NY Sun: Thompson Comes In With a Whimper

[brooklynite]

Oh, dear; the RW media doesn't seem that impressed...

Thompson Comes In With a Whimper

DES MOINES AND COUNCIL BLUFFS, Iowa — "The preseason is over," Fred Thompson declared in his first stump speech of the 2008 campaign, delivered to a plenty-of-elbow-room crowd of about 250 in Des Moines, Iowa, yesterday. "Let's get on with it."

"Let's get on with it," of course, is what frustrated Thompson supporters have been saying for months, as they've waited for him to join the race. The question hanging over the newly suited-up presidential candidate's campaign is whether too many folks who'd been willing to play on the former Tennessee senator's team have already gotten on without him.

Judging by the crowd (or lack thereof) at the Polk County Convention Complex yesterday, it seems clear that the once fever pitch excitement about a Thompson candidacy has cooled significantly. The small conference room the campaign chose for the kickoff was not particularly full, and the energy level of the crowd was as subdued as that of the famously languid candidate. (One woman fainted, but it was quite certainly not from excitement.)

Mr. Thompson's speech itself was rather dour. While Thompson supporters have often compared their man to Ronald Reagan, known for his optimism, the candidate can come off more like Eeyore than the Gipper.

http://www.nysun.com/article/62153