It was the least-breaking of breaking news that I can remember in some time. Precisely at 8:32 p.m. I went on the Internet and discovered, screaming across the top of The New York Times homepage: “BREAKING NEWS: Fred Thompson Declares His Candidacy for President.”
Didn’t see that one coming.
Yes, last night Thompson, who’s been “testing the waters” for months, finally decided to dive in. Or maybe it’s more accurate to say that he cannon-balled in. Thompson managed to dominate the news cycle yesterday and today by deciding that he would forgo the traditional route of announcement, a press conference or speech, for a chat with Jay Leno on late-night TV. He also chose to make his candidacy official just as the other Republican contenders were lining up in New Hampshire for their umpteenth debate.
Though these moves were perceived and written about today as missteps, they seem to me to have been brilliantly effective in setting him apart from the scrum and giving him a ton of press. Look at the front page of The Washington Post today. There’s an article titled “Fred Thompson Makes a Late Night Late Entry” that starts and ends with Thompson and the hopes of his candidacy. Tucked somewhere in the middle is a description of the debate.
Even the debate itself became significant mostly for Thompson’s absence. The cherished one-liners that get candidates some attention last night all had to do with Fred. There was McCain quipping that, “Maybe we’re up past his bedtime.” And Giuliani trying too hard with, “I think Fred is a really, really good man. I think he’s done a pretty good job of playing my part on Law & Order.”
This only served to make the candidates look small and sniping and Thompson like the deus ex machina he hopes voters will perceive him to be.
Most public statements issued by a campaign’s communications director can be considered pure spin, but it was hard to argue with this take from Todd Harris, Thompson’s PR guy, in an e-mail sent to reporters: “[I]t is clear to me already that though Fred Thompson is not on stage, our opponents are already letting us dominate the narrative of the campaign.”
The amusing part, for me, was that reporters were contributing to the attention Thompson got – proving the correctness of his strategy – all the while implying that he had made a mistake by taking such an unorthodox approach to announcing.
The Los Angeles Times had the most biting lede: “Fred D. Thompson formally launched his presidential bid Wednesday night on a late-night talk show as eight rivals for the Republican presidential nomination hashed out their differences across the country in a New Hampshire debate.”
But, mind you, this article has been on the front page of the Times Web site all day, along with a video of Thompson’s appearance on Leno. That’s great publicity, no matter how you look at it.
Gal Beckerman is a former staff writer at CJR and a writer and editor for the New York Times Book Review.