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Is Fred Thompson's Wife Pulling the Campaign Strings?
Speculation behind the ousting of Jim Mills points to the Republican candidate's wife.
Published Monday, November 26, 2007
Because he’s running an outsider presidential campaign, it makes sense that Fred Thompson is focusing on local media in key states like Iowa rather than on the big boys inside the Beltway. But why is the Republican candidate snubbing Fox News Channel, which is so influential in the GOP primaries?
Political insiders are asking that question after the former senator’s decision to shove aside the respected Jim Mills, who left his plum post as the network’s Capitol Hill producer this summer to become Thompson’s press spokesman.
The switch had been a big gamble for Mills. He gave up a hefty paycheck at the number-one cable news network for the unpredictable world of presidential politics. And after years of staying nonpartisan despite Fox’s conservative reputation, he picked sides in a big way and hurt his chances of returning to a media post.
So political and media insiders were stunned when Mills was ousted from the campaign just weeks after he started. The move was so controversial within the Thompson camp that top adviser Mark Corallo abruptly left as well, in part out of loyalty to Mills, whom he had recruited.
The firing also outraged Mills’s former colleagues at Fox, where the onetime producer is still very popular.
Why did Thompson do it? The chatter is that the candidate’s wife, Jeri, who already has a reputation for being hands-on, blamed Mills for a wave of bad press. The negative stories accurately reflected Thompson’s sluggish start, but the campaign ax fell on the spokesman anyway. This article originally appeared in the November 2007 issue of Washingtonian Magazine.
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Comments
if you wrote this as a joke - funny...
if you wrote this as a straight piece - you gotta be kidding! why not write a piece with real facts instead of gossip...if you want to take yourself serious as a journalist, you gotta at least ATTEMPT to be truthful...okay?
Posted by: janet ney, Nov 27, 2007 12:27:13 PM
Yeah, so you’ve found the answer as to why FOX went negative on Fred sometime in August and they’ve been negative ever since...That explains everything.
What you glaringly leave out is that Jeri is a top shelf political media consultant and media advisor from D.C. where she worked for the Senate Republican Conference and the Republican National Committee.
In other words, we’re talking about a professional advisor who has the clout of a candidate as the interests are exactly the same.
Therefore, this isn’t about "spousal" interference but, the way you offer it, that’s exactly what it sounds like...shame, shame for spin, spin.
Posted by: Winghunter, Nov 27, 2007 11:58:51 AM
Guess we need to hear both sides of the story don’t we. For Thompson is the only true honest candidate that is even presidential material. Who has no dirt on him and has made clear plans on all issues. Or is this your way of creating dirt on him? Why don’t you put up Thompson’s side and then we’ll see.
Posted by: Katie , Nov 27, 2007 07:11:33 AM
I’m sure Mrs. Thompson is no more involved than Mr. Clinton.
Posted by: Olivia, Nov 27, 2007 05:24:20 AM
Anyone wanting to see some telling video (with an accompanying column) from Thompson’s first week on the trail in South Carolina should give this a try:
http://goupstate.us/index.php/lanefiller/2007/11/05/fred_thompson_for_president_of_what_the_
Posted by: lane filler, Nov 26, 2007 01:18:54 PM
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