Thompson Blames Media For Denting His Campaign
ANDY MEEK | The Daily News







STEP RIGHT UP:
A Fred Thompson supporter sells
campaign buttons recently on the town square
in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.,
the hometown
of the former T
ennessee U.S. senator and
University of Memphis graduate. --
PHOTO BY ANDY MEEK





Following Saturday night's debate in New Hampshire, Fred Thompson left his fellow Republican presidential candidates behind and headed south.


Tonight, all eyes will be on the first-in-the-nation presidential primary contest held in the Granite State. But Thompson, the former Tennessee senator and University of Memphis graduate, will be watching the contest unfold from several hundred miles away, in South Carolina.


That state's primary, which will take place next week, will be the first opportunity for Thompson to test his appeal among Southern voters. It's also where Thompson is staking the future of his unconventional, once-promising presidential bid.


Thompson said that's partly by design and partly the result of a national press corps that never gave him a fair shake. Media coverage of his campaign also touches a raw nerve among Thompson's hometown supporters in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.


And they jump at the chance to rush to the defense of their native son.


"I still think he's got good a chance as anybody else" to be president, said Jerry Hughes, a former schoolmate of Thompson's who runs a small gift shop in the former senator's honor on Lawrenceburg's town square. It's called Thompson Station.


"Fred's not as aggressive as some of the other candidates," Hughes said. "He's more laid back. It's just his nature. He's a steady Eddie."



'Just Fred'


Thompson may be laid back, but the townsfolk in Lawrenceburg practically seethe at the treatment they believe journalists have subjected him to.


Upon his return to late night television Thursday, for example, talk show host Jay Leno worked a jibe about Thompson's third place showing in last week's Iowa caucus into his opening monologue. During a recent skit on Saturday Night Live, a Thompson impersonator intoned to the camera: "How badly do I want to be your president? On a scale of one to 10, I'm about six."


A highly regarded national political pollster told The Daily News privately that Thompson more than likely will get out of the presidential race by the end of this week and that little has gone right in his campaign since its inception.


Perhaps as an example of that, Thompson's campaign recently failed to collect the 500 signatures needed to get him on the ballot for Delaware's Feb. 5 primary.


In a recent interview with The Associated Press, Thompson mused that from the beginning of his campaign expectations for him were set unreasonably high. And political observers had a larger-than-life, unrealistic ideal of the man who refers to himself as "just Fred."


"I know that I don't fit the stereotype of a lot of people's notion of the perfect candidate," he recently told the AP. "They expected me, some in the media expected me to be well-scripted and slick and I am neither. I'm just Fred. What you see is what you get."



Now take that, y'all


Most political pundits see South Carolina as make-or-break time for Thompson's campaign. Hughes bristled at the notion.


"If he wins South Carolina, ya'll will have a new hero," said the founder of Thompson Station, where visitors can buy all manner of Thompson trinkets, including $1 bumper stickers and $8-$15 T-shirts. "Ya'll have a new hero just about every day."


Anne Morrow, Thompson's cousin who's also the events coordinator for the town, concurred.


"The press has also gone a long way in hurting Fred, as many of the major stations have discounted him from the beginning and some don't even mention him being in the running," she said.


During an interview broadcast Sunday morning on the weekend edition of NBC's "Today" program, Thompson fumed at incorrect media accounts of his campaign. He especially blasted a report that picked up steam before the Iowa caucus, which cited anonymous Thompson staffers as saying he would call it quits following a poor Iowa showing.


"The lesson there ... is that the news media really ought to check these stories out and take my word for it," he said.


When prodded for more specifics, Thompson added: "I owe you nothing, frankly, in that regard, and I'm not going to say any more about it right now."

http://www.memphisdailynews.com/Editori ... ?id=100530



This ALIPAC member has posted this entity be it editorial opinion, news article, column, or web creation as information for the General Population (public) only. It is not intended as an endorsement for this candidate by this poster. Its use here has not been anticipated to be used as, or used to discredit any candidate mentioned herewith.