by Jill Zuckman
Todd Harris, former flak for John McCain, Jeb Bush and Arnold Schwarzenegger, will take over immediately as Fred Thompson’s communications director, Harris confirmed this evening.
Thompson, the former Tennessee Republican senator, is expected to officially announce he is running for president after a long, drawn out flirtation.
Over the past several months, the Law and Order star repeatedly has reshuffled campaign staff and suffered from poor reviews as he has visited Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and other early primary spots.
Most recently, he parted ways with a communications director from the Chamber of Commerce and said goodbye to a campaign manager.
Republican activists have complained that Thompson has had little of substance to say on the stump. But with the GOP nomination fight increasingly competitive, Thompson has shown promise in the polls, leading his competitors in Michigan and South Carolina and edging out McCain in New Hampshire, which was once thought to be McCain’s strong suit.
Harris, a California native, got his start in presidential politics as a press secretary aboard the “Straight Talk Express” in the 2000 election — helping McCain win an early spree of primary fights before losing the nomination to George W. Bush.
He has served Schwarzenegger in California. And most recently, he has worked for the Navigators, a Republican consulting firm led by Mike Murphy, a former media adviser to McCain. Both Todd and Murphy campaigned for former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida.
