Another Thompsonite is distributing the message that the story of the changes at Team Thompson are the result of the “Chatterati” who “have to file (X) inches of copy a day about campaign details” and fill the “late summer doldrums.”
Like the other Thompson Associate I talked to, this one offers that Collamore’s mission when he was brought on was to assemble the team; with the not-quite campaign appearing ready to shed its “not-quite” prefix in September, they deem themselves entering a new stage, and believe that Spencer Abraham and Randy Enwright are the people to lead them into the next stage.
Perhaps. I would also note that if the rumors of Collamore clashing with Jeri Thompson are true, this spat might not fit the usual meddling-candidate’s-spouse cliche. The political judgment of Theresa Heinz was doubted after some high-profile moments and decisions (her “shove it” response to a reporter, her asking “who cares?” about the states that Kerry was trailing in, her lengthy and meandering convention speech that she demanded be the centerpiece of the second night)… Jeri Thompson, by comparison, is not a ketchup heiress but a political professional – lawyer and media consultant at the Senate Republican Conference and the Republican National Committee. If she’s got an idea or two about how the not-quite-campaign should operate, they may actually be good ones.
So as much as Team Thompson may be insisting there’s nothing to the story of her disagreeing with Collamore… if it were true, it may not be the distant-thunder omen that many in the political world would assume.