On TownHall we've got people attached affectionately to the different campaigns for President in 2008. Ruffini is part of the Giuliani team, Matt Lewis went and got folksy with McCain's Straight Talk Express this weekend, Hugh wrote the book for Romney (and Dean is another hardcore fan).
So let me be the single contrarian and take up the resident RUN FRED RUN spot in the lineup.
I've not been shy about my admiration for him. I also think he's been quite strategic in how he has gone about getting his branding into the debate.
But poll numbers as have started to come in recently, (tied with Romney in Iowa, passing him in Ohio, tied with Hillary, taking votes away from the GOP big three) and to then realize the man has yet to put up an advertisement, walk a precinct, attend a conservative conference etc. - you start getting the picture of a man with "real timber" (as Hugh Hewitt offered on my show yesterday.)
To have the chance to sit-in for Paul Harvey nationally is not insignificant either.
And here's the one thing that I think Thompson has that the others don't. Simplicity - INTELLIGENT simplicity. It's hard to wade through the marathon length lists of explanations about why we're supposed to accept McCain's explanation on McCain/Feingold, Rudy dressing in drag, or Mitt's 11th hour conversion to what so many saw so easily as the truth on the issue of life - with no conversion needed.
With Fred - its pure meat and potatoes. And its good...
Mind you - we need to see him in the debates. Will he be willing to make the three dozen phone calls an hour for the next 6 months to raise the money he would need?
Its all yet to be determined... but the new GALLUP poll puts him in third place all by himself, eating up some 13% points from Giuliani, and practically wiping Romney off the map. (3% with a 3% margin of error)