Fred Thompson Blogosphere Effect
How does Fred Thompson’s net-centric campaign effect the blogosphere and the Republican Presidential race?
If Thompson goes the “travel little but make up for it with big gulps of the internet” he won’t win the nomination. Iowa and New Hampshire voters are spoiled. They expect and demand candidates suck up to them in person in private homes and at town hall meetings. How can a candidate have a good ground game when the he doesn’t bother covering much ground?
The Thompson campaign should look at Sen. Barack Obama’s efforts to unite online with grassroots campaigning:
Jerry Saavedra played the role of an Iowa farmer, while Trakia Thomas was cast as a volunteer for Sen. Barack Obama’s presidential bid.
They sat facing about 50 people—mostly college students—and pretended to have the sort of conversation that will play out thousands of times in Iowa living rooms and coffee shops.
Saavedra, 25, talked about the need for affordable health care and his desire to see more corn turned into ethanol. Thomas, 27, primarily listened and plugged Obama’s Web site, just as she had been instructed.
Welcome to Camp Obama, where community-organizing techniques have replaced basket weaving, campaign strategy has been substituted for swim lessons and a corn-based fuel additive popular in Iowa beats out roasted marshmallows.
Obama’s campain takes the Howard Dean, M.D. passion and adds traditional campaign tactics. The human touch is combine with the web as a resource and central community point. It sure beats the Deaniacs from across the country writing letters to Iowans to support their man.
I agree with Allahpundit that a net-dominated Thompson campaign would give a needed lift to the right blogosphere:
Forcing Republican voters (and especially “money people”) to pay more attention to what’s going on online is all to the good for conservative blog readership. It may not win him the nomination but it’ll win us all some extra traffic and influence. Long may he run.
It would certainly build up the skill sets of conservative online activists. For that alone Fred Thompson’s run would be welcome.
This analysis is predicated on Thompson running a 21st Century version of William McKinley’s campaign. Fred has surprised up so far with his creative use of the internet along with the groundswell his potential candidacy has created. He may surprise us again with a hard-charging campaign style.
“Fred’s Net-Centric Campaign: Good News for Us or Bad News for Him?”
UPDATE: John Fund comments of Thompson’s potential innovation:
Mr. Thompson will run an unorthodox campaign, one that will challenge the conventional wisdom about how to run for president. Even if it proves unsuccessful, it’s useful for a candidate to occasionally come along and ask if the rules everybody is following were made for a different time and new approaches are appropriate.
That attitude is part and parcel of the innovation and injection of new blood that animates so much of American life, and from Barack Obama on the left to Fred Thompson on the right, it’s a healthy development that this year’s presidential election is seeing different kinds of candidates.
“Right Said Fred” [via Instapundit]
Sean you make a good point. All of us that support Thompson in the blogosphere love that he is active in the online community. However, the election can not be won on the internet, but only aided. I don’t think it is too late for Thompson to get in the race, but I think he needs to start rubbing elbows with those in the early primary states.