Lessons From Rudy And Fred

  •  February 1, 2008

Strike while the iron is hot!

Remember last year when Fred Thomspon formed an exploratory committee, how
excited a lot of people got that a Reaganeque figure was about to enter the
race? Right around that time, Fred came out with this
short and brilliant video that absolutely smacked down Michael Moore on
freedom of speech that got very wide play and generated a lot of enthusiasm.
Fred should have waited a week for it to simmer down, then reignited the base
by announcing his candidacy. But no, he waited. He skipped the debates. Rumors
swirled about disarray in his campaign. Fred was about ideas, but unfortunately
campaigns are mostly about personalities and rhetoric, and Fred left his ample
theatrical skills hiding in the wings while lesser lights got the applause.
Weeks, and months went by, and everyone figured he was only half-serious about
running, and that is the message that stuck.

Rudy Giuliani was, hard to believe, at one time the presumptive GOP candidate.
He did well on television with his ads and debate performances, but he refused
to actually campaign for any states until the Florida primary this week. He
was looking at second- or third-place showings in Iowa, New Hampshire and Nevada,
so he just decided to write them off and put his resources elsewhere. McCain
and Romney started eating into his poll numbers in Florida, his first and last
stand. A handful of place or show finishes in other states would have kept at
least some momentum and excitement going for him, but instead he just watched
it all crumble. He proved that an all-big state strategy just doesn’t work.

So all you future candidates out there, keep your momentum, seize your moment,
and be wary of cutting corners in your efforts.

Crossposted from Ken McCracken

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  • http://www.mormon.com/ Mittens McHuckniani

    The Rudy lesson: Don't change a crappy comb-over to a crappy comb-back that makes you look like a vulture.

    The Fred lesson: Don't look like a corpse.

  • pparets

    It would be fair to note, in spite of Fred's conservative credetials, that he simply didn't have much interest in campaigning. He was the last to get in and the first to get out.

  • http://www.fred08.com/ Winghunter

    The Mittens Lesson: Only shallow excuses for citizens care what a genuine president looks like.

  • http://insanereindeer.blogspot.com/ Kenny

    The real Fred lesson is this:

    Republicans can be just as bloody stupid as Democrats.

    There was a freaking parade of foolish right wing commentators who, while impressed with Fred's message, proclaimed loudly that they couldn't vote for him, because he didn't have (insert any of the following: the fire in his belly, the desire to be president, an excitement factor, a willingness to play the game, the right timing in entering the race, et. al.). A great many voters were influenced by this and decided that, despite his impressive message, that they too couldn't vote for Fred.

    The constant drumbeat that Fred wasn't getting in quick enough…and that he wasn't "lively" enough when he did get in did more damage to Fred than the "campaign mistakes" he actually made.

  • http://www.fred08.com/ Winghunter

    The constant drumbeat that Fred wasn't getting in quick enough…and that he wasn't "lively" enough when he did get in did more damage to Fred than the "campaign mistakes" he actually made.

    Thanks to the great Liberal media machine otherwise known as the MSM and paid pundits with a little assistance from low-life scum like the AP, Ed Rollins, Dick Morris, George Will, etc…

    Yes, they're still patting themselves on the back in great relief of spin well spun and sheer luck that voters have actually regressed instead of evolving.

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