This comes as no surprise:

Politician-turned-actor Fred Thompson plans an unconventional campaign for president using blogs, video posts and other Internet innovations to reach voters repelled by politics-as-usual in both parties, he told USA Today.

Thompson, a former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, has been coy about his intentions with audiences, but made clear in an interview that he plans to run.

I can’t remember exactly the point that I said, ‘I’m going to do this,’ ” Thompson says, his 6-foot, 6-inch frame sprawled comfortably across a couch in a hotel suite. “But when I did, the thing that occurred to me: ‘I’m going to tell people that I am thinking about it and see what kind of reaction I get to it.’ “

His late start carries some problems but also “certain advantages,” he says. “Nobody has maxed out to me” in contributions, he notes, and using the Internet already “has allowed me to be in the hunt, so to speak, without spending a dime.”

I wonder about all the $$$, most of which go into TV ads.

Living in California, we are largely ignored by presidential candidates. John Kerry knew he had California sown up and so did Bush. Thus we were spared the onslaught of campaign ads.

However, we visited relatives in Michigan, a contested state, in August 2004. TV seemed to be nonstop political ads. In just ten days, I grew to dislike all of the candidates. It’s hard to imagine that political ads make that much difference.

Fred Thompson is already familiar to most Americans who watch TV or movies. He doesn’t need to spend a fortune to introduce himself. On the other hand, candidates need an organization to get out the vote. In that regard,

Regardless of how charismatic or appealing a candidate is, he or she needs a team to get folks to the caucuses or polls.   Thompson will be playing catch up in this regard.

Thompson already has drawn support from GOP officials in Washington, state capitals and beyond.  But to capitalize on the people who will be with him from the get-go, Thompson needs to make clear that he is, to borrow another candidate’s favorite phrase, “in to win.”   Exploiting all that New Media has to offer via blogging and posting videos is smart and effective.   But it’s not good enough for people in places like Iowa and New Hampshire who demand a personal touch.   The modest town of Le Mars, Iowa, for example, will draw two of the top three Republican candidates back to back this week.   They’ll expect to see their party’s latest hopeful live and in person, not just on their computers or on their TV sets when “Law and Order” re-runs air.   

As indicated by just how many donors were on his conference call yesterday — and I’m told that they were from all over the country — Thompson will have plenty of low-hanging fruit to swipe in his initial fundraising forays.   But donors will expect the same level of commitment as early state activists.   And just like those in the grassroots, they’ll expect a not insignificant degree of care and feeding.  After Thompson picks up checks from his early backers, he’ll have to expend valuable hours on the phone securing commitments, pleading for cash and building up a warchest.  In other words, what his rivals have been doing for months or years.