Pure Horserace: A Nightmare Come True

As Fred Thompson's Entry Nears, Romney Taps Into His Own Wealth

(CBS)  Is Fred Thompson Mitt Romney's worst nightmare?

That might be the case based on Romney's decision, announced Monday, to funnel some of his vast wealth into his already well-funded presidential campaign. Romney spent $2.5 million of his own cash to launch his bid, but since then has proven to be a prodigious fundraiser — in the first quarter of this year, he raised $23 million and is expected to again lead the Republican pack in the second quarter, which ends Saturday.

"One of the things I've had to do that you don't have to do if your name is McCain or Giuliani is introduce myself," Romney said at a news conference attended by The Boston Globe. "It would be nice not to have to loan or contribute to your own campaign, but the reality is if you want to have a strong campaign that gets out there and can talk across the nation, you're going to have to do what's necessary."

Yet not long ago, Romney said it would be a "nightmare" if he were ever forced to self-fund his campaign. On Monday, he didn't deny that spending his own money on his bid was, in fact, a nightmare and will be a recurring one: He's said he'll continue opening his wallet as much as he feels is necessary. (We won't know how much Romney gave to his campaign this quarter until reports come out July 15.)

What has changed since Romney first made his grim prediction about self-funding? On the good side, he's risen to the top of the polls in both Iowa and New Hampshire. But the bad side for Romney is that actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson has emerged as a legitimate threat to Romney's bid to win over conservatives and, therefore, the Republican nomination.

Thus far, the top Republicans in the race — Romney, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani — have all but ignored Thompson's imminent entry. Romney and McCain have been engaged in a back-and-forth on immigration and other issues for weeks even as the latter's fortunes have faded so fast that drop-out rumors have started to spread. But Thompson is a far more potent threat to Romney right now than McCain is, and dealing with that threat will require a lot of money.

Once Thompson formally enters the race, Romney will have to work to both protect his leads in New Hampshire and Iowa and prevent Thompson from overtaking him in other early states — one survey out of Nevada this week already has Thompson leading the GOP pack.

Romney has already said he's in a nightmare. But by tapping into his fortune, it appears he's also preparing for a war. Watching how it plays out may be the top political storyline of the summer, at least on the Republican side — Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, after all, have been prepping for their own war for months. — David Miller


Gearing Up: The threat Thompson presents to Romney and the rest of the Republican field appears finally to be moving from an Internet-based phenomenon to the world of bricks-and-mortar. The Tennessean reports today that Thompson will open a campaign headquarters at a historic building in Nashville. The paper reports that workers could be seen "trimming hedges, sweeping and otherwise sprucing up" the site Monday.

The Tennessean also notes that Thompson will hold his first fundraiser Tuesday night, also in Nashville. After that, the show hits the road, with trips to South Carolina and New Hampshire. Both visits appear geared more toward organizing and introductions to party leaders, rather than campaigning or fundraising — but have no doubt that the foundations for both will be laid during those visits.

To top it all off, Thompson has even won some unlikely endorsements from his ex-wife and a few ex-girlfriends. The Sunday Times of London reports that country music singer Lorrie Morgan and Republican fund-raiser Georgette Mosbacher both expect Thompson to win. His ex-wife, Sarah Knestrick, may go as far as campaigning for him.

Some Republicans feared that Thompson's reputation as a serial dater between his two marriages would hurt him. But it looks like there won't be any scorned women giving tell-all interviews in this case. — David Miller


Ad Wars Expand Eastward: In an earlier Pure Horserace, we commented that John Edwards would have to show his campaign was about more than just winning Iowa if he still wanted to be a top-tier hopeful. Well, today the former senator showed he's taking New Hampshire quite seriously as well by launching a new television ad in the state.

The spot shows Edwards speaking before a large crowd, discussing ending poverty and helping the middle class. It wraps up with his oft-used line, "It's time for the president of the United States to ask Americans to be patriotic about something other than war."

This ad could be about more than just improving Edwards' poll numbers in New Hampshire, where he's running in third place. It could also show potential donors that, despite some negative fundraising buzz going into the quarter's end, Edwards is still running an active campaign in the two most crucial states on the map — a move that could net him some last-minute donations. — David Miller


Uncooked Rice In '08! One of the lesser-known aspects of election administration (and there are many) is the task of translating ballots into different languages so that naturalized citizens who haven't fully learned English can still vote. But as The Associated Press points out, that can lead to some interesting interpretations, especially for non-Western languages.

For example, when Mitt Romney's name is converted into Chinese characters, it ends up translating roughly to "uncooked rice" or "sticky rice." Fred Thompson becomes "virtue soup." And Barack Obama — which presents enough challenges in English — becomes "Oh Bus Horse."

So if you're looking for a meal in a major city's Chinatown district and see a sign advertising virtue soup, you might want to double check that it's not a Thompson campaign rally first. — David Miller


Editor's Note: Pure Horserace is a daily update of political news as interpreted by the political observers at CBSNews.com. Click here to sign up for the e-mail version.

[horse3farm]

hopetrumps.....

You consider Clinton sleeping with his aid a scandal?....doesn't even compare to the Republican bull...t over the last 7 years.

Learn the facts..there is no other person in this country as knowledgeable about foreign relations...and anything else for that matter....than Bill Clinton.

It's people like you who elect scary people.
All the republican candidates are scary individuals indeed! Romney? Holy wars on the horizon. Guiliani...zero foreign relations knowledge..just like our current commie President. McCain....gag me.

You better do some more thinking...if sleeping with your aid was the only thing Bush had ever done.....geez, give me a break.

[mommajomma-2009]

hey horse3farm. give me a list of foreign relation experience that bill clinton brought to the job in 92. and protesting the viet nam war on foreign soil doesnt count.

[brianbwb-2009]

No one spends the kind of money the candidates are spending without expecting to make a profit. This guarantees that there will be massive corruption by whoever gets the bid. Salaries of presidents and vice presidents for the four year term cannot begin to cover the costs spent becoming president.

Romney spent 2.5M just to to launch, and then announces he wants to spend more? How long will it take to recoup his investment without corruption? Hmmm, lets see...

Never.

So either he's corrupt, or willing take a substantial loss of money to further his personal agenda. Either way, it spells more trouble for the USA.