Newly-declared Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson will spend part of his first full day of campaigning today in Iowa, but former colleague and Democrat Senator Tom Harkin says it’s too little, too late for Thompson.
Harkin says the former Tennessee Senator and “Law and Order” star should have made this decision long ago — or not at all. “I think it’s a little late for Mr. Thompson. His appearances on television can only take you so far,” Harkin told reporters this morning in a conference call. “…Welcome into the race. What the heck? Why not? But he’s got a lot of catching up to do.”
Harkin, who ran for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 1992 and officially kicked off his White House bid in September of 1991, says the differences between the Republicans’ presidential debates and those of the Democrats “border on startling.”
“Many people I think in the Republican party are recognizing what the rest of the public is recognizing, that is, they really just don’t have any really sterling candidates running for president. I think you’re going to see other Republicans looking at this and saying, ‘Gee, you know, maybe I could do better,'” Harkin said. “Heck, who knows? Maybe Bob Dole will come back, I don’t know.”
Thompson made his long-expected announcement that he’s in the race on Wednesday night’s “Tonight Show with Jay Leno.”