The American Spectator

Jennifer, James and Phil: Any thoughts on what Fred’s fundraising numbers mean for his “official” entrance into the campaign?

I don’t see how can he can afford to hold off his announcement for more than another two weeks. The positive buzz he has generated by being a “non-candidate” candidate is over. It has been killed by an inept blunder on abortion that turned what should have been a two-day news story into a two-week one and then the shake up in his staff. Now it is clear they didn’t raise enough money in June to be able to say, “Look how good we are doing even though our candidate hasn’t entered the race.” Indeed, quite the opposite.

For a candidate that’s already in the race, this would be the time to start a new advertisement campaign or roll out a new policy proposal so as to stop the negative train in its tracks. Problem is, Thompson can’t do either of those since he’s not officially in the race.

Thompson needs to make it official, and during his speech announcing his intent to run he needs to outline his agenda for America, much like Rudy’s twelve principles. This would get the positive press flowing again and help turn his campaign back in the right direction.