Apparently, former U.S. Senator and actor Fred Thompson thinks there are things more important than...say...actually declaring his candidacy and appearing in a debate with his fellow Presidential hopefuls.
Thompson will not be on the stage at the University of New Hampshire's Whittemore Center tomorrow night for the GOP Presidential Debate. Instead, he will be in Los Angeles, California taping an appearance on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno."
That's right, Fred will be in the Golden State to sit on the sofa next to former Pittsburgh Steeler Jerome Bettis and singer Travis Tritt instead of in the Granite State telling us why he should be President of the United States.
Thompson's communications director, Todd Haris, seems to think it's the right strategy, however:
"There have been a million debates already and there are going to be a million more," Harris said. "And people are going to see Fred Thompson out there, mixing it up with the other candidates, mixing it up with the media, engaging the voters. They are going to see months and months and months of that."
In the meantime, Harris said, "it makes a lot of sense" for Thompson to appear on the Leno show instead of the GOP debate because the candidate will reach "everyday normal Americans who don’t live in the 202 area code."
Last time I checked, Todd, New Hampshire's area code was 603 and not 202. There are plenty of everyday, normal Americans in this state who will be watching tomorrow night's debate...and your guy would rather be chatting it up with Jay Leno for ten minutes.
There haven't been a million debates. There have been less than ten. The calendar has started earlier than it ever has but the electoral contests are also earlier than they've ever been before. Now, with approximately four months left until the first votes are cast, there's not a whole lot of time left to "press the flesh" in New Hampshire and Iowa. What's Fred waiting for...Thanksgiving??
Thompson's campaign is playing a continual prevent defense right now. Instead of coming out and playing to win, they're trying to play "not to lose." The problem is, the longer Fred waits to get in this thing officially, the more he seems like he can't make a decision.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com
