|
2008 and counting: Thompson faces big Sunday talk show test |
|
By Sam Youngman
|
|
Posted: 11/02/07 07:51 PM [ET] |
|
Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) will undergo a presidential campaign rite of passage fraught with both peril and potential positives when he appears this Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”
Thompson has appeared on Tim Russert’s famed Sunday morning news show nine times, his campaign said, but this will be his first time as a candidate.
Karen Hanretty, a spokeswoman for Thompson, said the ex-senator is grateful for the chance to expand on some issues that warrant more time than debate formats allow for.
“Fred Thompson is a thoughtful candidate who has said many times that debates and 30-second sound bites don’t allow the American public to get to know a candidate,” Hanretty said.
“ ‘Meet the Press’ is one of the most respected political programs in the country, and Fred views this as an opportunity to expound upon why he’s the best person to head the ticket for the Republican Party in 2008.”
Scott Reed, a Republican strategist who worked for former Sen. Bob Dole (R-Kan.), said the show will give the senator a chance to reignite what some see as a listing campaign.
Reed said the appearance “will allow Thompson to not only put some meat on his conservative bones but also put forward some new and bold ideas. He needs to reignite some of the ‘wow’ factor he had earlier this summer.
“Thompson will not sustain these polling numbers without stepping out some and delivering a campaign message,” Reed said. “The Russert show allows his campaign to get a jump on the week.”
Russert has come under fire himself this week, as supporters of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) have been critical of his performance moderating the Democratic debate in Philadelphia Tuesday night. Several Clinton supporters and donors complained Wednesday that Russert unfairly targeted the Democratic front-runner throughout the debate. — Sam Youngman
Date set for Round One between Florida, DNC
Florida Sen. Bill Nelson and the other Democrats suing the Democratic National Committee (DNC) asked for a quick court date last week, and their wish was granted Thursday.
A federal judge in Tallahassee set Dec. 5 as the date for a hearing and arguments in the suit.
Nelson and Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-Fla.) sued the DNC after the committee stripped the state of all its delegates after the Florida legislature and Gov. Charlie Crist (R) moved the primary there to Jan. 29, violating the DNC’s rules.
The DNC filed a motion to dismiss the suit this week, arguing that the state party could hold a caucus to select its delegates later.
Nelson said in a release that a later caucus “also would disenfranchise voters, and cost millions more on top of the primary.”
A spokeswoman for the DNC said Chairman Howard Dean will not be attending the hearing.
— Sam Youngman
EMILY’s List to lump Clinton resources on Iowa
The EMILY’s List turnout operation has decided to focus its efforts in the coming presidential primaries on Iowa, because it views the state as the main area where Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton’s (D-N.Y.) front-runner status is being challenged.
After releasing a poll showing Clinton’s overwhelming strength among female voters in three states voting in the Feb. 5 “national primary,” the director of the Women Vote! program said it had decided, in light of that data, to focus on Iowa.
“The independent expenditure team spent a long time thinking that we were going to be there in the Feb. 5 states,” director Maren Hesla said. “We looked at this data and thought … what we need to do is engage where the battle is most pitched” — in Iowa.
Hesla said Women Vote! will launch a website on Nov. 19 targeting Democratic Iowa women who haven’t participated in the caucuses before.
Clinton is the first presidential endorsement for the political action committee, which supports pro-choice Democratic women for elective office. The Women Vote! program spent $8.5 million in the 2006 election.
The poll the program released Thursday showed Clinton with the support of 52 percent of Democratic women who were likely to vote in Arizona, Georgia and New Jersey. In those states, 85 percent of women had a favorable impression of her — numbers strikingly similar to how they felt about her husband, former President Bill Clinton (D).
The respondents were varied about how important they felt it was to elect a woman, while 68 percent said her gender would make no difference as far as her performance as president.
— Aaron Blake
Edwards launches first Iowa ads; Dodd asks, ‘Why not?’
Former Sen. John Edwards (D-N.C.) launched his first Iowa ad Thursday, and it builds on his campaign theme of leaving a better life for the next generation.
The 60-second spot shows Edwards speaking about his and his wife’s decision to stay in the race after she was diagnosed with an incurable form of cancer earlier this year and features pictures of everyday people who are cast as “heroes.”
The ad coincides with the Edwards campaign’s launch of “American Heroes Week,” which focuses on Edwards’s work on behalf of such people.
The Edwards camp argued that because Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.) have both spent millions advertising in the state already, the close nature of the race bodes well for Edwards.
Senior adviser Joe Trippi said on a conference call that the campaign plans to be on the air throughout the two months before the Jan. 3 caucuses.
Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) also launched ads in Iowa on Thursday. One ad features a clip from a Clinton ad; the other has a debate clip of Edwards. Two men, exasperated by the front-runners, wind up asking, “Why not Dodd?”
— Aaron Blake |
