The New York Observer's Steve Kornacki has a fairly devastating piece today about the ongoing crash-and-burn of Fred Thompson's presidential candidacy:
Consider the latest national poll from NBC News and the Wall Street
Journal, which has Mr. Giuliani safely ahead of the pack at 33 percent,
followed distantly by Mr. McCain at 16 percent. Mr. Thompson runs
behind him, at 15 percent—which is not good sign considering that he
was at 23 percent last month and 26 percent two months ago.
Individual state polls indicate that Mr. Thompson is essentially in a free-fall. Last month, a Rasmussen poll pegged his support in Iowa, which will
hold its caucuses in less than two months, at 19 percent. In the four
independent polls taken since then, though, his support has been cut in
half—as low as 8 percent in a survey released two weeks ago. The numbers are more dismal in New Hampshire, where Mr. Thompson hasn’t
cracked 10 percent in a poll in a month. He now regularly trails Mike
Huckabee in the state, and even fell behind Ron Paul in one survey two
weeks ago. Granted, the Thompson campaign isn’t even pretending to be
targeting New Hampshire, which is not the best fit for a southern
conservative, anymore. But if his message and campaign skills even
approached what they were sold as this spring and summer, sheer inertia
would have Mr. Thompson faring much better in New Hampshire.
Looks like he'll have time for that long nap after all.
--Christopher Orr
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