. . . it begins.

The "I'm With Fred" slogan/identifier is very clever, reminiscent of "Join Arnold," or "I Like Ike." And using it as the site's URL is another way of separating F. Thompson from the rest of the pack.

Hackbarth is concerned about how the Fred! strategy will affect the primaries:

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 question becomes: how addicted are voters in Iowa and New Hampshire to having their asses kissed? Or, to put it less bluntly, will they get enough hard data on where Fred stands to feel comfortable voting for him without a lot of hand-holding? And if they are accustomed to acting as the presidential gatekeepers, can they set their egos aside and vote for a man on his merits, rather than based on how much time he spends in their states?

Fred!'s advantage here is the fact that he doesn't necessarily want the job of President: he's being drafted. So an unorthodox campaign might just work. The danger, as I see it, lies in the fact that most people still get their news from the mainstream media rather than the web. And the producers of segments for television like soundbites. They like to send reporters to cover the news on the ground. So people like my mother won't have much of a sense that Fred! is really running, unless he makes a splash despite being physically absent.

The whole thing is a huge gamble, but if Thompson wins, he wins big. A strong showing in the first few primaries despite the "travel little" strategy will be big, big news.

And then the MSM will come to Fred!

Posted by: Attila Girl at 05:35 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment
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