Thompson “Flops” In Fundraising
Back on July 7th, I stated my belief that the constant Fred Thompson announcement delay was due to poor fundraising. The subsequent dismissal of many of Thompson’s original campaign staff only deepened that impression for me.
It turns out that his numbers were even worse than I thought! According to breaking news at The Politico, Thompson raised only $3 million in June!
I’m truly shocked by this news. It appears that, despite all the media coverage and the advantages given to non-candidates, Thompson simply could not raise first-tier dollars. The quasi-campaign’s total bungling of the fact that Thompson lobbied on behalf of abortionists further shows that this campaign is not worthy of the status that the MSM has given it.
Here’s a quote from The Politico:
But many Republicans have turned queasy as Thompson has ousted part of his original brain trust and repeatedly delayed his official announcement, which is now planned for shortly after Labor Day, in the first two weeks of September.
Some are already saying a prospective Thompson run is a flop. “I just don’t see it anymore,” said a key Republican who had been extremely enthusiastic about a Thompson candidacy.
“That number is really underwhelming. There were indications it could be double that. They’ve been saying that people were waiting Fred, and the money was going to pour in. He looks like he’s already losing momentum.”
-Kyle Joseph Farmer
July 30th, 2007 at 1:29 pm
I love what Romney’s policy guy, Vin Weber, said about looking at how one’s campaign and fundraising is going to assess the candidate’s executive and management skills:
Weber says bluntly that since McCain, Thompson and Barak Obama have “never done anything” to demonstrate executive experience “they are potentially asking you to judge their executive ability based in part on their campaign.” He contends that voters have “every right to look at a campaign” to assess a candidate’s executive and management skills. Weber says that if you can’t run a campaign “it raises a big question mark” about the candidate’s ability to run the country. He concedes that Ronald Reagan had campaign staff shakeups, but points out that he also had a track record of 8 successful years as Governor of California.
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=21730
July 30th, 2007 at 2:26 pm
This is huge news for Romney, and I am guessing that we will see FT’s support drop a few points in the upcoming weeks. If Mitt can make a strong showing in Ames (with all the positive press that follows), then we might start seeing some real movement in the national polls.
Hopefully the news heading into the fall will be that Guiliani is stagnant, FT is not able to match the hype machine, and Romney is eating up points that are being lost by McCain and FT. That should give Mitt momentum going into the stretch run before Iowa.
July 30th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
It’s beginning to look like this race is distilling down to 4 candidates:
Clinton, Obama, Rudy, and Mitt.
As regards Rudy vs. Mitt, barring another big terrorist attack, the edge should be Mitts’,
with character and economics beating out Rudy’s perceived strength in fighting terrorism.
July 30th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Watch the Money! Just like at the race track. Smart Money often waits before committing to a Winner. Bet in haste turns to waste! Old players know this well. I’m an old player. It’s a horse race to me! And 2 front runners are falling off the pace, McCain first and now Thompson. Money will follow the WINNER!
July 30th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
That’s not Aqua Velva or English Leather you smell. It’s the gin coming out of his pores through the flop sweat.
Yes follow the money. Romney has more to lend his campaign than anybody!
July 31st, 2007 at 12:13 am
I have said at least twice on this site that I thought FT was “largely a creation of the Media.” Note to MSM: virtually no one trusts you anymore and your credibility just took another torpedo at the water line.
They must be red-faced in editorial boardrooms all over the country. First Dan Rather and his producers fake records to try to prove George Bush didn’t fulfill his National Guard duty and now FT rides into town as the erstwhile “savior” of true conservatives, only to lay a fund raising egg.
It looks like the MSM’s stranglehold over public opinion has finally been broken. Kudos to the New Media for helping to take back the public’s ability to know the facts and to resist the Old Media’s clumsy attempts at propaganda.
July 31st, 2007 at 3:17 am
Great post Kyle!
Nobody would like to see the FT balloon pop more than I and the sooner the better. And I do think it is mostly a thin balloon.
However, I think it is way too early to predict FT’s demise or even the beginning of his demise. I do agree that his strategy of waiting, postponing, and positioning as an “exploratory” candidate is the wrong approach and will hurt him. And as I have written before on this site, I think he has many character flaws, but I still think it is way too early to predict his fate.
FT is from the South. FT has huge name recognition that will not evaporate. FT is a true conservative (arguably so as we all have shown), though not nearly as “true” as Governor Romney. And a lot of people want to draft FT as President. In the past, they have successfully drafted him into show business and into the U.S. Senate.
It would be an enormous mistake to count FT out at this point.
Now, what I do find fascinating at this point is all the press pouncing on FT’s fundraising to show it as anemic. It sure seems like the media has been quick to portray him as a sort of paper tiger. Clearly, if that kind of negative publicity keeps up and builds steam and momentum, stories can feed off one another to a point of critical mass that could quickly put FT and team on the defensive, preventing him to get his message out. That could bury him fast.
Thought provoking Kyle!
July 31st, 2007 at 1:49 pm
Yeah, but he is folksy!