From the Examiner:

“There have been a million debates already and there are going to be a million more,” Harris said. “And people are going to see Fred Thompson out there, mixing it up with the other candidates, mixing it up with the media, engaging the voters. They are going to see months and months and months of that.”

In the meantime, Harris said, “it makes a lot of sense” for Thompson to appear on the Leno show instead of the GOP debate because the candidate will reach “everyday normal Americans who don’t live in the 202 area code.”

I 100% agree, people are not watching these debates and Mr. Thompson will get more in the short term from appearing on Leno than being lectured by Duncan Hunter on issues. As a whole his campaign is making the best impact message, put out a video, make some speeches, see the people and then go on television.

Here is the problem. People watch Leno and Letterman etc. a heck of a lot more than watch the debates. However Leno & Letterman etc. report on the debates, they make fun of them and hit the candidates hard when they mess up. The longer Thompson delays debating, the harder it becomes for him to build an impact being a “credible” candidate. The debates themselves, as two-hour long pieces of show, matter little. The aftermath, the soundbytes, the jokes, the perception are key.

The reason a candidate does so many debates where no one watches is so they can prepare for the debates that really matter and use their good performances to manage the news-cycle. They can work out their message, work out their ideas, learn how to take on their opponents, learn how to project and work out the kinks in their style. Debates are prep for the presidency because the moment they walk under the microscope of the office they will be debating 24/7 on every issue, every decision and every movement.

We’ve been reading about the magic of the Thompson campaign for months now. Journalists and pontificators have been speculating on his candidacy in pretty positive terms. If he doesn’t bring power to the actual candidacy those stories will soon fade and be replaced by speculation that his shine is dimming.

Speaking to reporters on Monday as he prepared to walk in a Labor Day parade, Romney said Clinton will bring change to the country in the form of big government, socialized medicine and a less secure country. He was riffing off Clinton’s speech in New Hampshire a day earlier in which she said she can work for change from within the Washington establishment.

Clinton campaign spokeswoman Kathleen Strand fired back, saying the only change Romney understands are his changing positions on issues. - Boston Herald

HA! Now that we are getting closer to the primary main event this kind of stuff will just keep coming! I love it.

The United Steelworkers and the United Mine Workers of America have now endorsed John Edwards.

August was a slow and boring month (aside from that Senator Craig stuff) but September, just a few short months away from Iowa, is upon us and things in the campaigns are expected to heat up. Though not today because its labor day and we are all on vacation.

So here are your headlines, nothing big thus far but if it happens, I will bring it to you.

* Edwards urges health care for all in Tipton stop

* Clinton Embraces Mantle of Change

* The Clintons Hit New Hampshire

* Obama rallies hometown corporate donors

* Hunter wins GOP straw poll in Texas

A story from the Washington Post and seen when visiting the site:

The campaign took the site down over the week, said spokeswoman Maria Comella. The new site will launch Tuesday morning with some new features, campaign officials said.

It is not at all unusual for popular Web sites to go dark for a few hours for maintenance. But in a primary race that is being fought as much online as offline — where voters and potential donors are surfing the net 24/7 — it’s rather curious to shut down a site for more than a day.

Not to be a jerk about it but one could make the argument that there wasn’t much to take down in the first place. They could have easily just put up an index.html file that says “Rudy Giuliani, Please Give Money” and it would have amounted to Giuliani’s Web presence thus far.

I’ve had a hard time figuring out just what the people at JoinRudy08.com do all day long anyway. I run ElectionGeek on what amounts to $20 a year and I have more information about Rudy Giuliani stored up in this place then was ever gathered at JoinRudy08.com. Including a rather glib assessment of his handshaking. Beat that!

Giuliani has basically spent a ton of money thus far, if I am reading the expenditures right it was over a half million dollars in “Web SVC” this quarter for what amounted to a template with a couple pictures and paragraphs thrown in with an online money transaction system.

I could not even begin to tell you the kind of Web site I could bring you for half a million dollars a quarter. Certainly I could do better than loading up a pre-built CMS onto a server, opening a merchant account and taking labor day off.