Everyone says he’s lazy. But former Senator Fred Thompson isn’t lazy, or lacking in ambition. He simply refuses to jump through the hoops and perform the other assorted tricks that the media and the voting public have demanded of candidates for president in this obscenely front-loaded presidential election campaign. His standing in the polls bears out his unwillingness to be all things to all reporters and campaign watchers. That is partly because of the man himself, and partly because of the accelerated nature of the 2008 primaries. But it is also a function of a fundamental strategic error made by Thompson and his advisers over the long summer of waiting for the right time to enter the race.

The first Republicans declared themselves candidates for the nomination in January. All of the major contenders were in the race by early April. There were at least three major debates before September, when Sen. Thompson answered the almost frenzied call of conservative primary voters eager for an ideologically pure candidate to throw his hat in the ring. Thompson not only delayed his announcement until September, he flirted with anxious conservatives; making appearances and giving speeches, raising money, and doing all the things a candidate does without the formality of an actual campaign. By the time he announced right before Labor Day, the traditional jumping off point for political campaigns, his non-campaign had built up expectations so great that only a whirlwind sprint through the early primary states would have satisfied the legion of Simeons hoping to finally get a glimpse of the Conservative Messiah.

Thompson ambled out of the gate and promptly began his campaign by shunning New Hampshire and Iowa. This was a mistake from which he is still struggling to recover, and which may ultimately spell doom for his presidential bid. Iowa and New Hampshire, for good or ill, are the first two states to cast ballots for the nomination. Each prides itself on having a tough electorate that demands to see their candidates up close and personal. It is known as retail politics, where personality, connectivity, and approachability count more than the size of a candidate’s war chest or the glitz of his commercials. And Sen. Thompson is good at it. His campaign has gathered speed in recent weeks on the strength of his retail politics push through Iowa and his refusal to raise his hand in answer to a question during the recent Des Moines Register debate.

Casting aside Iowa and New Hampshire at the outset of his run has kept Thompson from campaigning in the way he does best. Instead, his campaign has been trying to compete on a southern strategy of winning South Carolina and Florida. Last week, the campaign had to make a special fundraising appeal to get the money necessary to run a very good campaign commercial in Iowa. Thompson is on the air now, but it is a wonder where the money has been spent. He trails Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, and Mitt Romney in the national polls, and is not within the top three in all but one of the first six voting states. His numbers have been tracking up in Iowa, and he may well be the second choice of a lot of voters. But with only four days until the caucuses, he needs noting short of a small miracle to have a strong enough showing there to make up for what are sure to be poor performances in New Hampshire five days later, and Michigan and Nevada the following week.

Contrary to the press’s characterization, however, Thompson’s standing is not for lack of trying. Of all the candidates, Republican or Democrat, Thompson has been perhaps the most detailed on policy matters. While most of the others speak in platitudes and generalities, Thompson issues plans. On Social Security, he has embraced a proposal that calls for specific changes to the benefit calculation that is both conservative and bold. He has received the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee and various state level pro-life groups, is a staunch supporter of gun rights, tax reform, and the war on terror, and is the most outspoken candidate this side of Tom Tancredo on the issue of illegal immigration. He is also alone among the Republicans in talking about the need to appoint judges committed to interpreting the Constitution and not legislating from the bench. On almost every issue, Thompson holds a position in line with those of conservative primary voters. How different things might have been for him had he decided to engage in New Hampshire and Iowa sooner.

Last week, Thompson’s campaign was involved in a dust up with a national political reporter who the campaign says misreported the nature of comments Sen. Thompson made in response to a voter’s question in Iowa. The report took a small part of an extended answer by Thompson and spun it to fit the narrative that Thompson simply doesn’t want the job of president enough to do the heavy lifting on the campaign trail. The questioner told Thompson that the only thing holding him back from making a final decision to caucus for him was the voter’s fear that Thompson would not “be there two months from now.” It is a predicament partly of the candidate’s own making. Thompson answered that if he were not committed to the campaign, he would not be in Iowa answering questions. That may be so, but based on the campaign’s early decision-making and strategic planning, one cannot blame the voter for wondering.