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Jill Long Thompson’s Democratic gubernatorial campaign has pulled its TV advertising and has redesignated some of its field staff. Campaign spokesman Jeff Harris said late Monday morning that Barack Obama’s Campaign for Change now encompasses most of Indiana, so Thompson has folded some of its field operations in with the presidential operation. “We’ve adjusted our people,” Harris said. “We didn’t anticipate the Campaign for Change to be as comprehensive here.” He said that between the Obama and Thompson campaigns, “we are covering every inch of Indiana.” Obama has 31 field offices and organizations in all 92 Indiana counties. Democratic sources tell HPI that the Thompson campaign had “laid off” field staffers in the 2nd, 8th and 9th CDs in Indiana. As for the TV advertising, Harris said that Thompson stopped running TV ads over the weekend, but would resume, possibly, later this week. “We had a plan to go up early,” Harris said. “We’ve had a media plan and nothing has deviated from that.” Harris characterized it as a “change in strategy.” Cam Savage, a spokesman for Gov. Mitch Daniels re-election campaign, reacted to that by saying, “They’re broke. You don’t go off the air at this point in the campaign unless you don’t have money. You can change strategy and still remain on the air.” One Democratic county chairman characterized the Thompson campaign this morning as “a disaster.” At a Statehouse press conference at 4 p.m. today, Thompson is expected to call on Gov. Mitch Daniels to release travel and staffing records. Thompson alleged that Daniels used state aircraft to travel from his weekend home in West Virginia to present the Governor’s Cup to the winner of the Madison Regatta this summer. The Thompson campaign also alleges that Daniels has used state transportation and staff on days when he made Republican Lincoln Day addresses. Harris said that if the records are not released, Thompson will file a complaint with the Inspector General’s office. Harris noted that Daniels had assailed Gov. Joe Kernan during the 2004 campaign on similar issues. Harris said that on days Kernan had government and political stops scheduled, “He would change cars and staff” between events. Savage reacted to the travel criticism by saying, “The further Jill Long Thompson falls behind in the polls - 18 points last we heard - the more she ratchets up her negative attacks. Hoosiers are sick of negative personal attacks, they want courage, a positive vision and results, and Mitch Daniels offers them all.” The changes in field staff and media buys sparked intense speculation over the weekend that the Thompson campaign is financially teetering. The Aug. 29-30 Howey-Gauge Poll showed Daniels leading Thompson 53-35 percent. Thompson is shown here at the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce’s annual Hobnob at the Indiana State Museum on Thursday during a joint appeance with Daniels and Libertarian Andy Horning. Developing …. (HPI Photo by A. Walker Shaw)
Tags: Cam Savage, Jeff Harris, Jill Long Thompson, Mitch Daniels
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