Pure Horserace: Like Mike? How About Fred?

Should The Field Be Worried About All The Fuss Over Non-Candidates?

(CBS)  The Washington Post had some tongues wagging this morning with renewed speculation that New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg might be tempted to take some of his personal fortune and spin the wheel of a third-party presidential bid. The mayor himself has expressed no interest publicly, but that isn't stopping some who are familiar with him from continuing to talk about it.

The Bloomberg story comes amid a recent flurry of activity among non-candidates. Al Gore was treated almost like a head of state last week when he testified before Congress on climate change. Newt Gingrich has teased Republican activists hungering for a true-blue social conservative by saying he'll make a decision late in the process. It seems like everyone is pining for a knight in shining armor these days to save us from the long, hard campaign slog we seem stuck in.

While these scenarios may be no more than wishful thinking for political junkies, one relatively recent trial balloon is meeting with some interesting reaction. The American Research Group polled voters in both Iowa and New Hampshire last week and found a surprising level of interest in the possible candidacy of former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson among Republicans in those states.

There has been a public effort of late on the part of some Republicans — most notably former Sen. Howard Baker, Thompson's political mentor — to coax the actor and former politician into the race. According to the ARG poll, Thompson, now on TV's "Law & Order," is as popular a choice as Gingrich, if not more. And, like Gingrich, he has expressed some interest.

With his name added to the mix, Thompson comes in third in Iowa (albeit a distant third) and is virtually tied with Gingrich for fourth in New Hampshire (again, far behind the leaders). What does it all mean? Not a whole lot for Thompson just yet — but the fact that a new would-be candidate pops out of the woodwork every couple weeks should have everyone just a little nervous about campaign overload.


Rudy Is On The Air: CBS deputy political director Steve Chaggaris reports Rudy Giuliani hit the radio airwaves today with a spot inviting listeners of Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity's talk shows to visit his new Web site. From the ad:

My campaign is about leadership and optimism. We need strong leadership to stay on offense in the war against terrorists. We need supply side policies and reduced government spending — fiscal discipline — to keep the economy growing. I need your support in this campaign. Please go to JoinRudy2008.com to sign up or volunteer.

The Games Begin: This is the last week for presidential candidates to raise money for inclusion in crucial first-quarter fundraising reports, and, as expected, campaigns are playing an expectations game to make sure that no matter what number they report in the next two weeks, it'll look impressive.

Take, for example, Republican Sen. John McCain, who over the weekend was not shy about downplaying his early fundraising successes. During a campaign swing through New Hampshire, McCain told reporters he had gotten off to a late start compared to his GOP rivals. "We started late, our money raising, and we're going to pay a price for it because we got off to a late start," the AP quotes him as saying.

Of course McCain's campaign won't be shy in raising expectations about the money-gathering prowess of Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. But don't be shocked if any of these candidates end up with a bit more in the bank than they claim to expect in this all-too-familiar exercise. Makes one wonder — if this is all just a game played on the part of these campaigns designed to help themselves look good and their opponents look less than impressive, why do we spend so much time talking about it? Because it's more fun to talk about their money than to dissect their health care plans.


Like Money In The Bank? With so much attention being paid to California's new role in the presidential nominating process, another of the nation's biggest states is being overlooked. New York is joining California and perhaps as many as two dozen other states in next year's Feb. 5 "Super Duper" primary, and promises to give two candidates an ace-in-the-hole in some respects.

A new Siena College poll shows Hillary Clinton and Rudy Giuliani with big leads in their home state, with Clinton holding a 29-point advantage over her closest Democratic opponent and Giuliani with a 32-point edge on the Republican side. With a large cache of delegates to be had, these two could have a healthy head start for a Feb. 5 showdown that is looming ever larger.


Chuck-Mate? Nebraska Sen. Chuck Hagel says he'll make a decision later in the year about a potential run for president. Increasingly it seems unlikely he'll do so as a Republican candidate should he decide to get in. In politics, pandering is a sometimes unseemly part of the job — but it's probably a lot more effective than offending your core constituency.

Hagel has raised the prospect of impeachment for President Bush in the past, and he didn't back away from that in an interview on ABC. In fairness to Hagel, he did not say it was a course he favored but he did cryptically warn the administration that we don't live in a "monarchy." That's no way to win the Republican nomination.

[forthepeaple]

HOW ABOUT GONZALES AIDE SAYING I TAKE THE FIFTH..NOW THAT SHOULD TELL ALL,EVERYONE THAT THIS ANDMINSTRATION HAS AND WILL CONTINUAL TO LIE TO US THE AMERICANS IF THEY THINK NOTHING ABOUT LIEING TO CONGRSS. SO ALL OF YOU AMERICANS THAT WANT THE SAME TO HAPPEN AGAIN JUST ELECT ANYONE THAT IS RUNNING RIGHT NOW....THEY ARE IN IT AS DEEP AS THE PRESIDENT...SO GO AHEAD LET OUR GOVERNMENT GO RIGHT DOWN THE TUBS,WITH OUR COUNTRY RIGHT BY ITS SIDE...SHAME,SHAME,SHAME ON ALL YOU AMERICANS...

[pakaal]

This story cracks me up. The pundits keep asking why the presidential race has started this early and why there are so many contenders - c'mon, the answer's obvious, we all want Bush the H*ell out of office, like, right now!

[dallison7]

What fun!!

Bush and company intended to make America a one party country... and they have succeeded!!

Piglet Rove NEVER EXPECTED to lose in 2006!! LMAO!!

Remember Rove saying, "I HAVE 'THE' MATH!!
ROFLMAO!!!

[dallasmsl]

Run Fred! Just for the fun of it. Take money away from other real contenders.

[scott4261]

On a purely superficial level, though, here's an interesting fact: No bald man has won a Presidential election since the advent of television. Eisenhower was bald, but television was just starting to catch on while he was already President. So...and this is only a hypothetical...just suppose John Edwards is the Democratic nominee running against either Rudy Giuliani or Fred Thompson...

Edwards has beautiful hair. Giuliani and Thompson have no hair. Edwards wins in a landslide!

I told you it was a really superficial exercise!

[scott4261]

A huge portion of the religious nutcase right will simply not vote if Rudy Giuliani gets the GOP nod. Many of them do not yet know his positions on social issues. But once they do, they simply will not support someone who is pro-gun control or pro-choice...or who views a gay person like me as a human being and deserving of any rights. I hope he is the nominee, though, because the Democrat will win in a landslide! If they lose their nutty base, they've already lost!

[randalds]

Oh this is just almost too funny - I love seeing the Born-Again-Religious-Right lining up behind Rudy -- he's so slimey and sleazy and trashy that of course they were destined to want him -- the sleazier and the slimier the better for these yabos!!

Posted by NYCKATE at 04:42 PM : Mar 26, 2007

It is hilarious how quickly they sold out their supposed "family values" in order to get behind someone they think can win no matter that he's been married 3 times, is pro-choice and pro-gay rights! LOL! Proves how hypocritical they are. They don't care about what they preach about, they just want the power and the money they fleece off from their flocks of idiotic sheep.

[nyckate]

Oh this is just almost too funny - I love seeing the Born-Again-Religious-Right lining up behind Rudy -- he's so slimey and sleazy and trashy that of course they were destined to want him -- the sleazier and the slimier the better for these yabos!!

There's a reason the Fox News Show is more like the National Enquirer than a real news show - Murdoch knows his audience - they like trash!!

[randalds]

I hope they all run! The muddier the republican water the better! LOL! What a bunch of clowns! The party is in such bad shape that any republican thinks they have a shot at the nomination. I'm surprised Nixon hasn't crawled out of the grave to run again too!

Of course not a one of them stands a snowballs chance in hell of winning in 2008, but it sure makes the race more comical!

[scott4261]

LOL! Please! Make me laugh some more!