Fred Thompson’s latecomer strategy could work. Skipping tonight’s Republican presidential debate to instead announce his candidacy with comic Jay Leno on NBC’s “Tonight Show,” combined with running his first television ad during the GOP debate, the former Tennessee senator already has garnered more news media coverage than a conventional launch might have done.
Getting in so late has probably denied Thompson the opportunity to build the all-important grass-roots team that it takes to win the Iowa caucuses, but at least it gives him an excuse for losing (an excuse, by the way, that national front-runner Rudy Giuliani cannot offer for running behind in current Iowa polls). And with the compressed nominating calendar cramming so many states into the first month of next year’s voting, Thompson will have a quick opening to leverage his national fame as a Hollywood actor.
Still, Thompson has to nail the moment with Leno tonight and hit the road with high energy — or risk having this maverick launch seen as little more than a wet firecracker.
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