Is Thompson's Late Entry a Good Strategy?

After just declaring his Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential campaign, former senator Fred Thompson seems to have some slack to pick up. Was it a good strategy to commit so late in the game? It seems to me like he was on the fence and then all the sudden woke up one morning and on a whim gave it a shot. No matter what happened, he's definitely added a little twist to the game.

The Washington Post believes Thompson entered the race at a good time because " the state of the campaign is unsettled and many republican voters appear less than fully satisfied with their choices." This good be a good thing because although it is later in the game, the Post seems to think that most voters havent' even turned their attention to the race yet. Maybe he's just in time. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/09/06/AR2007090602358.html

On the other hand, The Washington Times predicts that " Late entry could doom Thompson," and I'm tending to agree. I feel that even though the public hasn't come close to making their decisions about the campaign, they are certainly watching whose out there traveling the country, meaning they know who really wants it. It seems to me that he has some serious catching up to do to get his name out there, let alone to gain some support in the polls. It's not like he's a returning canidate who aleady has a loyal group of dedicated voters - he has to build a credible campaign in a short amount of time. I'm curious to see if he can do it.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070907/NATION/109070078/1001

The New York Times said that his main strategy right now is to " win over conservatives who are disheartended at their current choice of republican candidates by positioning himself as the ideological and stylistic heir of Ronald Reagan." To me that sounds like he is just trying to bash the other republican nominees and use the strategies of a late president simply because he was receieved so well by the public. What concerns me is that he is simply not acting himself if he is trying to act like someone else. America doesn't need that in our government right now.
http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/09/07/2008-the-thompson-strategy/

What's also ironic is that as the Washington Times pointed out, it took Reagan three tries to win the election. Even though he is a new guy which means he will get lots of media attention I just don't think its possible to sway that many voters that quickly when it takes months for Americans to connect a name with a face.

While it seems that Thompson is just getting started, other republican candidates are out in full force. Giuliani is spending the day in Florida trying to gather support from the Cuban Americans while Romney is proposing a plan to eliminate taxes for families making an income under 200,000 dollars. It seems that Thompson is loosing ground every minute, because in the world of politics every minute counts. He has to know declaring this nomination so late was definitely not an advantage, his rivals have been working tirelessly for months now. I just don't know what he was thinking? Maybe he wasn't thinking?

When it comes down to it, I will give him a chance because he does appear to be doing pretty well in the polls early on. Perhaps Americans are just bored of the existing republican candidates and are giving him a chance as well. One things for sure, he's got a lot more impressing to do.