Yesterday we heard from an aide to a candidate who didn’t participate in Ames. Today, here’s a couple thoughts from a senior aide to a candidate who did participate in the Ames straw poll:

On the turnout, after organizers had predicted 30,000 to 40,000: “I wonder if the organizers were a little irrationally exuberant about how many people would show up –maybe they believed it, or maybe they didn’t believe it and said it anyway. I don’t think there was any reason to believe it would be measurably more than the last time. And it was a hot-enough-to-melt-asphalt kind of day, not the best time to go out, stand in the sun, and eat barbeque.”

On Fred Thompson: “The guy missed his moment. He was supposed to be the guy who was going to march in, consolidate all the conservatives, and cruise to the nomination. Well, if he was going to be the guy get all the financial players off sidelines, that’s not happening. He hasn’t defined any issue that he owns. He’s still fuzzy on the rationale behind his campaign.”

(The aide then talks about this comment from Mike Allen:“Just to give you a quick little insight into the Fred strategy? They plan a little bit of a low impact campaign. They’re pointing to Governor Bush’s schedule in 2000, where his pattern was two events and a fundraiser a day. I think that that is the sort of schedule Senator Thompson’s going to stick to.”)

Two events a day? Wow. Tough schedule. Hey, while you’re at it, why don’t you take the months of September, October, November and December off?

On Rudy Giuliani getting the nomination, and pro-life reaction: “If the Republican party nominates a pro-choice candidate, we’re entering uncharted territory… The trick to winning is get as few states in play as possible, and to put the conservative states to bed early. The CBS poll was pretty telling – Rudy’s up by 20, and leads among evangelicals and conservatives for whom family life and the character of the candidate are most important. That tells you how disengaged voters are in most states. That’s not going to continue. Rudy’s just not going to continue to be the first choice of those folks.”

“Now, the whole base won’t stay home in a Rudy vs. Hillary matchup, but the question is, how much of the base can he afford to have stay home? Didn’t we recently learn that it’s about 500 votes in Florida on the right day? And remember, it’s going to be a science project to figure out how to get Ohio back.”

“Having said all that, Rudy is helped by Huckabee doing well and the buzz of him maybe being in the first tier. It keeps the field crowded. Rudy doesn’t want it to be one on one by the time he gets to Florida. He wants it to be three or four [socially conservative candidates] on one.”