of them. He was ruled out of the primary.
The actor could not get his act together.
The setback frustrated some local Republicans who favored Thompson — or more precisely, added to their frustration. Chief among them were Everett Moore, who was the Republican state chair from 2001 to 2003, and John Feroce, who ran for the state Senate in 2006. Independent of one another, they had contacted the campaign during its lurch of a launch last summer. Thompson probably could not have asked for better backing here. Moore, a Georgetown lawyer, is an experienced political hand who still commands respect in the party and especially in Sussex County, where Thompson could have been a fit for its conservative politics. Feroce, who was a Rhode Island legislator before moving to Middletown, is a former Army Reserves major with operational know-how. Each got nowhere.
“I had talked to the campaign very early on, and after two or three conversations, it died. It was just a total drop,” Moore said.
“It just never happened. It speaks really to the top of the organization, not anything in Delaware,” Feroce said.
Jason Bonham has more.
Lesson: If and when the Fred campaign finally calls it quits, there will be no one to blame but the candidate and his top advisers who blew it with spurned diehards ready and willing–but unable–to help.
***
Question: Is Fred helping Huckabee by staying in the race?
See what others have said
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Trackbacks
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Huge Democratic turnout in New Hampshire = Mitt upset in the making?
- See What I Mean… « Stiletto Irreverence
- Wonkette
- Blogs For Fred Thompson
- Michelle Malkin » Fred Thompson on South Carolina: “This is my firewall”
- Joining the “Anyone but…” crowd « Think Tankers
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » A conference call with Fred Thompson
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Report: Fred dropping out; Update: Confirmed; Update: What went wrong?
- Hot Air » Blog Archive » Smartest woman in the world neglects to file full slate of Pennsylvania delegates
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Categories: Fred Thompson
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Boomer said:
It’s not wise to be tellin’ the missus that while she’s still recovering in the maternity ward.
#75 Qwinn
In my initial response to you, I misspelled your name. Apologies.
See now that was easy enough.
Michelle, I would never not read your blog (as some are saying) because you are critical of Thompson’s campaign–who would be one of my top choices. You were only pointing out that Thompson’s campaign is possibly (probably) in trouble. Big deal. As far as I can tell you have not endorsed any one of our (all) flawed candidates.
Nor would I leave the Republican Party in November if “my” candidate is not nominated. Sorry, but I equate that move as a tantrum.
I loved President Reagan and voted for him, but that era is over. I also cringe every time any candidate drags up his name.
The “true” conservatives who continue to have hissy fits that their party has deserted them have no alternative than to stay home in November—or vote for an Independent (yeah, that’ll show ‘em). I think that would be a huge mistake–to stay home– and I hope they can then live with a Democratic socialist President instead that they help elect instead.
I will vote for any Republican any day against Hillary or Obama (with the exception of Ron Paul–whom I hope is not the nominee because I would have to rethink this).
I think Huckabee would be the same as Bush on immigration. We all know how McCain would be on immigration—but on other issues they would still trump the Hillary/Obama runaway train to disaster.Their answer to another 9/11 is probably diplomacy, and that is what the terrorists are counting on.
It is too bad that “values” and “telling it like it is in plain English” don’t become Thompson or Hunter to the masses as they speak to some of us.
We’ll see how it plays out–I think it is too early to call. Whoever our nominee is I will vote for him in November; and I would think long and hard before I would abandon the Republican Party, who, with the exception of a few RINOS in Congress, is still more conservative than the Dhimmicrats any day.
I’m making a Macro for 2009 that says, “If you had backed Fred Thompson…”
lol, hey just trying to lighten things up.
I like the Thompson/Romney idea, or even Romney/Thompson. There comes a point where conservatives need to quit complaining about what should have been and play the cards we are dealt. And as I read it, there are now two cards. If we don’t go all in, I will haul out my macro and make you all pay
Well said, Lindsay.
I read many blogs that support Fred. The PJM poll is sorta hard to vote in and Fred is winning that atm. His support there has been growing slowly.
I seldom comment but is it possible that he is concerned about ‘owing’ favors to folks that he does not know well?
Is it possible that many of us will be wanting a copy of that ‘MACRO’?
I have donated. The only other time was Bush 2000.
Fred is ONE man. There are limits to what one man can do. I have been thinking that I might volunteer to make calls in SC.
Votes recorded at INSTAPUNDIT.COM
TOTAL VOTES: 51
——————————————————————————–
Bill Richardson 17 33.3%
Barack Obama 15 29.4%
Joe Biden 10 19.6%
Hillary Clinton 6 11.8%
John Edwards 3 5.9%
TOTAL VOTES: 76
——————————————————————————–
Fred Thompson 49 64.5%
John McCain 7 9.2%
Ron Paul 7 9.2%
Mitt Romney 5 6.6%
Rudy Giuliani 5 6.6%
Mike Huckabee 3 3.9%
TOTAL VOTES: 158
——————————————————————————–
Bill Richardson 51 32.3%
Barack Obama 45 28.5%
Joe Biden 25 15.8%
John Edwards 20 12.7%
Hillary Clinton 17 10.8%
TOTAL VOTES: 284
——————————————————————————–
Fred Thompson 114 40.1%
Ron Paul 78 27.5%
Mitt Romney 31 10.9%
John McCain 24 8.5%
Rudy Giuliani 19 6.7%
Mike Huckabee 18 6.3%
Help Fred, Please
For Crying Out Loud.
This story is about some Chump Volunteer Who Couldn’t Be Bothered to Do It Right.
What’s his name? Was he a plant?
Take a look at Delaware: there’s no place in Delaware that isn’t within an hour’s drive of Wilmington.
The reason that Obama is drawing such interest and attention is that he offers hope for a better America. While I believe it is a false hope, no one running for the Presidency at this point is talking about America as a “shining city on a hill”. Fred Thompson would be doing much better if he stopped talking about problems and started talking about the solutions based upon American strengths. Give people credit for creating such good and talk about creating more good.
DELAWARE??? Our hostess is pitching a fit because something went wrong in Delaware??
Sheesh….Delaware is a blue state anyways. Fred knows he has to worry more about South Carolina.
Fred has done better than McCain and is doing as good as Romney right now. He has alot of supporters…how do I know?
Because the media is A) ignoring him by not covering him at all or B) only printing or saying negative things about him.
Why?? Because they want either Huckabee or McCain to win thinking that Obama (their sweetheart) will beat either of these two men. And they are right because neither Huck nor McCain are TRUE Conservatives.
I know our hostess likes some things about Fred’s campaign so far because she was written some pretty nice things about his illegal immigration plan and his debate performances here on this blog.
I wish more people like MM, Sean Hannity, and Rush would just come out and endorse Fred Thompson. That would save his campaign.
I sure hope they do it fast otherwise we’ll all be saying, “President Clinton” or “President Obama” real soon.
Go Fred!!! I’m sending him more money soon.
Don’t count him out!!!
Fred is running a non-typical campaign. Yes, perhaps it should be more organized and widespread, but he is the best candidate by far!!!
Believe me, I was hanging on waiting for a July announcement of his candidacy, but that was completely wishful thinking on the part of his followers and it was driven and fed by the media.
No, Fred doesn’t have Mitt Romney’s money. I don’t think anyone else on the GOP side has that type of personal wealth. But at some point, Mitt’s money doesn’t equal votes. If it did, he would be a clear-cut leader.
Instead we’re messing around with Mike Huckabee and McAmnesty himself. I have more faith in Americans/conservatives than to think either of those men will be the nominee.
Regarding Rush Limbaugh’s endorsement or lack thereof, I know many of us are hanging on Rush’s every word waiting on a drumroll followed by a parade, but I don’t believe he’s going to say the words “I endorse Fred Thompson.” However, if you listen to him at all, you know EXACTLY who he supports.
Sean Hannity is simply sitting on the fence. He was once firmly and openly (although he denied it) in the tank for Rudy, but he seems to have mellowed and his rhetoric has softened. Sean made some comments a few days ago that were VERY favorable for Fred. Sean will wait and support the nominee. Rush will come closer, and has, to endorsing Fred.
Sorry to be long-winded.
GO FRED GO!!! Fred’s going “ALL IN” in South Carolina!
Ditto.
Just a pet peeve of mine - sorry.
“Democratic socialist” is contradictory. The Democrat party has little to do with being democratic.
Michelle, Ronald Reagan had his problems with campaign staff running his campaigns, he was called lazy too.
As Rush stated, Iowa and NH are anomalies. Neither state is indicative of who will ultimately be nominated.
Fred does not have the personal funds or contributions to compete in every state. He is employing the same strategy as Rudy. Rudy is campaigning in FLA; Fred is campaigning in SC.
Also Michelle, you would make an attractive Fred head?
Actually, it’s more like a “non-existent campaign”, HTY. Had Fred run a “traditional” campaign he likely wouldn’t be in the desperate straits in which he now find himself.
I think Fred is first choice of many here, including myself. The problem is not so much that Fred “has no fire in his belly” but that he needs someone to “light fire to trousers”.
If Fred doesn’t make it - and that’s becoming more and more the likely outcome - it isn’t the fault of any commentator or news organization. He only needs to check out the mirror for the culprit. And that’s a pity, I think he had so much promise.
Now, I think the most any of us can realisitically hope for would be Fred as a possible VP selection.
He could still take it out of neutral and get it into gear, but I’m not just holding my breath on that. We’ll know for sure when the primaries move south.
Very good points, Publius. I think the tendency is to stress what someone is against more than what s/he is for. On the Democrat side most of them are running against Bush - that won’t work come the general election.
Having done my share of petitions for candidates, there are two rules of thumb to follow:
1. Have a good voter registration list, preferably by street address.
2. ALWAYS get 1.5 times more signatures than you need. 2 times is even better.
I happen to live about five miles from Delaware, and it’s only a blue state because of Wilmington and New Castle County - Kent and Sussex counties are predominantly conservative areas (save maybe Rehoboth Beach, the SF of the East) but they simply don’t have enough votes to counter the city of Wilmington.
But there’s a few of us on the Eastern Shore of Maryland who pine for merging into the state of Delmarva - no sales tax and it would be a red state in the Northeast because all of us here on the Eastern Shore would wipe out Wilmington’s votes.
Anyway, back to Fred. Yes, he definitely screwed up and it’s sad for the voters of Delaware that neither Thompson nor Duncan Hunter will be on the ballot there. Admittedly, if you have a choice of states to do that in, Delaware is among the best because it’s pretty small - you just hope the mistake is an exception to the rule.
Michael Swartz
http://www.monoblogue.us
CNN uses fuzzy math. Fred had more than 400 votes out of 10,000 and they were reporting it as 2%.
People can always write in his name, right?
Thompson/Hunter ‘08.
If he’s going to fizzle out completely, it’s best that he fizzles out NOW. If the man can’t run a legitimate campaign, he most certainly won’t be able to run a legitimate administration.
This is depressing news.
The problem I have isn’t that you aren’t a fan. Nor is it that I am one.
My problem is that what you did before Iowa was wrong, Ms. Malkin. You should retract it and apologize. Period.