Pittsburgh Tribune-Review editorial page columnist Salena Zito wonders if Fred Thompson's 38-second video reply to Democratic propaganda filmmaker Michael Moore was a watershed for Thompson, for traditional media or for new media. It was all three, actually - and a mold-breaker for presidential campaigning, a game-changer.
Zito lays out how simply it came together...
On Tuesday morning, Mark Corallo, the undeclared Thompson's frontman, had clicked on to the massively popular Internet news aggregator, the Drudge Report, to find that Moore had challenged Thompson to a political duel, also known as a debate.
"Within the space of about five minutes we decided to do a quick video response," Corallo recalled from his Washington office. He called Thompson and asked if he wanted to "have some fun today" and respond to Moore with a quick video.
Thompson's response was "pure Fred," Corallo said:
"Give me a camera. I already know what I am going to say," said Thompson.
Two phone calls and one camera later, Thompson was ready to go. One "take" later -- with no script, no booking time in a studio and no opposition research or talking points -- Thompson was shot into cyberspace.
Thompson scorched Moore in his witty video, dangling an unlit (Cuban?) cigar alongside a civics lesson that pointed out the perils of Moore's collaborating with the fickle dictator Fidel Castro.
"His video response was all him," said Corallo; it was not written, prepared or massaged by anyone else. "It was literally Fred being Fred."
No handlers, no script, no message massagers, no media filter, just one confident candidate communicating directly to the people via the new media. Makes 10 guys standing behind podiums taking questions from media moderates look positively stodgy and stale.
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