Posted by
JayPeriod on Wednesday, September 05, 2007 10:52:46 PM
A lot has been made of Fred Thompson's decision to wait until after the New Hampshire Republican debate to announce his candidacy for President. Instead of participating in the debate, he has decided to spend a little time with Jay Leno on the Tonight Show. Many have chastised him and doomed his chances for it. I, on the other hand, believe he couldn't have made a better choice.
For one, he has to think about audience. There can be no debate that he will have a far greater audience with Leno. With primaries still several months out, no many are interested in the debates. Therefore, the number of people watching will be relatively small. Compare that to the audience that watches Leno, and Fred will reach a far larger audience.
Second, think about talk time. There are eight men fighting for talk time during the 90 minute debate. Each may get ten minutes, if he's lucky. Fred will get far more than that. He'll get the chance to say what he wants, articulate his thoughts and get his message across, without having to hope for just the right sound bite to get noticed. Those in the debate have to hope that the news mentions something they say.
Finally, there's demographic. Republicans will watch the debate, maybe. Only those who really want to hear what each of the candidates has to say in sound bites will be watching. Yet, people for all demographics, conservative and liberal, young and old, rich and poor will be watching Fred on Leno. He won't look like an insider, either. He'll look and sound like one of us, casual and interesting. The debaters will sound rehearsed and like a Washington insider. Fred has the chance to distance himself from that.
All in all, I don't think Fred could have made a better choice. Remember, he got elected to the Senate by driving around Tennessee in his pick-up truck, wearing a flannel shirt. Fred is great at being an "every man". That's just what he needs to show the country, and that isn't going to happen at the debate. His poll numbers should jump over night. Way to go, Fred!