R4’08s Tommy Oliver reported yesterday that Fred Thompson’s non-campaign campaign suffered the loss of his non-campaign campaign manager yesterday. Now, Marc Ambinder reports on another loss for Team Fred:
The day after his would-be campaign manager was replaced, Ex-Sen. Fred Thompson has another senior staff position to refill.
J.T. Mastranadi was hired just a week and a half ago to be the campaign’s director of research. He resigned this morning, a friend of his said. The friend said that Mastranadi was “fed up” with the “lack of structure” and was unclear about his role in the coming campaign…
Mastranadi was a former NRSC research director and is considered one of the best investigators in the business. Most recently, he worked with Thompson friend David Bossie on an anti-Hillary Clinton documentary.
The flubbing of his announcement date, his decision to stay out of the race until September, the rumors that he has raised less than $3 million in June, and now facing resignations and frustrations from within his own campaign before it even starts does not indicate any signs of upward trajectory for the Thompson campaign. For their part, the campaign responded by saying:
“Everything is on track,” Rozett said. “Friends of Fred Thompson continues to add people.”
[UPDATE: According to MSNBC's First Read, sources in the Thompson campaign say his June fundraising numbers will come in "in the range of about $3 million" and that fundraising after that in the summer has dropped "markedly" from even that disappointing total ($5 million was the publicly declared goal). Additionally, sources from Thompson's campaign say his wife Jeri is too controlling and has every decision being run through her at the moment. She apparently has her hand in every part of the campaign, from hiring to salaries to scheduling, and even down to the color of bumper stickers they make.]
July 25th, 2007 at 1:11 pm
“Everything is on track”…for a train wreck.
It does appear that Thompson has peaked. His campaign is stalled – with no signs of real upward movement in either state or national polls. He has little money, and, appearently, a less than steller campaign organization. Add to that the lack of any real record or experience, and its a wonder Thompson is still talking about getting in.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:13 pm
Thompson’s Big Mo has ended in a Big NO
July 25th, 2007 at 1:21 pm
It doesn’t look like this team is ready for prime time. I guess that’s why he’ll see us all in September.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:23 pm
I have said this allllllll along. Nobody listens to me
July 25th, 2007 at 1:35 pm
KT… I said it all along!
All media hype… no real substance.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Like a previous article has said, “We can get insight into a potential administration by observing how their campaign is run”. (paraphrase).
http://www.wtopnews.com/?nid=213&pid=0&sid=1195206&page=2
I just don’t see Fred as an executive. You would think that he would have a much greater presence in his campaign. IMHO, it just appears he is hoping that everything falls into place taking a more reactive approach.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
Hear ya Jake. If you ask me, him and his “babe” of a wife are quite an odd couple. She also seems to be way too power hungry.
July 25th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Yes it seems like everyone is quitting because he is letting ‘Jeri’ interfere with the campaign…..She’s Yoko!
Honestly, if we needed any confirmation that Fred Thompson can’t manage his way out of a paper bag, all this turmoil in his campaign organization is it. At least John McCain’s organization took 7 months to fall apart, his took minus one month.
Compare the impeccable management of Rudy and Romney’s campaigns and you get a sense of what a fool Fred Thompson is. It’s like night and day….
July 25th, 2007 at 1:50 pm
Just to keep the comments here balanced. You all must admit that Fred’s up-shoot was due to the lack of enthursism of the Republicans for their candidates. We do have some good men here, but obviously, their messages are NOT getting across, somehow… So far, only Mitt is seeing his trend going upward while the others not (according to pollster.com). It means he has been doing more to get his message across, but still, it is not enough (1 point a month is good, but not fantastic). Well, there also are the 2nd tiers who are climbing (Huckabee and Brownback). But the rest? They really do have a lot of work to do.
July 25th, 2007 at 2:04 pm
http://nymag.com/daily/intel/russ-feingold.pdf
Fred… Busted!!!
July 25th, 2007 at 2:09 pm
Since I’d still like to see Rudy get the nom, I hope that Fred’s balloon stays well enough inflated to keep the deep red SoCons split going into Ultra-Tuesday. At this rate, he’s going to be lucky to hold on to a minimal hardcore regionalist/anti-Mormon segment of the SoCons, and that’s if he manages to an “intelligible” to “uh” ratio significantly higher than in all of his live appearances to date. In the unlikely event that Newt jumps in, that could help achieve the same effect, but I still strongly doubt that the field will widen. I think it’s just as likely (not very) that FDT will conclude the embarrassment of running would be even greater than the embarrassment of changing his mind. The middle decision – a half-hearted run – is still quite possible, though you might need an honest NBA referee to judge the difference between it and a Thompson version of “all-out.” Anyway, enough tea leaf-reading for now…
July 25th, 2007 at 2:17 pm
Somewhere Newt Gingrich is smiling…
July 25th, 2007 at 2:25 pm
I know people keep saying that Fred Thompson’s popularity has been because of dissatisfaction with the current candidates; I don’t think that’s really true. We’ve got 10 candidates (9 now) and none of the lower tier candidates have been able to really move up. Fred’s popularity is simply because of his fame. In my opinion, the only person who has demonstrated that they can win people over with their issues is Mitt Romney, who has consistently grown in national polls and is dominating in Iowa and New Hampshire.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
Check out the pdf Jake mentions….
July 25th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
From MSNBC
Sources close to the presumptive campaign tell NBC News that Fred Thompson’s fundraising is down “markedly.” One claimed it has “slowed down big-time.” The pace is described as a consequence of the delayed announcement to enter the race.”The Friends of Fred, Inc.” will report to the IRS its revenue by July 31st. Sources reveal to NBC News that number will be in the range of about $3 million. Five million dollars had been the talked-about June goal. Sources describe an early burst of donations in June and say the summer fundraising has fallen off. While additional fundraisers are planned, sources say the scheduling of fundraisers was “frozen” for a time while the team was going through some internal strains.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
I’m putting a huge short position on Thompson at http://www.intrade.com...
July 25th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
MattC, regarding the update…looks like there’s now two women running for President.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:15 pm
Fred has done little to no work to get such high national polling that one must wonder if Fred thinks he can just coast to the nomination. I’m a Romney fan and this is good news for me, but it’s going to take a lot more rather large mistakes before Fred really starts to topple. Right now Fred is just too hyped for his own good. Let’s hope this lack of organization leads to bigger problems in the future for the Fredster.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
By the way, those fundraising numbers are really dismal for Fred. Especially given all his hype and “man meets his moment” hype.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Ben,
The sooner he gets in the sooner we’ll be rid of him. I guess he thinks if he hides in his basement long enough he’ll be able to ride the wave of religious fervor right into the white house…or maybe his wife is getting tired of seeing him do little to nothing.
It is also amusing that he replaced his top guy with another lobbyist. You would think that he would be a little more sensitive considering how people feel about WA and lobbyists. Talk about giving the DNC more fodder.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:28 pm
from Jim Geraghty at National Review:
‘By the way, naming Spencer Abraham, former senator and Secretary of Energy, as one of the new leaders of the campaign left some readers saying “uh-oh” and some readers scratching their heads. I felt it was like a President naming Michael Jordan as Secretary of State – you know the individual is talented, but you have little or no criteria to know whether those talents fit the position. We know the last time he himself won an election was in 1994.’
July 25th, 2007 at 3:29 pm
also from Jim Geraghty at National Review:
‘The fine, bright, hardworking folks on Team Thompson are trying their darnest to persuade us that everything is going according to plan. I understand they’re just trying to do their jobs, but… not announcing until September is part of the plan? (Remember, Fred talked about tossing his hat in the ring back in early March. Six months of testing the waters?)’
July 25th, 2007 at 3:31 pm
bjalder26, be it far from me for the best person to anaylze this race, but I am playing with polls here. Let us look at the individual state polls. Outside of the south, Fred pretty much rated at low single digit (NH at 4%, for instance). But when it comes to southern states, Fred is giving Rudy a run for his money. So, I can only come to conclusion that the southern states who have been a bit more attentive to their sons and daughters in the Capitol are keen aware of Fred Thompson’s service to the country. Those people do know sufficiently the going-ons in Washington, and they would know what to look for in each candidate. Somehow, they are not seeing what they are looking for in the other candidates. They already knew somewhat of Fred’s voting records. If that was not the case, then why has Fred jumped to front-line with no effort on his part?
July 25th, 2007 at 3:39 pm
Ouch! Jeri having her hands in everything cannot be good. The campaign moves fast — you have to reply quickly to the attack, you have to be everywhere at once in order to appeal to public and to get a penny or two. Having another decision-maker can only slow you down. Get rid of her! No disrespect for her personally.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
From adulation to interest, from interest to sympathy, from sympathy to pity, from pity to scorn.
FDT better do something very smart very soon.
July 25th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
The South already had Huckabee in the race; Thompson’s rise in the South is because of his fame, not his positions. When they get to know his positions, we will see how they vote. I think they will see Thompson as a social moderate or liberal much like Giuliani.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:03 pm
bjalder26, true, Huckabee should be their ideal candidate, since you cannot do better than getting a peacher to lead (for Religious Rights anyway). But yet, somehow, his number does not weigh in (pun intended). As for Fred himself having the fame, how did he establish it? Some of us believe it is because of his acting, but I think it is because he is renowned for fighting on the side of conservatives (or federalism as the case actually is). They knew he will fight well. The question of the day is, what is he fighting for? And is being a great boxer enough to be a leader, too? Yes, I agree with you that he is no where as skilled or effective as some of other candidates we currently have (especially when he needs to have his wife second-guessing him at every turn).
July 25th, 2007 at 4:26 pm
SGS,
The Jeri story is obviously not helpful. It will probably bring more attention to the age disparity thing which I would think is most unwelcome, if anywhere- his own base. The “old enough to be her father thing”.
I’m not judging.. but I believe it will for some, have an ick factor.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:37 pm
ScottD,
You know, I don’t think the “old enough to be her father thing” is the damaging part of all this. IMHO, the damaging part is that Fred’s wife appears to be running circles around him trying to manage his campaign, while poor Fred just wants to take a nap. It’s the “effort disparity” and “motivation disparity” that is more harmful.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
bjalder26: Romney is consistently moving up in the polls??
I haven’t seen a candidate stagnate more than Romney. Like Bill O’Reilly would say, lay off the cool aid buddy.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:42 pm
Jeri is also bringing the co-presidency thing up (shudder). It just seems from the outside looking in that she is making all the decisions and he is the face the public sees.
July 25th, 2007 at 4:48 pm
Tom,
See here for the facts on Romney’s slow and steady rise in national polls and Rudy’s steady drop as of late: http://www.pollster.com/08presidentialprimary.php
Of course, it’s largely irrelevant (this being a national trend). But bjalder26 is right.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:01 pm
…Romney’s slow and steady rise in national polls and Rudy’s steady drop
Yeah, at that rate Mitt ought to break 25% by sometime during Hillary’s second term, and Rudy will be the most hated man in America…
Mitt COULD stage a major breakout, or he could tail off, but I feel I can safely say that, clearly, if present trends continue, present trends won’t continue.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I suspect that as Fred’s numbers come down, Romney will eventually increase in the polls.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
CK,
Just pointing out who is and who is not drinking cool aid. I was certainly not trying to extrapolate future polls based on current national trends…there’s probably not many worse indicators.
This entire discussion will be moot following Ames, debates, and especially after the January primary states.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
[...] Oh well. Race 4 2008 has more. [...]
July 25th, 2007 at 5:30 pm
I’m very likely to vote for whoever the Republican nominee is in 08′. And I was extremely receptive to Fred some months ago. But, I think he’s really blown this. Because, I’ve been so thoroughly unimpressed with this non-campaign of his, that if I’m voting for Fred Thompson next November, I’m going to be extraordinarily depressed.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:55 pm
murphy,
Let’s look at the polls conducted after the first GOP debate in early May; when even political junkies had just begun following the Race for 2008 in earnest.
Romney pulled in 10% in the CNN poll and registered 12%, according to Rasmussen.
In mid-May, there were four polls (three from Rasmussen, one from CBS/NYT) in which Romney received 15 or 16% of the vote. That marked Mitt’s apex.
However, in the last five polls, completed between July 15th and the 23rd, Romney has garnered 8%, 8%, 9%, 8%, and 11% respectively (averaging 8.8%).
Over a month has now past since Romney received more than 11% in a non-Rasmussen poll.
The former one-term governor from Massachusetts is not rising slowly and steadily in national polls.
You could more reasonably argue, as Tom has, that Mitt is stagnating, but even that’s a kind assessment. Romney’s national numbers, over the past three months have hit a wall and, if anything, are trending downward this month in relation to his June polling figures.
July 25th, 2007 at 5:59 pm
Understod, murphy – just trying to keep it real over-interpretation generally – nothing personal. IMO your image and analysis in re napping Fred and busy Jeri, for instance, was much more devastating than any polling trends could be at this stage. Still, it will be interesting to see whether the drip-drip-drip of negative publicity in re Fred is reflected in upcoming polls, since national polls, even when they qualify as snapshots, will tend to lag.
July 25th, 2007 at 6:17 pm
Where’s Jim?
Jim? Where are you?
July 25th, 2007 at 6:26 pm
He’s dead, Jim.
July 25th, 2007 at 6:52 pm
Aron,
I’m just looking at the pollster graph, and obviously not puting the level of effort into this as you are.
Whether Romney is slowly rising in national polls at a rate of 5% a year, or whether he has hit a wall, is IMHO completely irrelevant. MattC had a nice post on this a few weeks back.
July 25th, 2007 at 11:48 pm
[...] http://race42008.com/2007/07/25/tension-and-another-resignation-at-team-thompson/Â MattCÂ 7-25-2007 [...]
July 26th, 2007 at 1:57 pm
[...] yesterday it was Thompson’s lead opposition researcher, J.T. Mastranadi, who was “fed up” [...]