The media seems to have picked
their Republican candidate of the moment. James Carney of
TIME is typical, asking, "
Is Fred Thompson the G.O.P.'s Savior?" He begins by listing off the Republicans' troubles and ends by answering his own question with a shrug. "Who knows?" he might as well say, "But we sure like to talk about the big guy."
Carney writes:
[M]any Republican faithful, from the grass roots to the Capitol, have concluded that Fred Thompson, the preternaturally avuncular actor and former Senator from Tennessee, is the cure-all for their party's ills. Thompson has yet to enter the presidential race. He has, in fact, postponed until after Labor Day an official announcement that was supposed to be made in July. And yet Thompson already shares front-runner status with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in some national polls of G.O.P. voters. "People are not inspired; everyone's flat-lining," says Ken Duberstein, former chief of staff for Ronald Reagan. "Right now, Fred is all things to all people. Everyone's waiting to see if he can live up to expectations."
Yeah, it turns out he can't and isn't. That's probably why the announcement that was scheduled for this month has been put off until the end of summer -- although Thompson's staff spins it in the opposite direction. "Sources close to the presumptive campaign tell NBC News that Fred Thompson's fundraising is down 'markedly,'" reports
NBC's Kelly O'Donnell. "One claimed it has 'slowed down big-time.' The pace is described as a consequence of the delayed announcement to enter the race."
See how that works? Effect precedes cause. The announcement wasn't delayed because of poor fundraising, poor fundraising is because of the delay. It begs the obvious question; if it wasn't the fact that Thompsons' campaign is cash poor that delayed his campaign, then what the hell was it?...
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