Not with a bang, but a whimper
A campaign haunted by the hollow words "What might have been....?"
By Jeff Emanuel Posted in 2008 | Fred Thompson | Presidential Primary | Republicans — Comments (387) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
So long, Fred; we hardly even knew ye.
Well, that's not entirely accurate -- we knew you far better than we've known many a politician who's thrown his hat in the Presidential ring in years past (or even this year; see "Hunter, Duncan" or "Gravel, Mike" for examples).
We knew you well enough that, when it seemed that the Republican field needed a White Knight to ride in on a shiny steed and save it (and us) from itself, we didn't call on Newt Gingrich or Jeb Bush; we called on you.
We supported you through the flirtations with running for office. At first, it was understandable. After all, you're a family man, with young children and a comfortable day job, and it would have been far too much to ask for you to simply shelve all of that for the high-stress life of the Presidential candidate without giving the matter a second thought. Whatever your decision, though, you knew that rank-and-file Republicans the country over were calling out your name, and were ready to pledge their support to you should you agree to throw your hat into the ring for the nation's highest office.
We waited with bated breath, as expected announcement date after expected announcement date passed by, with little or no action on your part. As the summer wore on, and gave itself over to autumn, though, the game became a bit less enjoyable for the rest of us.
Like the townspeople who tired of hearing the young sheepherder cry "Wolf!" over and over again when there was no such threat to his flock, those who had supported you wholeheartedly at the beginning of this process began to waver in their commitment, and the field of "FredHeads," as so many of those enthusiastic supporters called themselves, began to dwindle.
Read on.
During the run-up to your candidacy, you said all of the right things. Appearing on ABC Radio, on the Sunday shows, and at speaking engagements, you spoke to the parts of us on the conservative end of the spectrum that weren't being spoken to by the other candidates. Immigration reform, strength in prosecuting the war on terror, a return to Federalism -- all issues for which you were the most articulate, and (it appeared) most viable, spokesman.
Finally, in September, you made the announcement that so many had been dying to hear in April, in May, even in July. At that point, though, it was too late for any but the most dynamic of campaigners to make up the ground lost to the rest of the field in this longest primary election in my memory.
You still had a chance, though. You continued to say so many of the right things that, had you been able to build and manage a campaign staff that was worthy of the ideas of which you spoke, you still could have risen through the ranks to share frontrunner status. The endorsements and stamps of approval you received speak to the power of those ideas. The National Right to Life; Human Events; Rush Limbaugh; even Pejman Yousefzadeh, this site's most eloquent classical liberal -- all saw what you had to offer in the realm of policy and ideas, and either selected you as their representative in this race, or at least bade the Republican Party keep you in their minds as the conservative alternative to the greatly flawed field we have found ourselves, for better or worse, stuck with this election cycle.
Unfortunately, the campaign itself never came together. Despite the fact that it was built around the people's chosen White Knight candidate, and around the most solid slate of conservative ideas in the race, the Fred Thompson for President campaign suffered from being one of the most lackluster, disorganized, and uninspired electoral efforts that I can remember. For whatever reason, you as the candidate never quite took the ownership of your own campaign that was necessary to make it successful -- and, as a result, it foundered before ever really getting out of the harbor.
It is not with glee that I bid adieu to the campaign that Fred Thompson for President. While your departure will not have a large effect on who succeeds in this race from this point on, due to the disappointingly low number of overall supporters you ended up with, losing you from this race means that, once again, we have no option who speaks to the entirety of our conservative selves. Though you weren't the perfect all-things-to-all-people candidate (take the disappointment on the part of some SoCons with your support for Federalism over a Human Life Amendment as one example, or your poor numbers with female voters as another), you remained somebody that the entirety of the Big Red Tent could have comfortably supported as our party's nominee.
Unfortunately, in order to become that nominee, one must win the primary election -- and, whether it was because you got some bad campaign advice, because you weren't experienced enough at running for office, or simply because you really didn't want the job and care if you got elected or not, you never even put up a real fight in the primary.
Though South Carolina may not even be the official final nail in the coffin of your candidacy, for those who took the realistic view -- unencumbered by their support of your bid for office -- the proverbial handwriting had long since been on the wall. After the third-place Iowa finish, there still may have been hope, even though your assured place among the frontrunners had been taken by another out-of-nowhere candidate, Mike Huckabee. However, after the abysmal performances in New Hampshire and Wyoming -- not to mention Michigan and, today, Nevada -- it became abundantly clear that any talk of Fred Thompson, Republican Nominee for President was, at best, a non-starter.
So, as the results come back in South Carolina, with exit polls showing it a McCain-Huckabee race with Thompson a nonfactor, it seems to be as good a time as any to thank you profusely for your time and for your ideas, to wish you luck in all of your future endeavors, and to turn out the lights once and for all on the Fred Thompson for President experiment.
We all wish that the end had been scripted differently, and had taken place much later than this. In the end, though, your campaign seems best described not by a phrase, but by a question: "What if?"
What if you had entered the race in the spring or early summer, when your popularity and support were at their highest? What if you had picked a competent campaign staff at the beginning of the race -- and stuck with it throughout? What if you had really taken ownership of that campaign, and executed it more effectively? What if you had done what we were all dying to see after seven years of President Bush and the "new tone," and refused to let the media define you?
What if you had acted like you actually wanted the job?
As the Thompson campaign finishes its several months of winding down, "what might have been" is a compelling -- but ultimately futile -- game to play.
Perhaps, in the end, the answer is as simple as "it just wasn't meant to be." We'll never know.
So, Fred Dalton Thompson, as you ride slowly and quietly off into the sunset, not a hollow man but -- most unfortunately -- the owner of one of the most hollow campaigns that I can recall, the words of T.S. Eliot come to mind:
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.
So long, Fred; we hardly even knew ye.
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Not with a bang, but a whimper 387 Comments (0 topical, 387 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Don't get them started again. I think they were just starting to get settled down. It's funny no one really said anything that bad or distorted just some obvious truths like he ran a poor campaign.
Don't get them started again. I think they were just starting to get settled down. It's funny no one really said anything that bad or distorted just some obvious truths like he ran a poor campaign.
Remind me who your candidate is so if/when he goes down and the sting is hot I'll be sure to do a merry jig and imply you are somehow idiotic for...what...feeling disappointed? Wanting a day to recover?
just didn't come together, for various reasons.
While Fred's campaign decisions were often poor, I think the rise of Huckabee overwhelmed him in the same way that the business formula for Lowe's blew Home Depot out of the water. A charismatic Southerner with impeccable evangelical credentials cut deeply into voters who would have otherwise opted for Fred's laid-back conservatism.
Fred did campaign 2008 a favor with his clear stands on positions. If he does drop out, I hope he sticks around to help us more with policy.
I'm a home depot loyalist myself.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
who greatly outnumbered the handy!
And this is why Huckabee did better than Fred in reaching regular voters as opposed to politically switched-on people.
The problem with Fred was that he was a bore. He was about as interesting as many of those college professors one had.
I am sorry but I could not picture with a week left to the general election that Fred would be able to motivate his base to come out because he just doesn't have that in him.
day. Freedom. The last best hope for man on earth.
People DON'T talk like that anymore.
We are in danger . . .
Ford was going to be the nominee so you didn't have perpetual hope and disappointment. You just had the dull ache from the knowledge that things were not going to work out well in the end.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
The Republican party was portrayed as unraveling because of Reagan's challenge to Ford when we were actually on the eve of our greatest triumph.
========
Considering where the good doctor's head was, when practicing medicine, is it any wonder that the man has issues?
The GOP race was a nailbiter, with Reagan and Ford battling it out, winning some here, losing some there. The convention was exciting, and as a young political junkie I was glued to the tube. Ford edged over the top, and then in a classic moment, invited Reagan to the podium during his acceptance speech. Reagan gave a gracious and moving off-the-cuff speech. It was a healing moment and a tribute to both men.
Ford entered the election with the voters still smarting from Watergate and the first round of stagflation in 1974-1975. It was an uphill battle. But the GOP rallied around him and there was a sense in the final days of the campaign that "God, Jerry might pull it off!". Jimmy Carter certainly helped with the first weird emanations of what was to emerge as a very weird presidential persona. Alas, there appeared to have been a last minute anti-Nixon pardon (fanned by the MSM-who knows?) surge of sentiment, and Ford lost in a squeaker. Ironically, Jimmy Carter carried every Southern state except Virginia.
I have to admit I wasn't a big Reagan fan at the time (Ignorance on my part) I saw ford as inevitable as nominee as would his loss that would come in the general.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
This is exactly what 76 felt like. I have the same feelings for McCain as I had for Ford. It will get worse if it is McCain/Huckabee.
The good part is Fred and Mitt are making McCain tack right on his poor issues and the Huckster has made a 180 on his poor ones. More poor ones for Huck than John.
Like 76, if Jhon is the man but loses It sets it up for Mitt to do a Reagan. Before the bombs start to come I said DO a Reagan.
My parents came from communist Poland. The 1976 elections were VERY distressing to them.
Leave these bunch of RINOS to themselves. May hurt a little, and it may take 20 years, but it needs to be done.
Fred was our best shot, and our electorate has evidently rejected Reagan Conservatism.
And hand it to Hillary.
Because a conservative party to split off the Rinos just insures that the highest post a conservative ever gets elected to is dog catcher.
______________________________
"Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom must, like men, undergo the fatigue of supporting it."
-Thomas Paine: The American Crisis, No. 4, 1777
as the Greens and Libertarians. If you are to have a place at the table, you WILL find it with the Republican Party, the Ds sure as Hell don't want you.
In Vino Veritas
Watch for that door you're getting ready head out, might just swing back hard and you in the arse.
______________________________________
Proud member of the Barry Goldwater wing of the party !
The body's still warm, man.
I realize you'd been holding this in for a while, but Fred is beloved for a reason, and I think you could've waited til he decided whether to stay or go.
That's all.
We're not here to tell people what they think we should think, and we're certainly not here to spare people's feelings. We're here to write what we think.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
As someone who has to compromise all too aften when the general election comes around, I appreciate this perspective on Thompson's campaign. I like to think it was his campaign and not the man's principles, or I wouldn't know what to think of my party anymore. I voted Keyes in 2000. I wanted to vote Hunter this time around, and now my #2 choice is not looking much more viable than my first. Maybe this fate just comes with being a Cubs fan.
I guess I'd better think hard before the 29th.
"Hey, I call 'em like I see 'em. I'm a whale biologist."
Don't imply none of us have actually read it. Again my real complain is timing - at least wait until we have time to recover form the post-mortem. Heck at least wait until he has dropped out by choice.
... the writer has it exactly right. Fred is done. He finished third place, with no delegates in a state that he needed to win, or at least compete in, in order to have a chance at the nomination.
Don't get me wrong, I like Fred just fine. I even like him better than his character from Law and Order, Arthur Branch (which is something I suspect many of his supporters can't really say). But it's time to face reality. He hasn't got a prayer to win this race, and staying in one moment longer will only allow him to play the role of spoiler for somebody else.
Hang all traitors and secessionists! Hang them high!
- Me
All I have to ask is why now? Why do you have to place that on the front page like that without Fred having thrown in the towel?
I gather you guys at Redstate have raised all that money you need for Redstate 3.0?
I'm glad that I did not contribute to that effort. After seeing this, I would have been pissed.
Feel free to email the Directors when you're ready to play nice again.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Was the snail-like approach he took towards getting into the race and then how we spent too much time defending his wife instead of talking about the issues.
I don't know who was advising him, but I would have fired them months ago and surrounded myself with competent advisers who would aggressively schedule events and court media attention.
His campaign did none of that, they just seemed happy to be in the race but not striving to out pace anyone.
When you don't play to win, you usually won't.
In so many ways, Fred was the best man in the race. He was the biggest man in the ring, but he lacked the will to fight. Smaller, more ambitious men have overtaken him. Not sure why this was. Maybe he thought he was a shoo in. Maybe he just didn't have the stomach for a presidential campaign. I feel Fred let us down. He had so much promise, but failed to deliver.
The question now is who will he endorse and throw his support behind?
I have a sinking feeling it will be McCain.
I will vote for the nominee over one of the democraps, but I fear that we will not have an energized base, unless of course madame hillary takes care of that for us.
Are you saying we have to be a moderate party to survive? I simply cannot believe that.
It certainly sounds like a "Bang" from where I'm sitting. If only Hunter supporters had such a voice!
Asking for Hunter to drop out after only 4 states voting was not fair. The guy had 1 delegate more than Giuliani (no, I'm not counting Maine's delegate) and no one was talking about Giuliani dropping out. Even Rush admits that 3 of the first 4 states that voted hardly made up the Republican base. In the 1 state that did represent the base, Hunter got 8%. For those of us following the Hunter campaign, we knew he put most of his effort in Wymoing and Nevada. Now was the right time to quit based on his returns in Nevada. There may have been a lot of hopeing involved in his campign, but it was not irrational. A candidate that drops out based not election returns but on polls alone leaves govt, policy and himself open to being controlled by pollsters and the MSM.
"Hey, I call 'em like I see 'em. I'm a whale biologist."
As someone who initially supported Fred, I was deeply disappointed with how his campaign started out. But there is no question that he has become a much stronger candidate of late. Indeed, he probably cost my man South Carolina tonight. I am not sure what Fred's plans are, but I think he should stick it out through Flordia for what it's worth.
In any event, Fred is a good man and a solid conservative. And he would make an excellent VP.
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Disclaimer: I am a member of a state-wide executive committee that is affiliated with Governor Mike Huckabee's campaign for the GOP presidential nomination
Hey Moe, did you ban jlovell2611?
Because he gave his opinion? He's a Fred supporter and he's upset and you go and ban him like that? I run a Drupal blog just like you guys here at Redstate. I suspend people from time to time, but for much worse than that?
It is generally a bad idea to walk onto this site and ascribe deceitful and/or malicious reasons for our actions. Particularly when I can see it. But once he gets some sleep, rereads what he wrote, and calms down a tad, I'm sure that they'll let him back on.
Or not. Don't really care either way.
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC. I've been usurped!
Well, it's your right obviously. Someone on this site had to give you the permissions to do that.
But it's also a bad idea under these special circumstanceses, to smack someone down like that.
I also would like to know why you guys had to post it at that time?
Do you guys want all the incoming links and traffic from blogs saying things like "Redstate says goodbye to Fred?" ( I hope this isn't grounds for banning me too? )
I like Redstate, in fact it inspired me to create Blogs For Fred Thompson. I hope that Redstate continues to grow and improve. I just think what was done here was wrong to those who support Fred, and I feel bad for all the folks on who are coming here and seeing that.
Jeff,
Can we at least settle on 50/50 between the ignorance of the voter and the campaign itself.
Your point has been made. I'm sure at a cost to the level of respect that will be granted by many of the people that have enjoyed your writing in the past. It doesn't look like I'm the only one to feel this way, but I'm left wondering what was the reason for this?
Are you yelling at Fred? If so, too soon and too public.
Are you mad that your guy didn't make it, and you need to vent? If so, stop whinning!
Are you trying to get people mad at you? If so, accomplished!
Or maybe it's some other reason, either way, I'd been better off not knowing you wrote it all. Just seems a little mean spirited of you.
But it's the nature of the beast. Is his eulogy being read simply because he should have done better in S. C. than he did? It seems to me like I heard McCain's death knell in July or August. Giuliani has been getting beaten by Dr. Tinfoil hat - is this really the end of Thompson or just a bad round?
The legacy media likes story lines. By the time Fred got on board for real, all the story lines were taken: the Maverick, the slick Business Man, the Mayor, and the Southern Guy. When Fred got in, they had no real need for Southern Guy the Second, so he became the Too Late Guy.
Unfortunately, Southern Guy the First was supported by a huge majority of voters who identified themselves as Conservative. This is probably due in part to the recurring theme on the MSM identifying the Maverick and the Mayor as Moderates. Since the Slick Business Man didn't campaign in SC, it seems that being a former Baptist Preacher is enough to qualify as Conservative with today's Republican voter. I guess we're lucky that another famous Southern Baptist Sunday School Teacher wasn't running, or he'd be considered a Conservative, too. His name is Jimmy Carter.
My feeling is just that there is too big a gap between expectations and reality.
Thompson did not enter the race as the movement conservative/federalist guy who would occasionally shine during debates with his common sense and rhetorical mastery.
He was supposed to be the second Reagan, the one candidate who united all the disparate factions of the republican/conservative movement AND attracted the support of people who were not rep/cons but responded to the broader themes of his campaign.
As it turned out he was occasionally effective but failed to resonate with the Republican voters in general. After a great effort in South Carolina -- arguably his best state to break out -- he has run third.
I like Thompson and would like to see him continue in the race. He brings something unique to our campaign and has elevated some aspects of the debate. In the end, though, it comes down to votes and winning. thompson is not getting the kind of response he needs to continue. This is what Jeff is saying, I think.
I am not happy with 16%. It's easy to manage a campaign in hindsight from a PC, just as it's easy to coach from the stands.
I support Fred Thompson because of his record & his stances on the issues. He is the most well-rounded consistent conservative in the race, & in the primaries I support the one who most closely matches my views & values. Unless he drops out, I will vote for him on 2/5. I would love to see him involved heavily in the debates running up to Super Tuesday - if he doesn't drop out, he should be included & have much face time - Rudy, who I don't dislike, has won squat so far & is still in on the "promise" of upcoming wins.
I can understand & appreciate Jeff's frustration. Whatever happens, the sun will come up tomorrow.
I predicted a third or fourth place finish for Fred in South Carolina in previous comments of mine.
We can say Fred's campaign is now over, but did he ever really have one to begin with? Fred Heads this isn't the fault of people like myself who openly criticized the man. The failure of his campaign and the lack of message falls directly on his shoulders.
Penn, with all due respect the message is what Fred's campaign is all about. You can criticize the delivery, but the message is substantive & very solid.
Time to start working towards 2010 and 2012. For conservatives, 2008 is already lost.
John "Brutus" McCain - (MSM-AZ)
Mitt "that was then, this is now" Romney
TaxHike Mike Huckabee
Rudy Giuliani (need I say more?)
HWSNBN
Before Thompson got in the race there were zero conservatives polling above low single digits. I was extremely discouraged, and I know a number of folks personally who were in the same boat.
I'm not certain I can make myself even vote for any of those guys in the general. There's a large part of me that thinks that losing badly might, just might, manage to purge the leadership at the top enough to start moving things back in the right direction.
It may take a few cycles, but conservatives will end up somewhere they have some sway. I'm not certain it will be the Republican party though.
But what team? McCain - oh boy *there's* a conservative! If the team starts playing a whole different game what do you expect?
I guess that depends on which team we're playing for. I'm a Conservative and play on the Conservative team. Most times, that team is also the Republican Party ticket. If the Republican voters decide they want a RINO like McCain, then I certainly wouldn't want to be a member of that ballclub.
I never understood the appeal of a third party candidate before. But I do now.
The blatant ignorance of your average voter amazes me but I find it hard to believe that conservatives could be, so why are people voting for McCain or Huckleberry. Either ones true beliefs mimic any demorat but yet people are turning out for them. I think we are going to be ripe for a third party that is truly conservative after the next pres is elected. The new republican party seems no different than the demorats. SOmeone please tell me WTF is going on?
erock
I like the man, I like his positions. This may sound crass so soon after the results, but I think he'd make a great VP for McCain.
1. McCain
2. Thompson
3. Giuliani
well, if fred drops out, then there's really nowhere for Conservatives to go. McCain, Huckabee and Rudy are non-starters and can't even be considered. Romney is only a possibility if the flip-flopping ends up on the right side.
Ugh, what an awful, awful choice.
He hasn't compromised, pandered, or engaged in negative campaigning. He and his supporters should be proud of the campaign so far, and I hope he decides to stay in. I think the adage "anyone willing to do what it takes to become president is unfit for the job" applies to Senator Thompson.
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
http://thehinzsightreport.com
www.theminorityreportblog.com
www.race42008.com
www.fred08.com
Game over?
Not in this lifetime.
We still have plenty of conservative candidates - just look around the postings - that's what they keep telling us Fred supporters!
If McCain is the nominee it will be a redux of the Bob Dole candidacy (war hero biography, except conservatives didn't really dislike Dole, he just wasn't that exciting.) In other words, and we've heard it from South Carolina today, that this election, it's McCain's "turn" (as if that's a legit reason to nominate someone.)
McCain may turn out to be the last Republican standing, but his main selling point will be his biography because he lacks true conservative principles. McCain won't lead a conservative revolution and won't fight that hard for conservative principles (if, in the very unlikely event, he is elected.) He'll be Arnold in the White House.
The main reason that his nomination will be '96 all over again is due to the number of conservatives that will stay home on election day because there really is no rationale for his candidacy. He'll be a foreign policy candidate in a domestic policy election. His tax cut rhetoric just isn't believable and guys like Rick Santorum know of which they speak when they say McCain doesn't want to fight the libs on social issues.
He will also sell the country down the river on global warming, he finds free political speech to be abhorrent and, of course, he thinks the way to build the party is to import a bunch of poor illegals (a natural Dem constituency) into the country. And just wait until he nominates a "consensus" pick to the supreme court.
I didn't start this out to be an anti-McCain rant, as it isn't personal, and if he gets the nomination, I'll hold my nose and vote for him, but he just isn't that inspiring of a candidate and I strongly feel that a lot of conservative Republicans won't even bother to vote, which of course, affects candidates down the ballot and gives the White House to the Dems on a silver platter.
________________________________________________________
Halls of Justice Painted Green, Money Talking.
Power Wolves Beset Your Door, Hear Them Stalking.
I really like Fred, and hope he stays in (in spite of the fact that he's pulling votes from my guy.) I'll out myself as a Huck supporter, but I could have enthusiastically voted for Fred. In fact, I know lots of Romneyites who also had Fred as their number 2. I don't know any McCain supporters (after he called everyone who opposed amnesty lazy bigots he was kinda off the Christmas card list around here.), but if I did, I'm sure Fred would've been their fallback as well. And therein lay the problem.
I wanted Fred, I waited for Fred, I begged for Fred, but by the time I got Fred, I was a Hunter guy. I suspect that like the post says, that was the problem.
Next January, as hillary removes her hand from the Bible having been sworn in as the 44th President of the United States, remember this day.
For it was today the race was lost.
Fred Thompson's performances have been disappointing, to say the least!
http://OsiSpeaks.com or http://OsiSpeaks.org
With malice towards none, with charity for all, with firmness in the right as God gives us to see right.
Your comment epitomizes what is wrong with the Republican Primaries. They are filled with voters like you that are far more concerned with how a message is delivered than the actual message itself. McCain and Huckabee will lead us to ruin.
Many of you wanted so badly for Fred to go all the way that the pain is palpable to see his campaign so badly managed. Truth be known that Fred is indeed the closest thing we have to the complete package. If an election is to be decided solely by the head, Fred should win handily but all too often the heart plays an important role too.
It's obvious that Fred and Huckabee attrack the same voters. It's unfortunate but Huckabee has a huge advantage being such a vocal evangelical.
So for the benefit of us who dislike Huckabee for several reasons that have been explained here on Redstate, Fred needs to stay in the race till Huckabee's finished.
------------
Conservatism is about empowering people to do the work, not the government!
I tend to believe that, despite *anything* a given campaign can do -- despite *any* amount of money, one of the major hurdles a given candidate has to overcome is the influence of the MSM. To be sure, it is not the only hurdle, but I rank it pretty darn high.
FDT's campaign has a near insurmountable disadvantage over the "leading" candidates: MSM coverage (good, bad or indifferent). Being the most solidly conservative candidates in the field, I think neither Fred Thompson nor Duncan Hunter could ever buy enough airtime to overcome the MSM's total exclusion and/or lop-sided coverage of the candidates. It's as if the MSM decides who is going to be represented as the "leading" candidates and then plans/directs coverage accordingly. The more coverage, the more voters are exposed to a candidate. The more voters are exposed to a candidate, the more attention that candidate gets which increases opportunities to sway those voters. I tend to see campaign stops as (primarily) preaching to the choir -- most in attendance are already fans of the candidate.
The Blogosphere is the only viable alternative to the lop-sided MSM; however, the blogosphere has not yet matured enough to garner a sufficient "viewership" that can compete against the MSM's dominance. Until the alternative media can compete for "viewers", then the MSM has a the lion's share of attention and therefore, has the most influence over voters.
Bleh...
I hope FDT stays in until the convention.
-TS-
--
What can not be remedied, must be endured.
We don't get to pick our battlefields. Instead, we adapt to win on the battlefield that fate forces us to fight on.
The first thing the Army teaches you to do, when you get a new mission, is to analyze the battlespace in which you have to fight. What's the terrain like? What's the character/nature of the local population? What kinds of weather will we encounter. THEN, you craft a plan that can win in that environment.
The implied task behind that is---if you and your organization are currently NOT organized to succeed in that environment, then you must adapt and reorganize so that you CAN succeed there. If, for example, you take a mechanized Army to a part of the world where you need to fight a win-hearts-and-minds counterinsurgency to win, then you get out of your tanks and mingle with the people.
If, on the other hand, you insist on charging into battle with the personnel, strategy and tactics you want to have---not the ones you actually need to win on your actual battlefield---then you should expect to fail. (See Brigade, Charge of the Light).
FDT reminds me of the commander of the Light Brigade. He didn't want to have his soldiers dismount, put aside their sabers and lances, and adopt tactics that would defeat the enemy before them. Instead, he charged ahead with what HE wanted to do, and what HE felt comfortable in doing. And the other candidates blew him away.
I share Jeff's frustration. Thompson acted as if he could ignore the characteristics of the "battlespace" that is the 2008 GOP primary. He acted as if he expected the GOP political world (and the MSM that covers it) to reform themselves to his standards and then come to him.
What hubris. What thoughtlessness. How very, very reckless of him.
Now, unfortunately, his window of opportunity is most likely closed. That leaves the rest of us to pick up the pieces and do the best we can.
What I read in Jeff's piece is frustration, at what could have been, if only FDT had fought this fight the rational way. Instead of the Fred way.
"Who will stand/On either hand/And guard this bridge with me?" (Macaulay)
that I was mean about Fred. I've had time to consider it and, after a couple of interesting discussions yesterday, I feel like I was immature. What I had to say could have been better said if I'd put more thought into it and my attitude yesterday was 90% personal life stuff and only 10% tiredness of what I felt was a crazy primary. I take full responsibility for it and none of it reflects on my husband who was busy playing Guitar Hero in the other room. I'll try to be nicer and work on my internal censor.
"I'm just beginning...The pen's in my hand...Ending unplanned"
Again I don't think this as been a great week for some folks.
As per my earlier post I think its just a question of timing - heck we know he didn't do as well as he could've.
Heck just give us a day to drink/curse/etc and get our heads straight. I think that's the issue. Plus sometimes the tone was a bit harsh. Probably wouldn't matter - but again timing.