Republican Fred Thompson made his first visit to New Hampshire as a presidential candidate this weekend. While actor and the former Tennessee senator predicted he’d take the Oval Office, his late-breaking campaign faces some basic challenges.
New Hampshire Public Radio’s Josh Rogers has more.
Fred Thompson had some things going for him at his first New Hampshire campaign stop. He was appearing a farm owned by a prominent republican family; and stepped off his bus to a warm welcome from hard-core GOP activists.
Clapping
Thompson was quick to tell the crowd some of what they hoped to hear.
"I understand some folks have been looking for me I want to tell you I ain’t going to be hard to find from now on. I am going to be here early and often, talking about the things that I think are important to America’s future and I think that are important to folks in NH."
The candidate went on for another 15 minutes. He spoke of low takes, federalism, enforcing the law, and most starkly, about the threat of terrorism.
"We face a global enemy that plays by no rules and has no conscience. Iraq is a part of that problem but it is not the totality of the problem."
Thompson gave no hint of a specific Iraq policy nor did he spell out any proposals to make the nation more secure. He did, however, say the first step is to galvanize the American people.
"We must express the determination that we in America are united as a people. And determined to prevail not only in Iraq but in the global war on terror."
Thompson’s more immediate challenge will be to unite NH republicans…….His top rivals have been at that for months -- with large staffs and networks of volunteers. while polls suggest the bulk of local GOP voters remain undecided, that’s less the case among the party stalwarts crucial mounting a successful campaig here. (amb) Most of the crowd at his kick off speech came for a chili feed put on by a local republican group…..and many had signed on with Thompson’s rivals months ago.…..Even Bill Cahill, an adviser who’s likely to play a key role in Thompson’s local effort, admits the candidate has his work cut out for him.
"I mean the conventional wisdom is, he’s in too late. The fact is we’ll see, we’ll see if he’s in too late."
Cahill adds that the campaign will spend the next few days drafting a battle plan and recruiting local operatives. According to the state’s Republican Party chairman, Fergus Cullen, Thompson won’t be choosing from the cream of the crop.
"Well, as someone who’s in the market for hiring in-state political talent, I can tell you that everyone worth hiring and some who aren’t are already on somebody’s payroll."
But others, like self-described Fred-head Steven Smith, who ran a local recruit-Thompson website, say Thompson’s substance and star-power have already won him plenty of loyalists. He says their enthusiasm will more than make up for whatever they may lack in pedigree.
"We’ve know about a hundred people that actively will do things for his campaign, just regular people. They’ll go out and hang signs and go to events, they’re pretty enthusiastic."
But whether Thompson can inspire, let alone sustain, enthusiasm among voters remains the key question…….More than a few said Thompson, who did not take questions form the audience, left them underwhelmed. Phillip Tisdale is an undecided republican from Exeter.
"What did he say? We’re going to keep America safe, yeah, that needs to be said. How are you going to do that. Gee, I think we all have core values. Yeah, we do. Well, what’s your point? I kept waiting to hear I’m special, different, better because. There is no because."
The final stop on Fred Thompson weekend visit was Nashua. He’s appeared at City hall, alongside Mayor Bernie Streeter, who’s already endorsed Arizona senator John McCain.
