( – promoted by Colorado Pols)
As usual the Weekly Standard’s Hayes is the first one with all the goods. June 4th is fund raising and hiring start, and it looks like the rumored July 4th will be the campaign announcement date.
Thompson addressed a group of more than 100 supporters and fund raisers whom the campaign has dubbed First Day Founders. He told them that he would be setting up an organization that will allow him to begin raising money and recruiting staff.
In official campaign finance parlance, the move represents a shift from “giving serious consideration” to a presidential bid, as Thompson said he would do back in March, as a non-candidate, to a “testing the waters” period where one is, in effect, a candidate-in-waiting with a campaign-in-preparation. Thompson advisers point out that the new testing-the-waters entity is not quite a campaign committee, though it will officially begin accepting contributions on June 4.
One rumor making the rounds last night anticipated an official announcement in his hometown in Tennessee in a month–on July 4th. Independence Day could be Announcement Day.
More at my blog, and a link to the full article as well.
Questions: How does this impact the Republican filed? Who does it kill off?
Colorado question: How does a grass roots candidate affect Bill Owens and the top of the party, who have sold themselves to Romney?
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Within a month he’ll be one more uninspiring Repub candidate and the base will be desperately looking for a savior. (Except for those who think he is the character he plays on Law and Order.)
Ronald Reagan he ain’t.
If he’s the Republican nominee, Hillary or anyone else will clean the floor with him.
All those quotes the Republicans had about John Edwards being too inexperienced in 2004 will come right back at them. Thompson had one lackluster term as a do-nothing Senator. He’s lazy. He also doesn’t speak well off-the-cuff.
(Keep in mind that the Dem nominee only needs to win one more state than John Kerry won in 2004! How hard is that going to be?)
as for doing nothing, wasn’t Thompson a co-sponsor on McCain-Feingold-Thompson, a/k/a as simply “McCain-Feingold?” Then again, in the GOP, that probably loses him more votes than it gains…..
We have dealt with cancer in the family and what I find fascinating is that cancer is not even being discussed in the context of the presidency. In our family, cancer haunts our lives.
Thompson is in remission with a very serious form of cancer…the name of which, of course, escapes me. But McCain and Guiliani also have been treated for cancer, melanoma and prostate. Kerry had prostate cancer treated during the actual 2004 race. The treatment for cancer can have consequences for future health, including the ability to think clearly, handle stress, and memory.
I think Thompson will hurt Gilmore the most, at first. Gilmore is a nasty talking, self proclaimed conservative who goes after Romney and Guiliani for not being conservative enough. When Gilmore drops out, and I think the advent of Thompson will cause him to do that, who will attack Romney and Guiliani? Ultimately, the Dems will be hurt, even though I don’t think Thompson will get the nomination.
bill owen who?
about his cancer publicly, and apparently it is a very mild and controllable form of lymphoma that is in remission. He may not get the nomination, but he will be a fine addition to the Republican field.
Its at my blog – I have very detailed info there on the diagnosis, treatment and prognosis.
http://coloradoansfo…
To save you the clicky, here is the summary paragraph.
Fred Thompson was diagnosed in November 2004 with nodal marginal zone lymphoma, an indolent B-cell lymphoma. Nodal marginal zone lymphomas account for only 1% all Non-Hodgkins Lymphomas(NHL). It was treated with rituximab, he is in remission. Fred Thompson himself says “I have had no illness from it, or even any symptoms. My life expectancy should not be affected.” Furthermore, “he is no longer in treatment as he is in remission. Doctors cannot currently detect the lymphoma by physical examinations or scans. Senator Thompson has never been physically ill or had any symptoms from his lymphoma or had any side effects from the therapy.” Bruce D. Cheson, M.D. Professor of Medicine Head of Hematology Division of Hematology/Oncology.
“rituximab”
Thats not Chemo. Its a genetically targeted anti-cancer anti-viral type of treatment.
So no chemo side effects.
Once the photos of Fred Thompson with his teenaged wife begin to circulate, everyone will be too creeped out to consider him seriously.
By Hollywood Republicans’ standards, though, Fred’s squeaky-clean:
Rudy Giuliani marries and then divorces his cousin….John McCain divorces Wife Number One and then marries Number Two who is about 20 years younger than him……Newt Gingrich keeps trading his wives in for younger models (and in one case, sent her packing while she was being wheeled out of the operating room for cancer surgery)…….and of course, Mitt Romney’s grandfather was a polygamist.
And now you’re telling us that Thompson has a child bride? The Party of Family Values indeed!
I love how we have to go back to Romney’s grandfather to find some family values dirt on Romney
My 90 year old father got the butt probe last week and was found to have a malignant tumor. Looking at options. He is otherwise very healthy. However he has rapidly escalating Alzheimer’s, so there are some ethical and quality of life issues here. Surgery always has its risks.
In 1960 the doctors opened him up for some ulcer removal and they found his abdominal cavity loaded with cander nodes. They were all excised and they gave him six months.
His father died of throat/stomach cancer in 1950. The hospital sent him home because he couldn’t pay for treatment.
My mother has had a mastectomy and a kidney removed.
I swear, if it wasn’t for cancers, we’d live to 120!
as for the cancer question, how can that disqualify him? The two top contenders at the present (McCain and Giuliani) both are cancer survivors.
I do think that the medical issues around cancer and specifically around the side effects of treatment ought to be put on the table by the candidates. Reagan had colon cancer when he was in office. Cancer is real common. We should talk about it realistically.
As for Thompson, I understood he was in remission with a fairly serious form.
I could be wrong. It should be discussed. PWC…people with cancer used to be shunned and pitied, not that long ago. I don’t think was right. But to ignore the fact that it is a very serious disease and can be incapacitating is also wrong when we are discussing the future of this country.
For the record, I hope I am wrong, but I don’t think Elizabeth Edwards will live to see Christmas.
Last I heard, she hoped to live many years. I certainly do hope you are wrong.
Most forms of prostate cancer (IIRC) are very slow growing and treatable. I don’t think we especially need to worry about that – everyone dies of something. But yeah, if the cancer is likely to cause serious problems in the next four years, it is quite relevant.
Well, it looks like the candidacy it really kills is Gingrich (which doesn’t displease me at all). Thompson steals the “true conservative” mantle from Newt.
Thompson will also pull from dissatisfied McCainiacs due to immigration/amnesty), Giuliani mainly from the “Al Davis” (“Just Win Baby”) Soc Cons who now have a viable alternative, and Romney. For some reason there is not a comfort level with Romney for a lot of people that support him. I guess having been burned badly by one fake conservative (Bush), GOP-ers are getting a bit more cautious.
As for the second tier, Thompson is pretty much stepping on all their air hoses – funding. His entry dries up a lot of what they were hoping to get. Brownback, et al are gone – Kind of a shame – Huckabee was just starting to get traction. The fringe/single-issue guys Tancredo and Paul will hang in there trying to win some oddball reverse American Idol sideshow as the last kook standing.
As for the GOP Colorado impact? Who knows. There only seem to be some paid campaign staff in offices around the Capitol for Giuliani and McCain, and a few Romney people here and there.
I wonder, is there a GOP in Colorado outside of Wadham’s campaign for Schaffer and Owens gallivanting nationally for Romney while the state party rots? Beats me, but I sure don’t see much of a party doing anything. The word “moribund” comes to mind.
He is not Ronald Reagan but instead, he’s Daddy Bush. Dady Bush had his Eureka Moment on the issue of abortion in 1980 when the prospect of being on the national ticket presented itself. Then ten years later, while still professing to be a pro-lifer, he gave the nation David Souter as a Supreme Court justice.
July 4 is not the announce date.
Looks more like July 5-8 time frame.