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Thompson’s N. H. window closing |
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By Sam Youngman
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Posted: 10/24/07 07:35 PM [ET] |
A key supporter to former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) joined a rival campaign Tuesday morning, telling The Hill that Thompson is clearly not intending to campaign seriously in the first-in-the-nation primary state.
Former state Rep. Dan Hughes was in line to serve as Thompson’s state chairman, but Hughes said Tuesday he is joining Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) campaign as state vice chairman instead.
Thompson’s apparent reluctance to campaign in the Granite State has rubbed many voters and officials there the wrong way, and it could get worse. One source told The Hill on Tuesday that Thompson is not planning to file to run there personally, sending a surrogate instead.
“It looks like their campaign was probably going to be a page out of the George Bush campaign, where you lose New Hampshire and concentrate on South Carolina,” Hughes told The Hill. “I don’t want to be a token chairman for a token campaign.”
Hughes said Thompson’s decision in early September to announce on “The Tonight Show” with Jay Leno instead of participating in the Granite State GOP debate the same night was a “big mistake.”
That mistake was only compounded by the campaign’s decision to cancel a mid-October trip, which would have been only his second trip to the state since he announced.
In a state where voters are accustomed to personally asking presidential candidates detailed policy questions not just once, but sometimes two or three times, Thompson’s apparent reluctance to campaign there does not sit well.
The Thompson campaign would neither confirm nor deny Thompson’s plans to send someone to file on his behalf before the Nov. 2 deadline, but one source familiar with the plans said the former senator would not be there in person. Filing to run in the old statehouse is a Granite State tradition that carries with it significant free media.
“The people in New Hampshire appreciate a candidate that works,” Hughes said. “When someone doesn’t show up, it hurts their campaign.”
Because of sentiments like that, New Hampshire officials and analysts said Tuesday that Hughes isn’t likely to be the last defection.
Dean Spiliotes, the operator of a website called NHPoliticalCapital.com, said voters who were keeping their powder dry waiting for Thompson are probably tired of waiting.
“They probably think if this is the pace he’s going to improve, [it is] probably a good time to move on to somebody else,” said Spiliotes, a former professor at Saint Anselm’s College in Manchester. “There are not a lot of people up here waiting for him anymore, is my sense.”
Spiliotes and others agreed with Hughes that the Granite State does not appear to be a part of Thompson’s primary strategy. Noting Thompson’s repeated trips down South, they say he is focusing his efforts on South Carolina (Jan. 19) and Florida (Jan. 29).
“It’s obvious that New Hampshire is not a state that is key to his overall strategy,” said Fergus Cullen, chairman of the state Republican Party.
Cullen added that despite Thompson’s mid-September pledge to return often to the state, voters “don’t judge candidates by what they say. [They] judge them by their actions.”
Karen Hanretty, a spokeswoman for Thompson, said the former senator is planning a return to the state in early November, and the campaign still considers New Hampshire “important.”
“We have a great team in New Hampshire that is committed to Fred’s conservative values,” Hanretty said in an e-mail. “Dan Hughes is a great Republican and a friend to many who are supporting Fred’s campaign. We wish him all the best.”
Thompson has been dogged by accusations of laziness that have only increased because of what appears to be a relatively lackluster campaign schedule.
According to a report in the Nashville Tennessean, Thompson told a crowd in Florida: “You can name a lot of places that I haven’t been, and you can name a lot of places that I have been several times. ... The mainstream media, with all due respect, likes to concentrate on the process game on a daily basis, and I can’t get caught up in that.”
Thompson is polling in fourth in New Hampshire with about 11 percent, behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and McCain, according to an average of polls at RealClearPolitics.
Dante Scala, a political science professor at the University of New Hampshire, said one more trip will not likely do the trick.
“Certainly, there’s a perception here that he’s doing virtually nothing in the state, and he’s doing very little to contradict that impression and the clock is ticking,” Scala said. “Let’s say he shows up one more time: So what?”
And if Thompson were able to win Iowa, say analysts, he should not expect momentum alone to win the day in New Hampshire because he doesn’t have any significant staff in place or a grassroots strategy in place.
“You’ve got to have some kind of roots here to grow your campaign,” Scala said. “If the tree’s not in the ground, there’s going to be some kind of limit to the kind of bounce you get.”
But Cullen said it might not be too late for Thompson to win over New Hampshire voters.
“We would welcome him here to start campaigning any day now,” Cullen said. |
