Again we head to Capitol Fax blog to find our quote of the day. Here is Rich Miller in his newspaper column, repeated at CapFax blog, describing findings from a presidential poll he had done for his own edification:
Meanwhile, the poll also showed that Illinois’ Republican presidential primary appears to be wide open.
Based on the polls results, that’s an understatement. The two jockeying for “front-runner” label nationally are also 1-2 in Mr. Miller’s poll — Sen. John McCain comes in at a weak 26.1 with former NYC Mayor Rudy Giuliani nipping at his heels with 25.7.
But it is the bronze finisher that piqued my interest. Former Senator and current TV actor Fred Dalton Thompson (who is also battling cancer) came in with as solid a third place as any at 17.4.
As Mr. Miller and others note, a very interesting point about Sen. Thompson’s showing in this poll is that he has not announced. In terms of presidential campaigning, he has a lot of the same things as Sen. Obama going for him. (Sen. Obama was the first placer — with a clear majority, not just a plurality — on the Dems’ side of Mr. Miller’s poll.)
Sen. Thompson has a bit of noteriety — Sen. Thompson from acting, Sen. Obama from his “hit” DNC speech in 2004. Both are getting attention via the media, boosting their bio and name recognition nationally. The pair also have wives from Illinois — Michelle Obama from Chicago, Jeri Kehn from Naperville (though, only Sen. Thompson is a divorcee having left his first wife, Sarah Elizaebeth Lindsey).
Politically and civicly, both of course are/were Senators and have been involved in promoting the common good (Sen. Thompson famously vis a vis Watergate and other corruption investigations and Sen. Obama through his community activism). Both have strong and growing grassroots contingents (the door-to-door, shoe leather type of support). And both are still relative unknowns to most of the nation meaning they will each be able to fill in the blanks, lest others start to do it for them.
I wonder why Mr. Miller chose to add an undeclared candidate to a poll of what are otherwise declared or exploring candidacies.
UPDATE: Duh. I thought I had linked to the post but I must’ve misclicked. Here it is:
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April 30, 2007 at 7:52 pm
rich miller
====I wonder why Mr. Miller chose to add an undeclared candidate to a poll of what are otherwise declared or exploring candidacies.====
Because he seems to be leaning towards a run.
April 30, 2007 at 8:08 pm
robnesvacil
Valid point, and it would explain why Al Gore was left off.
May 3, 2007 at 1:49 am
Rob
I thought McCain had a surprisingly strong showing in this poll, considering how he’s been tanking nationally. Wouldn’t you expect Giuliani to do well among Illinois Republicans?
May 3, 2007 at 2:17 pm
robnesvacil
Maybe it’s a New York thing…
To be honest, I find little value in these polls. But they’re as much fun as talking about the NFL draft and who’s going to win the next Super Bowl based on it (that’d be da Bears).