Thompson Announces Candidacy In Webcast
As an actor, "Law and Order" star Fred Thompson has played a president now he's hoping to be one. Following an appearance on "The Tonight Show" with Jay Leno Wednesday night, former senator from Tennessee announced his candidacy in a Webcast early Thursday morning.
When Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., announced via a Webcast, saying she wanted a conversation, some Democratic bloggers criticized her, saying the conversation was a bit one-sided. Thompson's campaign team is likely hoping to head that off by appealing to bloggers in the days before the announcement to ask Thompson anything.
The campaign asked bloggers to encourage readers to submit questions through a separate Thompson website ImWithFred, http://http://www.imwithfred.com/which, unlike Fred08.com, requires people to register their email address and contact information. That move further helps them now engage those that some argue can help or hurt a campaign.
Ed Morrissey asked readers of his conservative blog Captain's Quarters for questions. One reader pointed out President Bush promised to change the partisan tone in Washington and actually escalated it during his time and he wondered how Thompson would turn that around.http://http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/012565.php
John Hawkins a blogger for Right Wing News offered the top five questions he collected from his readers, which included what to do about the federal budget deficit, illegal immigration and health care costs. http://www.rightwingnews.com/mt331/2007/09/rwns_5_questions_for_fred_thom.php
Erick Erickson of Red State passed along the letter from Thompson's appeal to conservative blogs to get their readers to submit questions to the campaign site and asked readers to send their questions. http://www.redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/ask_fred Erickson offered to do the same for any other candidates who wanted to engage bloggers like that.
Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., asked people to email or send video questions which his campaign promised he would answer on YouTube. In an interview with Tech Daily in March, blogger Jeff Jarvis of BuzzMachine praised McCain for this offer saying the open format would allow anyone to see all the questions submitted and the answers so they could also determine whether McCain avoids certain questions.
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