Maryland for Fred Thompson

Bill Lacy, Fred Thompson’s campaign manager, held a conference call this morning with bloggers in which I participated. Mr. Lacy’s purpose in the call was to give an update on the state of the Thompson campaign as well as a preview of tonight’s debate.

Current State of the Campaign

Bill was very pleased with the amount of money they were able to raise for the 3rd quarter disclosure. They are very confident they have the cash on hand to be competitive and was especially encouraged that they had over 80,000 donors.

They are pleased in how well Thompson is doing nationally in the polls as well as the early primary states. He stressed that it was still too early to place too much weight on polls, but he feels that they show voters are responding very well to Fred’s message despite how he is being portrayed by the mainstream media. Mr. Lacy also feels like the states in the South that received additional delegates (300+ nationally) are states where Fred is doing very well.

Bill is also very pleased with the team that they now have in place and feels that Thompson’s perceived late entry into the race has had definite advantages. Personally, since he has only been on the team for nine weeks, he would have preferred more time to get a plan in place and had more organization, but overall he thinks things are going very well.

South Caroline, as I have stressed before, will be a key state for Thompson. They expect him to do well in the early states that will create a “strategic bridge” to South Carolina. By doing well, not necessarily winning in Iowa and New Hampshire, it will show that he is a competitive candidate and he will go into South Carolina with a building momentum.

Fred on the Issues

Right now, Mr. Lacy thinks Fred’s biggest strength is his belief in the need for real government reform. Thompson is the only major candidate stressing the need to reduce the Federal Government’s role in our everyday lives. But he also stressed that it is up to the campaign to define Thompson and to not let the media define Thompson for the voters.

More detailed policies will be forthcoming but stressed that from their organizational standpoint, it was still early for them to be rolling them out. Fred really does best when he is out among the voters, participating in Q&A and just interacting with voters. They really respond to the fact that Fred Thompson is an authentic conservative with small town values. You will see Fred on the morning talk shows and such in the future, but he really prefers to be out among the people.

Regarding evangelicals and the Christian Right, Dobson not withstanding, Thompson is receiving support and encouragement from national leaders such as Richard Land and Gary Bauer among others.

Tonight’s Debate

Fred does not need to dominate tonight. This is his first debate. He needs to let people know who he is and what his message is - as much as possible in a forum like this with some many participants. Bill stressed that Fred Thompson really enjoys doing research and will definitely be prepared tonight. He has been involved in some mock debate drills and feels that he will do well.

Tonights debate is going to concentrate on economic issues which is a strength for Thompson, so he should be very comfortable with the questions. Thompson will look Presidential and show that he is prepared to be President.