As many of you may have noticed, I’ve been wary of commenting on the struggling Thompson non-campaign. I figure since I’m a well-known Romney shill, anything I say on the matter will grate on readers who don’t support My Man Mitt. Besides, once Fred finally enters the ring, everyone will be able to make up their own minds. But I can be silent no more. I would be remiss in my duties here if I didn’t offer at least a few words of commentary regarding the Thompson campaign’s seemingly endless series of pratfalls, misfires and false starts.
Here’s my big concern about Fred: I’m very worried about entrusting the most complex CEO job in the world to someone or anyone who’s never run anything bigger than a six person law firm. Thompson has no executive experience, and it shows in the way he’s run his campaign. The indecision, the lack of direction, the organizational incoherence – these are hallmarks of a rookie CEO. Anyone who’s ever run anything knows what I’m talking about. You get better at it as you go along, and there’s a pretty steep learning curve.
Unfortunately for Fred, POTUS isn’t an entry level CEO position. Nor for that matter is running a campaign for the presidency. If you look at the campaigns that have functioned relatively smoothly to date, all of the principals have executive experience. Mitt Romney was a governor and ran numerous large companies. Rudy Giuliani ran the world’s most complex city. Mike Huckabee ran Arkansas. Hillary Clinton has been running the Clinton family’s vast criminal enterprise for decades. (I kid, I kid.)
The poorly run campaigns, on the other hand, all have principals who have never run anything more complex than a Fantasy Football League. Barack Obama’s campaign has more money than Croesus, yet constantly struggles. John Edwards can’t get his personal life to square with his political message, nor can he get his yappy partner to stick a sock in it. And Fred…
Today yet another wheel came flying off the Thompson campaign bus as communications director Linda Rozett befell the axe. I’m pretty sure this is something like the 83rd high profile departure from the Thompson campaign in the last two months. When the Thompson “campaign” announced that its pioneers would raise $4 million overnight and then never actually reported on their progress, I told you that it was a sign that the people at Thompson HQ had no idea what they were doing. It took Mitt Romney 18 months to lay the groundwork to raise $6 million “overnight”. It was arrogant, lazy and stupid for the Thompson people to not only think they could re-write the rules, but publicly crow that they would do so.
Can you extrapolate how a candidate will govern from how he campaigns? Eh. You know, Jimmy Carter was a terrific campaigner. As pertains to Fred, I guess you’d like to see some management acumen before he becomes president. Then again, Reagan was never a great manager, although he had the good sense to surround himself with people who were.
I’ll leave where I started. Fred will jump into the race and everyone will get to make up their own minds. But Thompson and his team have given no indication that they can run a big-time presidential campaign. Because of his dithering and vacillation, the Republican electorate has grown impatient, and his margin of error has been reduced to zero. If Fred doesn’t knock everyone’s socks off with his announcement and his first debate performance, the Wes Clark comparisons will come fast and furious.
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