-By Warner Todd Huston
As I was saying on the 24th in the post titled ”Some reasons why Thompson’s waiting is a good thing!”, the idea that Thompson is wasting too much time by not jumping in the race right this minute is not the correct way to look at his current strategy of waiting. Now, it looks like the GOP Governors at the National Governors Association agree with me, and Team Thompson. In support of my contention we get an AP report on the NGA meeting in Michigan this past weekend reveals some evidence that Thompson’s wait is not hurting him at all.
In “GOP governors: too early for favorite”, the AP reports that many of the GOP governors are saying that it’s too early to worry about who’s in and who they will endorse.
Republican governors say it’s too soon to worry about the absence of a clear favorite for the GOP presidential nomination. The muddled picture could even be a blessing, some said in interviews during the weekend meeting of the National Governors Association.
And it seems some are waiting to assess the field once Thompson announces.
The candidates’ scramble to break from the pack and speculation about possible new entries such as former Sen. Fred Thompson are keeping the race in the headlines.
But, whether support from these governors is contingent on Thompson or not, few seem too worried about it all.
“I don’t subscribe to the notion that we have to have an identified front-runner candidate early on,” said Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue, chairman of the Republican Governors Association. “The longer you stay inclusive in the process, the more idea generation you get, the more testing, sifting that takes place among the candidates, I think that’s healthy for democracy.”
Political junkies aside, most voters haven’t begun to focus on the race despite the accelerated primary schedule, said Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota.
“A lot of us are sitting back and waiting to see if there will be new players in there,” Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin said. “That’s probably why that box that says ‘none of the above’ is so popular right now.”
And the general public reflects that thinking, too.
An Associated Press-Ipsos poll conducted July 9-11 found nearly a quarter of Republicans undecided – a bigger share than is supporting any candidate, announced or otherwise.
So, all of you who are worried that Thompson is waiting too long… relax. It ain’t no big deal! Not to most people and not to all these governors. As the AP reports:
Several governors said they weren’t siding with anyone for now.
Like I said, these presidential campaigns are getting FAR too long. We need someone with the common sense of a Fred Thompson to prove that we don’t need them to start even sooner yet!
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Warner Todd Huston’s thoughtful commentary, sometimes irreverent often historically based, is featured on many websites such as newsbusters.org, townhall.com, men’snewsdaily.com and americandaily.com among many, many others. Additionally, he has been a guest on several radio programs to discuss his opinion editorials and current events. He has also written for several history magazines and appears in the new book “Americans on Politics, Policy and Pop Culture” which can be purchased on amazon.com. He is also the owner and operator of publiusforum.com. Feel free to contact him with any comments or questions : EMAIL Warner Todd Huston