Interview with Michael Goodwin, New York Daily News, (Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist)

Someone says that Thompson entered the race too late. Do you agree?

“While there is no question that Thompson was late to enter as measured by the other candidates and the pace of the campaign, he was not too late. Indeed, by recent traditional standards, he entered about the time most candidates do—toward the end of the year before the election. Although the election season this time started early, there is still plenty of time for Thompson to make a good run, with the first primary votes cast in January and the big states all voting in February and March”.

After his first presidential debate, in Michigan, you wrote that Thompson shows he’s no joke. Can he really revive the hopes of the GOP?

“There is no one candidate who can revive the hopes of the GOP. The party is split among several candidates and most polls show Democrats ahead in the generic match-ups and the issues usually associated with Democrats, such as health care, are important to many people now. My point about Thompson was that he put on a performance that exceeded the low expectations set for him. In that sense, and recognizing his strong position in most polls, he has to be taken seriously”.

What are, in your opinion, the strenghts and the weakenesses of Fred Thompson?
“His strengths are his wide name recognition, no doubt enhanced by his acting career, and his Southern, pro-life background, which have become almost required in the modern GOP. His weakness is essentially the notion that he is lazy, that he has little energy and doesn’t have the “fire in the belly” determination needed for a long, bare-knuckles brawl. Indeed, he had no public schedule for the five or six days after his first debate. That’s inexplicable, given that most of the reviews of the debate were good. It was a chance to build on some momentum. That he went back to hiding tends to reinforce the notion that he is not fully committed to the race and willing to do what it will take to win”.

How Thompson hurt his republican adversaries, especially the frontrunner Giuliani?
“The polls show that Giuliani’s lead started to slip as Thompson got closer to running. There is a certain logic in that the other challengers, especially John McCain and Mitt Romney, had not made much headway against Giuliani. Thompson emerged as an alternative who fit certain profiles of a traditional GOP nominee, so some of those not happy with Giuliani began to look at Thompson. Also, large amounts of media coverage, most of it favorable, gave Thompson a boost before he even entered. Add all that up and it is not surprising that Thompson’s gains came mostly at Giuliani’s expense. However, it is also true that his gains kept Romney and McCain from picking up support, with the result being that Giuliani has maintained his front-runner status”.

In Europe, Thompson is almost exclusively known as an actor. How the american people consider him as a politician?
“Many Americans also know him as an actor first. However, Republican primary voters, who tend to be more involved in the process, are more likely to know more about his political background than Democrats or Independents”.

If, as all the odds say, Hillary Clinton will be the Democratic presidential candidate, Thompson could be a  candidate up to the task?

“It all depends on which Thompson emerges. If he continues to hold back and create doubts about his commitment, I don’t think he will be nominated by the GOP. Most Republicans have very unfavorable views of Hillary Clinton and they do not want to nominate someone who cannot defeat her. Thompson will have to pick up his energy level to persuade primary voters that he can do that. Meanwhile, the vacuum plays into Giuliani’s strengths—many polls show that, among Republicans, he does best in one-on-one matchups against Clinton. That is why Giuliani is strongly attacking her even at this early stage—he believes it will boost him among GOP primary voters and could be his ticket to the nomination”.