So Fred is finally announcing and some on the Conservative side of the aisle appear to be piling on. Most of the complaints stem from the fact that he didn’t show up for tonights debate but rather will announce on Leno. Oh, and the fact that the inside man Fred and his wife recruited to come onboard the campaign a little under a month ago has been let go….not a good sign:
We’re hearing Mark Corallo, formerly Fred Thompson’s chief spokesman and his right-hand man when it was just a bunch of folks around a kitchen table – is out. There has not yet been a response to inquiries from Corallo himself — and I’m always hesitant to write about a personnel move without hearing from the figure in question, I’d hate for somebody to learn about their job status from this blog — but too many reliable sources in the Thompson orbit are saying this for this to be a nonsensical rumor.
One of the shames of this shocking personnel move by Team Thompson is that we won’t get to see what Mills, a legendary producer and off-camera reporter on Capitol Hill, could do on the other side of the microphone. One Thompsonite described him as "the anti-Kevin Madden (Romney’s spokesman)… Everybody has these slick spokesmen, and we were going to have the guy who was extremely well connected and trusted by his former colleagues."
The Fox News article notes:
Mills, a long-time Capitol Hill producer for FOX News, was told he was being let go on Friday. A little over a month earlier, Mills was personally recruited and hired as spokesman by Fred and Jeri Thompson at their dinner table.
Needless to say, the people who were involved in recruiting Mills have been left in a position well beyond awkward – you persuade a man with a sterling reputation to leave a secure job and step into another field, and within a few weeks, he’s dismissed. If that is what is spurring the public complaints from a "key founding Fredhead" to Fox, it’s hard to blame that person.
Now we all know that campaigns go through lots of turmoil in getting their personnel just right but for this to be happening this late in the game is quite telling. But still, judging from the debate tonight, where some of the candidates jumped all over Fred, these guys may still be taking Fred a bit too lightly. Sure, there is some behind the scenes stress going on but I really don’t think they should underestimate Fred. Even with all this going on I believe he will have a good showing.
If nothing else his candidacy ensures that Rudy or Mitt can’t be considered frontrunners. It’s a real horserace now folks.
UPDATE
From Freds Website:
- Fred will be chatting with Jay Leno on The Tonight Show which airs at 11:35 PM ET.
- At 12:01 AM ET tomorrow morning watch Fred announce he’s running for President by webcast.
- Later Thursday, join Fred supporters all over the country in the National House Party for Fred. The highlight is a conference call with the Senator himself.
- Also tomorrow, Fred will be talking about his announcement, the great reaction he’s getting, and the important issues facing America with Sean Hannity on Fox News Channel at 9:00 PM ET.
Plus his campaign has some great blogs gathering questions for Fred to answer:
Fred’s running a different kind of campaign. Part of that is hearing from you. Fred wants questions from Americans. And not softballs. Fred knows there are pressing issues facing our nation and wants to hear your concerns.
We’ve gotten some great weblogs to help us sort through them. Go to GraniteGrok, Weekend Pundit, Instapundit, Right Wing News, Captain’s Quarters, or Redstate and leave a question. The webloggers will sift through the selections and send the best ones to Fred. While he’s on the road he’ll answer a few daily by video which we’ll post to the Fred File.
The cowboys here at Flopping Aces would of loved to host some questions also but we can’t compete with the big fellas. Have a question for Fred please visit one of those sites and leave it. Maybe you’ll get lucky.
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I’m wondering if the enthusiasm for Fred hasn’t waned a bit with all these early missteps? First he was going to announce July 4th and then all these people keep coming and going from his non-campaign.
In my view he squandered quite a bit of the early energy needed to get a late campaign up and running.
If he makes a good showing in future debates (isn’t fox having another one in late October?)and performs well in campaing events with large crowds he might recapture some of that lost “buzz.”
I hope I’ll have the chance of meeting him when he comes to South Carolina.
P.S. After watching the GOP debate last night, I can say that Ron Paul is an even BIGGER NUT than I first thought! He would strip away ALL our defenses (get rid of FBI, CIA, Homeland Security, withdraw military) and just wait for us to get attacked.