The Daily Background

Well this is a bit embarassing. The Fred Thompson campaign, which has tried very hard to escape the now-conventional wisdom that he’s holding off announcing so he can raise money (sorry no link but I’ve read about how his aides are furiously denying the suggestion). It now seems increasingly clear however that money is indeed the reason Thompson has held off announcing:

Fred Thompson plans to announce Tuesday that his committee to test the waters for a Republican presidential campaign raised slightly more than $3 million in June, substantially less than some backers had hoped, according to Republican sources.
[…]

Some are already saying a prospective Thompson run is a flop. “I just don’t see it anymore,” said a key Republican who had been extremely enthusiastic about a Thompson candidacy.

Another report:

“The Friends of Fred, Inc.” will report to the IRS its revenue by July 31st. Sources reveal to NBC News that number will be in the range of about $3 million. Five million dollars had been the talked-about June goal. Sources describe an early burst of donations in June and say the summer fundraising has fallen off. While additional fundraisers are planned, sources say the scheduling of fundraisers was “frozen” for a time while the team was going through some internal strains.

It seems the man who has been called The New Slightly Younger McCain* is a worse fundraisier than the Old McCain (old… no pun intended). No doubt the other Thompson is feeling a bit better about himself.

*Okay, nobody’s called him that but me. But still, his Senate record is quite similar to McCain’s, and he had pretty much endorsed him in 2000 for the election, and he’s seen as another McCain without the war support baggage.

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