Thompson eyes August kick-off
Thompson is likely to launch his presidential bid in August.
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is now likely to announce his presidential campaign in August, not mid-July as previously envisioned and will skip the Republican straw poll in Ames, Iowa, people familiar with Thompson's thinking tell CNN.
The campaign-in-waiting is still being put together, and Thompson supporters say they want to have "100 percent" of the staff in place by the time of the announcement.
"Expectations are through the roof," said one source. "We have to match those at every level. . . . We have to be more ready than any of these other guys.”
Republican presidential candidates Rudy Giuliani and John McCain both announced in June they would skip the Iowa Republican party’s presidential straw poll, scheduled for August 11.
Thompson created a state-level presidential exploratory committee in Tennessee in June.
- CNN Senior Political Correspondent Candy Crowley
I'm trying to find out what is so appealing about Fred to Republicans who view him as the second coming of Regan.
Per Greenwald:
"Here is Thompson's biography - his own official, endorsed version. He's been a government lawyer, an actor and a Senator. Though Thompson does not mention it, he also has been - for two decades - what a 1996 profile in The Washington Monthly described as "a high-paid Washington lobbyist for both foreign and domestic interests." This folksy, down-home, regular guy has spent his entire adult life as a lawyer and lobbyist in Washington, except when he was an actor in Hollywood.
And - like the vast, vast majority of Republican "tough guys" who play-act the role so arousingly for our media stars, from Rudy Giuliani to Newt Gingrich - Thompson has no military service despite having been of prime fighting age during the Vietnam War "
I'm more than ready to join Thompson's campaign. He is the one breath of fresh air in the whole election season.
I predict Thompson will be even quicker than McCain to implode. You heard it here first.
He's big because he hasn't declared. He's going to get ripped apart.
won't the longer he waits help the others in gop 08 race more? because I think every one else has TV ads in primary states ect.
What happens if he drags this announcement into october nov. and december holidays time frame.
Hey, wasn't Fred Thompson part of the watergate affair with Nixon? Do a google and see for yourself.
And don't believe his "constitutional conservative" rhetoric either. His voting record says otherwise.
He is a just an actor brought in to help ailing republicans.
This guy is a joke.
This man is a fossil. Who cares what he thinks! Whatever's fermenting inside his Permian skull is out of step with the immediate needs of this country.
Good Luck with that Sen. Thompson.
You'll most likely all you can get.
Please look at what this guy has done for the United States. It is absolutely nothing.
Thompson's got potential, but I still think Giuliani and McCain are the GOP's best chance next November. They've got crossover appeal that Thompson probably doesn't. Time will tell.
He is skipping Iowas straw poll becuase he cannot catch Romney.
Problem is if he skips the straw poll he never will catch Romney.
This guy is the next President.
I wish he would just make the announcement so I can officially say I will not support his campaign or vote for him should he win the Republican primary.
In a perfect (political) world I would wholeheartedly support Thompson's candidacy. I think he has strong leadership qualities and an intellect sadly lacking in the current incumbent. However, this being the real world, the Democrats will route Republican candidates next year, and Thompson, if nominated, would go down hard. Hopefully, he and his advisers will see the writing on the wall and announce that he will, after all considerations, not run.