Kelly O'Donnell
From NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell
A change in plans for a Huckabee fundraiser in Dallas today: The site had to be moved twice to accommodate a larger-than-expected attendance. Advisors say there just wasn't enough room, so the planned gathering went from a private home, to hotel space and then to a bigger meeting room in that hotel.
Sources say the goal for the fundraiser had been $50,000 to $75,000, but those expectations were upped to $150,000, but sources now say the campaign beat that and the number is closer to $250,000. Sources tell NBC News the Huckabee campaign has spent about $750,000 total.
Now hiring: Senior campaign officials say they are "adding staff almost daily." From a lean team of 45 paid staffers nationwide, Huckabee is adding employees in Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. For example, the Iowa organization has been running with 14 paid workers plus as many as 15 to 20 full-time volunteers and more offering help hours at a time. The Iowa organization is expected to grow from 14 to 19 paid staffers this week. The six-person New Hampshire staff and five or six working South Carolina could see extra help with days as well.
Pardon our dust: Higher poll numbers appear to equate to more square footage. Huckabee's one and only office, a downtown Des Moines storefront has doubled in size. In Little Rock, sources say walls were "busted out" and overnight, the space tripled in size.
From NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell
NBC News has learned that Jeri Thompson, wife of republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, is canceling the first public event where she was to appear on her own. Jeri Thompson had previously agreed to participate in a high-profile forum featuring spouses of presidential hopefuls from both political parties. The event, Tuesday Oct 23rd in Long Beach, Calif., will be moderated by California First Lady Maria Shriver to discuss the balance of politics and family as part of her annual Women's Conference.
Sources close to the 41-year-old mother of two small children say, "We regret that we cannot be there" and stressed, "We were apologetic." The reason cited for the cancellation is "scheduling." Jeri Thompson is scheduled to make her first solo trip campaigning as a surrogate for her husband next week. She is also set to deliver a speech at the Jewish Coalition forum tomorrow with no press coverage.
Organizers of the Shriver event say they "heard rumblings yesterday" about a possible cancellation and expressed hope that "it's salvageable." Planners called it a "brain scratcher" and noted that media kits and materials for the event already printed have Jeri Thompson listed as a participant.
Per NBC’s Kelly O’Donnell, President Bush will discuss the departure of Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns at 9:30 am ET. Johanns, the former governor of Nebraska, is leaving to run for the Senate seat being vacated by retiring Sen. Chuck Hagel (R). “Mr. Johanns would be the fourth Republican candidate in the field. While Nebraska is heavily Republican, the Senate vacancy is creating a
potential opportunity for Democrats, who are trying to recruit Bob Kerrey, a former senator from Nebraska who is president of New School University in New York City, to run.”
Also, O’Donnell reports that Bush will hold a press conference today in the the Brady Press Briefing Room at 10:45 am ET. His last press conference was August 9th.
From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell
It's not yet a presidential campaign, but "Friends of Fred Thompson" is again showing signs of internal growing pains. Just last Friday, Linda Rozett was on the job and putting out releases, but today -- as we mentioned earlier -- she's out as communications director.
In an interview with NBC News, Rozett characterized her unexpected departure as "not a noteworthy event." She added, "My hope is this will be seen for nothing more than [campaign manager] Bill Lacy bringing his own team together. And while it is not my desired outcome, it happens every day in Washington in politics and with high level communications people." Rozett was told Friday.
In an internal memo to the Thompson staff obtained by NBC, Lacy explains his thinking: "I will have to make a lot of tough decisions to make our venture successful, and this was one of them. Linda is a talented, professional and gracious lady who will be missed. But in the limited amount of time we have, I feel it critical to have a communications point person with significant campaign experience."
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From NBC's Kelly O'Donnell
Sources close to the presumptive campaign tell NBC News that
Fred Thompson's fundraising is down "markedly." One claimed it has "slowed down big-time." The pace is described as a consequence of the delayed announcement to enter the race."The Friends of Fred, Inc." will report to the IRS its revenue by July 31st. Sources reveal to NBC News that number will be in the range of about $3 million. Five million dollars had been the talked-about June goal. Sources describe an early burst of donations in June and say the summer fundraising has fallen off. While additional fundraisers are planned, sources say the scheduling of fundraisers was "frozen" for a time while the team was going through some internal strains.
The Jeri Factor
Some sources describe the role of the presumed candidate's wife, Jeri, as vast and powerful. Sources say "she's integrally involved in every decision" and that Fred Thompson has "set it up so everything goes through her." Critically, that was cast as "running it like a congressional campaign" and from the "kitchen table."
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