Thompson delays filing as campaign ramps up

www.politico.com/news/stories/0707/4947.html


Thompson delays filing as campaign ramps up
By: Mike Allen
Jul 14, 2007 02:36 PM EST


He has collected millions of dollars. Aides go to work every day in a secret suite of offices in McLean, Va. He has policy briefings. He is preparing for nationally televised Republican debates. He just named a communications director and a political director.

But yet, Fred Thompson still says he’s not sure he’s going to run for president.

The “Law & Order” actor and former U.S. senator from Tennessee is delaying his formal entry into the race in part because his current status makes him less of a target and lets other candidates continue to get chewed up. “We’re in no hurry,” one close adviser said mischievously.

But there’s another big reason. If he were to formalize his candidacy beyond its current “testing the waters” status, Friends of Fred Thompson Inc. would have to reveal its contributions and expenses this week.

Thompson’s aides say they will not file such a report, and the Democratic National Committee plans to argue aggressively in coming days that he should. Democratic aides argue that Thompson could be violating campaign finance laws by “ducking” a full filing.

Filing as a candidate also triggers other legal requirements, including personal financial disclosure.

In the Senate, Thompson was an advocate of campaign-finance reform, and held four months of hearings on the Democratic campaign finance scandals in 1997.

Democrats point to an FEC regulation saying the “testing the waters” exemption does not apply to funds received for activities indicating that the individual has decided to become a candidate, refers to himself as a candidate, or is raising “funding in excess of what could reasonably be expected to be used for exploratory activities.”

Karen Finney, the DNC communications director, said: “There is an inherent hypocrisy given that Thompson campaigned as a reformer, called for broader disclosure and railed on the campaign finance problems of Democrats.”

A Thompson adviser said he is fully obeying the law. “We’re doing what we supposed to be doing, which is raising enough to build a team,” the adviser said.

Another Thompson official said: “When you’re trying to determine whether you can be a viable candidate for president, you’re talking about a nationwide fundraising effort. The FEC rules recognize that the ability to raise money is an important factor in determining whether a person is a viable candidate for president, just like traveling the country and collecting endorsements. They’re all activities to gauge your potential political strength.”

The Thompson official says one way the former senator may push back against calls for him to show his money is to file with the Internal Revenue Service as a section 527 political organization, a section that includes political parties. (Here are the Center for Responsive Politics definitions for different types of advocacy organizations.)

“If we file with the IRS, that’ll take the wind out of the sails of their disclosure argument,” the official said. If that were going to be done, it would need to be done by July 31.

Although some 527s have looser fundraising requirements than a federal candidate does, Thompson is raising money on his website according to the restrictions for candidates, with individuals allowed to give a maximum of $2,300 per election. The Thompson official said the new organization would not raise any “soft” money, or money with looser regulations.

Thompson advisers said the former senator does not plan to disclose details of campaign finances to the FEC until the report due date of Oct. 15, although the campaign may make an announcement about its very successful fundraising long before that, probably in conjunction with a declaration of his candidacy.

Senior Thompson advisers had talked about announcing the week of the Fourth of July, then sometime in July, then the first week in August. On Friday, one top official even mentioned September. Thompson’s team says it’s up to the former senator, and they really don’t know. The point, they say, is that he’s going to wait as long as possible without deflating the enthusiasm of his many vocal grass-roots supporters.

The advisers say that one factor in their calculation is the rapidly changing terrain of the race, and they point out that Thompson has already become a leading target for both Democrats and Republicans. Since he’s coming in first in some polls, including in Florida, and needs to overcome some complaints from former colleagues that he is insufficiently studious or energetic, he wants to debut with a first-class organization as one way of showing his seriousness.

Thompson’s testing of the waters is becoming increasingly thorough. He now has an office-park suite that can be expanded as the campaign ramps up. That office will house parts of the press, research, policy and strategy staffs. But a large bulk of the operation will be headquartered in Nashville, Tenn.

Thompson’s team continues to hire heavily, and is targeting refugees from the floundering campaign of Sen. John McCain. “We’re taking the survivors into the lifeboats,” chortled one Thompson adviser.

A Thompson source disclosed to The Politico that the communications director will be Linda Schoumacher Rozett, a former journalist who has been vice president of communications for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. Rozett’s role will be largely behind the scenes, and the Thompson team plans to hire another communicator to be “the face of the campaign,” the source said.

Day-to-day media contacts will be handled by Burson Taylor Snyder, a Capitol Hill veteran who was communications director for House Republican Whip Roy Blunt of Missouri.

Mark Corallo of Corallo Comstock Inc. in Alexandria, Va., has been serving as Thompson’s spokesman, but may end up as a senior consultant to the campaign.

In a report confirmed by Thompson aides, syndicated columnist Robert Novak reported Saturday that the political director will be Randy Enwright, a Republican political consultant from Florida who knows Iowa and is close to the Bush family.

Members of the campaign continue to discuss whether Thompson should participate in a debate on Aug. 5 in Des Moines, Iowa, sponsored by ABC News and moderated by George Stephanopoulos. One member of the Thompson team had told The Politico early this month that the former senator was beginning to prepare for it. And some of the announcement-date conversations had taken that debate into account.

But now it sounds like Thompson may not participate, although his advisers will not give a definitive account of their thinking. One factor his team is discussing is how much criticism he would take for avoiding questioning by Stephanopoulos.