Post by Woody Williams on May 18, 2007 11:35:11 GMT -5
Thompson's stealth presidential campaign
By Bill Theobald, Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — Talk directly to conservative voters by making extensive use of blogs, podcasts and the other tools of the new online political landscape.
Make regular public speeches in key locations to friendly audiences, and take no questions so the message is what you say in the address.
Schedule your appearances to coincide with events involving the 10 declared Republican presidential candidates.
These are three key elements of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson's pre-announcement campaign strategy, which while hailed as highly successful may soon be coming to an end.
The high point of Thompson's stealth campaign may have occurred last week when he scored points with conservatives with his clever online response in a dispute with controversial filmmaker and liberal icon Michael Moore.
Within hours after Moore challenged Thompson to a debate, a 38-second video featuring Thompson popped up on a website.
The Moore-Thompson duel began when the liberal icon Moore posted a letter on his website challenging the conservative Thompson to a debate. Thompson had criticized Moore for traveling to Cuba for a film project.
In the response video, Thompson swings around in a plush leather office chair with a cigar clamped firmly in his teeth, studying some papers in his hand.
"I've been looking at my schedule Michael, and I don't think I have time for you," Thompson drawls.
Within minutes, links to the video had raced around the country's political blogs evoking paroxysms of glee from conservatives that Thompson had stuck it to one of their most hated rivals. The video drew 598,600 viewers on three prominent online video sites at the same time the GOP candidates were having their second debate in South Carolina. That's more than 30 times more than the hottest clip from the debate, according to an analysis by New Media Strategies.
On Sunday Thompson goes back to the in-person strategy, telling the story of his rise from small-town Tennessee lawyer to Watergate prosecutor, to actor to senator, and back to actor to some of the 73,000 people expected to attend the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago.
The speech coincides with the release of a presidential poll in the key candidate-winnowing state of Iowa.
Earlier this month Thompson spoke to a prominent California Republican club the day after the 10 announced Republican candidates debated in California.
As in California, Thompson will not take questions at his Sunday speech. And his representatives asked the restaurant association that there be no audio or video recording.
Thompson's strategy is not unique. But it is one of the longest running and more sophisticated in recent memory, agreed University of Texas government professor Bruce Buchanan, who studies presidential races.
"I don't think it's worked to this degree before," Buchanan said.
In addition to the carefully planned speeches and online appearances, Thompson has the added advantage of appearing repeatedly before millions of potential voters as the tough-minded conservative prosecutor Arthur Branch on the television series Law & Order. And he reaches a wide radio audience with his Fred Thompson Report on the ABC network.
Thompson also has dealt with in advance — a political tactic called "immunizing" — several issues that may be raised during a campaign, most notably his revelation that he has a mild form of cancer.
Upcoming speeches by Thompson include a June 2 address at a Virginia Republican Party gala in Richmond — two days before the next GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire.
While the Thompson stealth strategy appears to be successful, its usefulness may be reaching an end.
Negative comments about a Thompson bid have begun. Some have criticized his recent speeches and his refusal to answer questions. Thompson declined to comment for this story.
Bruce Oppenheimer, political science professor at Vanderbilt University, thinks Thompson is hurting his chances by delaying an announcement. "A candidate never looks as good as before they announce," Oppenheimer said.
Buchanan said recent negative comments are a "danger sign" that mean Thompson should pull the trigger soon.
But the man himself appears willing to take his own sweet, Southern charmer, time.
"It's too late for me to play by the old rules even if I want to and I don't want to," Thompson said of his strategy — in one of his online interviews.
By Bill Theobald, Gannett News Service
WASHINGTON — Talk directly to conservative voters by making extensive use of blogs, podcasts and the other tools of the new online political landscape.
Make regular public speeches in key locations to friendly audiences, and take no questions so the message is what you say in the address.
Schedule your appearances to coincide with events involving the 10 declared Republican presidential candidates.
These are three key elements of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson's pre-announcement campaign strategy, which while hailed as highly successful may soon be coming to an end.
The high point of Thompson's stealth campaign may have occurred last week when he scored points with conservatives with his clever online response in a dispute with controversial filmmaker and liberal icon Michael Moore.
Within hours after Moore challenged Thompson to a debate, a 38-second video featuring Thompson popped up on a website.
The Moore-Thompson duel began when the liberal icon Moore posted a letter on his website challenging the conservative Thompson to a debate. Thompson had criticized Moore for traveling to Cuba for a film project.
In the response video, Thompson swings around in a plush leather office chair with a cigar clamped firmly in his teeth, studying some papers in his hand.
"I've been looking at my schedule Michael, and I don't think I have time for you," Thompson drawls.
Within minutes, links to the video had raced around the country's political blogs evoking paroxysms of glee from conservatives that Thompson had stuck it to one of their most hated rivals. The video drew 598,600 viewers on three prominent online video sites at the same time the GOP candidates were having their second debate in South Carolina. That's more than 30 times more than the hottest clip from the debate, according to an analysis by New Media Strategies.
On Sunday Thompson goes back to the in-person strategy, telling the story of his rise from small-town Tennessee lawyer to Watergate prosecutor, to actor to senator, and back to actor to some of the 73,000 people expected to attend the National Restaurant Association show in Chicago.
The speech coincides with the release of a presidential poll in the key candidate-winnowing state of Iowa.
Earlier this month Thompson spoke to a prominent California Republican club the day after the 10 announced Republican candidates debated in California.
As in California, Thompson will not take questions at his Sunday speech. And his representatives asked the restaurant association that there be no audio or video recording.
Thompson's strategy is not unique. But it is one of the longest running and more sophisticated in recent memory, agreed University of Texas government professor Bruce Buchanan, who studies presidential races.
"I don't think it's worked to this degree before," Buchanan said.
In addition to the carefully planned speeches and online appearances, Thompson has the added advantage of appearing repeatedly before millions of potential voters as the tough-minded conservative prosecutor Arthur Branch on the television series Law & Order. And he reaches a wide radio audience with his Fred Thompson Report on the ABC network.
Thompson also has dealt with in advance — a political tactic called "immunizing" — several issues that may be raised during a campaign, most notably his revelation that he has a mild form of cancer.
Upcoming speeches by Thompson include a June 2 address at a Virginia Republican Party gala in Richmond — two days before the next GOP presidential debate in New Hampshire.
While the Thompson stealth strategy appears to be successful, its usefulness may be reaching an end.
Negative comments about a Thompson bid have begun. Some have criticized his recent speeches and his refusal to answer questions. Thompson declined to comment for this story.
Bruce Oppenheimer, political science professor at Vanderbilt University, thinks Thompson is hurting his chances by delaying an announcement. "A candidate never looks as good as before they announce," Oppenheimer said.
Buchanan said recent negative comments are a "danger sign" that mean Thompson should pull the trigger soon.
But the man himself appears willing to take his own sweet, Southern charmer, time.
"It's too late for me to play by the old rules even if I want to and I don't want to," Thompson said of his strategy — in one of his online interviews.
