Despite critics, Thompson says campaign launch all ‘good news’

FRANKLIN – Although criticized by analysts and conservative pundits, Fred Thompson denied today that his infant presidential campaign had made mistakes and said his launch had been nothing but “good news.”

“We got real good reception from the people when we had our stops,” Thompson told Tennessee reporters today, specifically when asked about incidences in Florida that have brought criticism upon the former Senator. “People were standing out there in the sun there in central Florida, several hundred at a time, waiting and seemed like they knew me. Seemed like they were waiting for me. We just got excellent reception.”

In Florida, Thompson received negative press for incidences such as not remembering the circumstances surrounding the Terri Schiavo controversy and not knowing there was oil in the Everglades.

In South Carolina, Thompson said he didn’t regularly attend church, except when he visited his mother in Williamson County. Both South Carolina and Florida will play pivotal roles in how successful Thompson is in the Republican primary.

Also, conservative columnist George Will called Thompson’s entry into the presidential pool more “belly flop than swan dive.”

Despite the incidences and comments, Thompson was upbeat, saying the discussions within his campaign is that his presidential campaign launch “could have hardly gone any better.”

“Of course, in a crowd of 1,500, if you’re making a speech and somebody yawns, the story is usually the yawn,” Thompson said. “And I accept that and that’s just the way it goes.”

Thompson spoke to local reporters for about 25 minutes today, in between fundraising events. He started the day raising money in Clarksville, then to Murfreesboro, and tonight he has an event at a private residence in Williamson County.

Friday, Thompson will raise money in Jackson, then to Memphis and then onto Mississippi.

Thompson, like most other presidential candidates, is on a fundraising push before the end of the third quarter, which ends Sept. 30.

“I don’t think it’s all about money,” Thompson said. “I don’t need to raise as much as some do. This day in time, you have a chance to get your message out like never before, and I think we’ll raise as much as we need to.”

For more on this story, see Friday’s City Paper