2008 and counting: Please jump in, say Fredheads in frustration

FredHeads.com, one of the many websites encouraging former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) to join the presidential race, is growing tired of waiting.

The site’s home page currently asks, “What’s the holdup?”

{mosads}“Fred Thompson enjoys an unprecedented groundswell of grassroots support,” the page reads. “Fredheads believe in his potential. Fredheads know he can very well be the next president of the United States. This support should be nurtured, not pushed aside and asked to stand-by forever.

“The time has come. Enough with the ambiguities. Enough with those around you being more decisive than you are.”
Keith Harper, a software engineer, the website’s owner and a self-described Fredhead, said there is some frustration among Thompson’s grassroots supporters.

Harper, who lives in Chattanooga, Tenn., said a lot of supporters were expecting an announcement on July 4. Harper told The Hill that he doesn’t want to second-guess professional political operatives, but he is concerned Thompson might be missing his best window to get in.

“I don’t want to see him lose that momentum,” Harper said.

Harper added that he started the site so Thompson supporters would have a place to meet and discuss the candidacy, and backers from across the country have logged on to do just that. Of course, right now they don’t have an official candidacy to discuss.

As for Thompson’s timing, Harper clearly seems to think sooner is better than later.

“Let’s hear it, Fred,” Harper wrote on his website. “Take your hat off and throw it into the ring.”

Thompson’s spokesmen did not comment.

~ Sam Youngman

Edwards camp defends wife’s comments

The day after former Sen. John Edwards’s (D-N.C.) wife called into question the ability of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) to stand up for women, two top Edwards advisers downplayed the significance of Elizabeth Edwards’s comments and said she was not being used as a “bulletproof cannon.”

Elizabeth Edwards, who was recently diagnosed with breast cancer, has been a sympathetic figure more sharp-tongued than many of the candidates on the trail.

“Elizabeth is not going after anybody,” deputy campaign manager Jonathan Prince said. “Elizabeth is out there advocating on behalf of her husband.

“What you’re basically doing is accepting [the Drudge Report’s] characterization of what Elizabeth said and not what Elizabeth said,” Prince said when pressed by a reporter.

In an interview with Salon.com posted Tuesday, Elizabeth Edwards said of Clinton: “She’s just not as vocal a women’s advocate as I want to see. John is.”

She reiterated her position speaking in Iowa on Tuesday.

Prince and senior adviser Joe Trippi were on a conference call unveiling a new ad in New Hampshire featuring Elizabeth Edwards.

They also responded to a new University of New Hampshire poll for CNN and WMUR, which showed New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) overtaking Edwards in third place in the state.

Edwards registered at just 8 percent.

“It is the summer,” Prince said. “The contests are many, many months away. It’s going to be freezing cold with snow on the ground.”

— Aaron Blake

Sen. Clinton heading to the Hamptons

 Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-N.Y.) is headed to the Hamptons on Long Island during the first weekend of August.
But her visit to what has been called the playground for the rich will include more than just R-and-R.

Clinton will hold fundraising events on Aug. 3, 4 and 5 during her stay, according to a campaign schedule obtained by The Hill.

— Bob Cusack

Thompson to invade Romney’s backyard

Presumed presidential candidate former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) has been sticking to the South for his early fundraising efforts.

But in the next few days he’ll be taking his traveling guessing game up north and right onto the home court of would-be rival former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).

Dorinda Moss, Thompson’s finance director, sent out an e-mail to supporters yesterday inviting them to join Thompson at a reception in North Chatham, Mass.

“On behalf of Sen. Fred Thompson, I want to thank you for joining with other Friends of Fred online to show your support,” Moss said in the e-mail. “Friends of Fred, of course, is more than an online gathering place. Fred is traveling around the country talking about his vision for America’s future, and as a valued supporter, we would like to invite you to attend a fundraising event in your area.”

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said again yesterday that the ex-governor welcomes Thompson to the race.

“This has been a great campaign of ideas and issues, and I think the Republican Party benefits any time any candidates feel it’s important for them to join that debate,” Madden said.

Political analyst Charlie Cook said it is not unusual for political rivals to compete for cash in each other’s backyards, but he did say he was curious to see how the pickup truck-driving Thompson will play with Yankees.

“It isn’t so much a shot across the bow as leaving no stone unturned,” Cook said. “Frankly, I wonder how much money a distinctively Southern candidate will be able to raise in New England, but Boston is a big city to write off.”

—Sam Youngman