Friday, January 18, 2008
It is official. Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson finished last in the Michigan primary election, held on Jan. 15. Thompson finished ahead of Rudy Giuliani and behind Mitt Romney, John McCain and Mike Huckabee. Thompson for President Campaign Manager Bill Lacy was not surprised. But Lacy refused to see Thompson’s loss as an indication that he might be returning to Lawrence and his job as director of the Dole Institute of Politics any time soon.
Fred Thompson is in South Carolina where primary elections are held on Saturday.
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It’s only 4 p.m. on Tuesday afternoon, and Thompson for President campaign manager Bill Lacy already received word that Mitt Romney won the Republican primary election in Michigan. The press didn’t report this information to members of the public for hours.
Although he misses being director of the Dole Institute of Politics, Lacy is enjoying being involved in his sixth presidential campaign. “You know everything that is going on before everyone else,” Lacy said.
“I just got a call from the event in South Carolina,” Lacy said. “The fire marshal was very concerned that the crowd was way too big for where we were. That is a good sign in a presidential campaign.”
Lacy did not mention that York, S.C., where Thompson’s event was held, has a population of 7,465, according to a July 2006 estimate by City-Data, compared to Lawrence’s population of 88,605.
Still, Lacy said he was optimistic about Thompson’s campaign in South Carolina for other reasons, including the fact that Thompson has spent time and money campaigning in South Carolina, which he did not do in Michigan, Mitt Romney’s home state.
“I think the momentum is clearly in our favor,” Lacy said. “The Rasmussen poll showed us with a four point bounce since the debate the other night where Fred’s performance was so, so strong. We have a very well structured and financed campaign in South Carolina, so we’re optimistic.”
Thompson’s presidential campaign is the sixth presidential campaign that Lacy was involved with. Lacy worked on the presidential campiagns for Ronald Reagan, Bob Dole and George H.W. Bush, as well as Thompson’s senate campaigns. After Bob Dole’s 1996 presidential campaign, Lacy took a break from politics until he was named the director of the Dole Institute in 2004. In August 2007, Lacy took a leave of absence from his job as director to manage Thompson’s campaign.
“When I first heard from Thompson, Senator Dole and Chancellor Hemenway were very excited about a leave of absence,” Lacy said. “They thought it was important for me to practice what I preach every day. I wouldn’t have done it with out their support.”
Lacy said he had a lot of support from the Lawrence community regarding his decision as well as from University students.
“I literally got hundreds of e-mails from the community congratulating me,” Lacy said. “The democrats were just as supportive as the Republicans, not of Thompson but of me getting involved again.”
Jonathon Earle, interim director of the Dole Institute, said he really encouraged Lacy to take the position, but Earle said he looked forward to having Lacy back at the Institute.
“I know how much he liked working in politics and this was a chance for him to get back into that and work for someone he believes in.”
Clarissa Unger, Colby junior and student assistant at the Dole Institute, said she missed Lacy, but knew that he was doing great things.
“He has always told us that when the opportunity comes to serve your country, you have to take that opportunity,” Unger said.
Lacy said he loved working on Thompson’s campaign, but that he had forgotten how fast-paced presidential campaigns are.
“Their idea was to do an announcement within a month of when I got here, but there were no plans for it. A lot of the candidates had been in the race for a year before I got here. But at the end of the day we think we have a really good candidate.”
Lacy also said he only had 10 days off since he began working on Thompson’s campaign. He now works twice as many hours as he did at the Dole Institute.
“I am literally making things happen from the time I get in every day, and it’s a pace that is relentless,” Lacy said. “Whenever I get back to the Institute I will take the connections I have built up and try to increase the quality of our programming.”
Lacy said he expected Thompson to do well in South Carolina’s primary election on Saturday. He also said Feb. 5, would be Thompson’s real test when many of the southern states have their primary elections, including Tennessee, Thompson’s home state.
“I plan on not being back until after the November election,” Lacy said.
— Edited by Madeline Hyden
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