I gotta say, Thompson has been getting some flack for announcing his candidacy the way he did and by going on Leno to reach out to the American people... But... Honestly I totally think he did this the right way.
His "camp's" reasoning is pretty solid:
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.”
In all honesty, it was also nice to see his people admit that the Republican debates where pretty much useless in determining who is going to be winning the nod for the party anyway.
Lets face it, the American people get the democracy they deserve every election cycle, but they determine who they'll vote for regardless of how the candidate does in a debate (provided they don't sacrifice a live goat or something on stage).
It really has more to do with popularity and the polarizing issues of the day (or how well their people CAN polarize said issues for people, thus making it a "black or white" choice on one or two issues.), then it does with how well the candidate can illustrate his/her views on a multitude of topics. We don't have a long enough attention span to really listen to anything other then "Does he agree with Gay Marriage or Abortion?".
Sheep, yer all sheep and you get the "democracy" you deserve.
