We may believe that his campaign announcement is far behind schedule, but Fred Thompson's team has been ahead of the game in snapping up internet resources to assist in his campaign.
Yet a late start and signs that Mr. Thompson may adopt an unconventional campaign style — limiting in-person appearances by making extensive use of blogging and online video — could crimp the television actor’s ability to raise money over the long haul. He has suggested he isn’t enamored of leaving his family for long stretches of campaign travel. The question is whether an Internet campaign will help him raise money quickly or leave big donors cold.
While the "money people" are not bloggers, the need to establish an online presence--even for sheer information dispersal, as the mainstream media is all but completely unreliable. The GOP has yet to find its grassroots online--its grassroots operation in "real life" has been too lucrative, at least in prior elections to have a need to go online to marshal an army of phone-bankers and door-to-door volunteers--but with the sudden drop in small time donations suffered at the hands of a poorly-constructed immigration bill, launching a Howard Dean-style "carpet-bombing" donations attack seems like an avenue to try. Big time donors don't go online, online people are not generally big time donors...suddenly Fred is lapping up an untapped resource.
With Fred also being an older candidate--and one whose message has been most adequately conveyed in columns, blogposts and radio interviews--not in big time fundraising speeches. With the addition of internet resources, like his brand new Facebook, his Twitter account, his yet-to-be-launched but much heralded blog, and his already fabulous web-based video, he can send his message to a whole new audience whose buzz electrifies the base. The same grapevine that inspires bloggers and grassroots conservatives to boycott John Kyl for his misguided disruption of an anti-Spam bill, can be harnessed for good. Not to mention the split second response to smear campaigning that starts out life on the DailyKos and other liberal hive centers--damage control with the ease and speed of the internet age. This last one we've seen in action.
Its so crazy, it might just work. And if all else fails, he'll knock our Kucinich knock-off, Ron Paul, from the "internet candidate" podium, and thats a relief we could all use.
