Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson attends the Prescott Bush Awards Dinner, in this May 24, 2007 file photo, in Stamford Conn. Thompson will take a step toward a formal presidential candidacy next week, an official with knowledge of the plans said Wednesday May 30, 2007. (AP Photo/Douglas Healey, File)Well, it appears that actor/politician Fred Thompson is starting his own 2008 presidential run. From MSNBC News:
Fred Thompson makes it (more) official. According to a campaign source, the former Tennessee senator and actor on NBC’s “Law & Order” will file his FEC papers officially on Monday June 4.
In FEC parlance, Thompson is opening a "testing the waters" committee, a technical term that allows Thompson to forgo filing a detailed report on June 30 – though once he's an official candidate, he'll have to file retroactively.
The June 4 filing will be coordinated with a first-day fundraising blitz with 100-plus "First Day Founders" raising a significant one-day sum in order to send a we're-in-the-first-tier message.
The campaign tells me the "first day" blitz totals they report will be "cash" actually raised, not pledges. The source didn't dispute the notion that the one-day goal would be north of seven figures.
As for his "why I'm running" announcement, it is set for sometime later this summer, in July.
A campaign source wouldn't confirm the public reports of a July 4 weekend date.
I'll be honest, it is not a big surprise that Fred Thompson is running for president. Thompson knows that the GOP voters are disgusted with the current crop of candidates running--Rudy Giuliani is too moderate, Mitt Romney is a Mormon, and John McCain is a total GOP ass-kisser. The rest of the candidates don't have the name recognition that the three current front-runners have. When you look at the May 24, 2007 CBS News poll, 57 percent of Republican primary voters want more choices for the GOP presidential candidates, as compared to 35 percent of Democratic primary voters wanting more choices for Democratic presidential candidates. In addition, the CBS News poll reports that 21 percent of Republican voters want someone else, or none of the above, when matched up with the three Republican front-runners. When you look at The Polling Report results on the Republican nomination, Thompson places in third or fourth place at 8-10 percent of the vote--either in front of or behind Mitt Romney. And even going through all the different GOP polls here, there is still a good 18-25 percent of the Republican voters who are still unsure of who to vote for. I should also point out that there have been stories reporting that conservatives are disappointed with the current crop of GOP presidential candidates. So it is no surprise that Thompson is considering a GOP presidential run. What is important to understand here is that Thompson is playing coy with the media on whether he will run or not. In playing this "Well I'm still undecided" game, Thompson can keep the mainstream media political pundits speculating on when will Thompson run, or how a Thompson campaign will affect the current Republican or Democratic races. The mainstream media will keep his name out in the news, while Thompson can concentrate on fundraising, and organizing his campaign staff for the next couple of months. Then on the Fourth of July weekend, Thompson can make his big announcement on running for president.
And we will have 11 GOP presidential candidates running.
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