Former Senator and actor Fred Thompson formally announced his candidacy for President on Jay Leno’s Tonight Show — following in the footsteps of California Governor Arnold Schwarzenneger who found the venue a lucky one to announce his own intentions:
After months of false starts, staff shake-ups, and questions about the seriousness of his intention to run for president, Fred Thompson rolled out his presidential candidacy this evening with a two-pronged, guerrilla-style entry into the race that sought to take the spotlight from his Republican opponents as they squared off in a debate.
Choosing “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno†to declare “I’m running for president of the United States,†Mr. Thompson said, “I don’t think people are going to say, ‘That guy would make a very good president but he just didn’t get in soon enough.’ â€
Mr. Thompson’s announcement, which has been expected for months, was released to reporters about an hour before the other Republican candidates took part in a Fox News-sponsored debate in the early primary state of New Hampshire. But as if to poke fun at his opponents, he ran an ad, titled “Debate,†that appeared directly before the Republican candidates took their places to face live cameras in a much more traditional political ritual.
In a dark suit with the backdrop of an American flag, Mr. Thompson said in the advertisement: “On the next president’s watch, our country will make decisions that will affect our lives and our families far into the future. We can’t allow ourselves to become a weaker, less prosperous and more divided nation.â€
He then directed viewers to his Web site, Fred08.com, where he will give details of a platform and his reasons for entering the race.
Was it a wise move?
Probably. There are now so many debates between the two parties that it’s coming close to where networks may well simply want to allot time for weekly series. And while debates are watched by many Americans, and scrutinized by the press and webloggers, the impact of an individual debate is not quite what it used to be. So Thompson will take some heat for skipping the debate and be the subject of a few jokes but is unlikely to lose many votes due to it.
On the other hand, late night TV ain’t what it used to be in terms of viewer ship or impact. And would Thompson reach the voter demographic he needs to reach FASTER on the Tonight Show or in a debate? The Tonight Show is a more controlled environment. And running a totally controlled ad is something of a masterstroke.
No matter what, now Thompson’s other shoe has dropped. He is IN...which means he is in for it: he’s now fair game and is going to be peppered with all kinds of questions by the news media and his Republican opponents — who have also read all of the media stories suggesting the GOP faithful sees certain things in Thompson that they don’t see in them. So they will try to help voters unsee those things — and see other things. And Thompson will take a lot of heat from the media, some Republicans and some Republican voters if he doesn’t meet callenges and respond to questions or issued raised headon.
The word his supporters and even some journalists who have met Thompson is: Reaganesque and charismatic.
If he hits homeruns as he now runs out onto the field, he could be a real player. If he stumbles his opponents and the press will be all over him and he may not have the luxury of three strikes and you’re out.
SOME ADDITIONAL NEWS MEDIA STORIES:
—The Washington Post:
Before his campaign had even really started, Fred D. Thompson replaced two managers, disappointed supporters excited about his prospects and gave sometimes rambling speeches that made some wonder if his Hollywood experience simply didn’t translate to the stump.
It’s a description that could apply to Thompson’s sputtering presidential exploratory efforts this summer, but it was also the reality he faced as a Senate candidate in Tennessee in May 1994. And while rivals and critics are eager to paint the often chaotic walk-up to today’s official announcement of his presidential bid as a sign of things to come, they may be missing the lesson of the 1994 campaign, when Thompson shook off his early troubles and cruised to victory.
His spot will encourage voters to turn to his site www.fred08.com (which ahead of the announcement was redirecting visitors to www.imwithfred.com) to hear details of his declaration and his platform, before he drives home the message–and hopefully drives up his Internet traffic–with an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno, taped earlier in the evening.
“The opening is there to be the consensus conservative,” said Republican pollster Tony Fabrizio, who is not working for any candiate in the primaries. “The question is, can [Thompson] step into that, can he make that a reality?”
His leading opponents, former Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani of New York and former Gov. Mitt Romney of Massachusetts, have faced troubles explaining liberal and moderate stands they once took in their home states, particularly on abortion. Thompson has portrayed himself more consistent on conservative dogma.
But Thompson faces questions of his own. In the 1990s, he was a paid lobbyist for a family-planning group that was seeking to ease restrictions on abortion counseling. He also has written on candidate questionnaires that abortion should be legal in the first three months of pregnancy and, in general, should not be criminalized.
As a senator from 1994 to 2003, he voted along anti-abortion lines. This year, he has repeatedly called for reversal of Roe vs. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that legalized abortion.
By the time the “official” official announcement gets rolled out, Thompson will be hoping his moment won’t have passed. There’s a fine line between anticipation and apathy. As George McGovern famously said after his “Come Home America” speech at the 1972 Democratic Convention was delayed because a raucous hall had gotten out of hand: “We were prime-time in Guam.”
So, is the online medium now the accepted form of declaring political intent? Certainly Thompson isn’t the first–Democrat Hillary Clinton, the former first lady, announced the forming of her exploratory committee with a Web video, sections of which were then subsequently replayed on news shows. Thompson’s announcement tape, similarly, is providing set-up material for the morning broadcasts.
UPDATE: Here’s his campaign announcement video:
Communication skills do help and he has them. But he has little leeway to stumble and in trying to gain the support of the GOP base he could chase away the independent voters who helped the Democrats win Congress in 2006.
Joe Gandelman is a former fulltime journalist who freelanced in India, Spain, Bangladesh and Cypress writing for publications such as the Christian Science Monitor and Newsweek. He also did radio reports from Madrid for NPR’s All Things Considered. He has worked on two U.S. newspapers and quit the news biz in 1990 to go into entertainment. He also has written for The Week and several online publications, did a column for Cagle Cartoons Syndicate and has appeared on CNN.