On the September 9 broadcast of the NBC-syndicated Chris Matthews Show, while discussing actor and former Sen. Fred Thompson's (R-TN) September 5 announcement of his presidential candidacy, syndicated columnist Kathleen Parker asserted that Thompson “didn't have to come in early. He already has that name recognition so he's way ahead of the game. All these other people have had to spend millions of dollars to get their names known.” Host Chris Matthews responded: “Good point.” But recent polling indicates that roughly a third of the American public have not heard of Thompson -- more than had not heard of the other leading presidential candidates from both major parties.

A Pew Center for the People & the Press poll conducted August 1-18 found that 35 percent of respondents had “never heard of” Thompson. By contrast, 2 percent of respondents reported that they never heard of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), 11 percent never heard of former Sen. John Edwards (D-NC), 8 percent never heard of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani (R), 12 percent never heard of Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), 13 percent never heard of Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL), and 29 percent never heard of former Gov. Mitt Romney (R-MA).

A Gallup poll conducted August 13-16 found that 37 percent had “never heard of” Thompson, while 8 percent never heard of Edwards, 6 percent never heard of Giuliani, 9 percent never heard of McCain, 9 percent never heard of Obama, and 26 percent never heard of Romney. (Results for “never heard of” Clinton were not displayed, but responses for the other possible answers added up to 100 percent.)

A more recent August 23-25 Gallup survey asked respondents to rate candidates “where 0 is the coldest score, 100 is the warmest.” Regarding Thompson, 31 percent of respondents reported the response: “Never heard of/No opinion.” By contrast, 0 percent of respondents said they had “never heard of” or had “no opinion” about Clinton, 5 percent said this about Edwards, 4 percent said this about Giuliani, 6 percent said this about McCain, 5 percent said this about Obama, and 20 percent said this about Romney.

Parker cited Thompson's “name recognition” after Matthews noted that both Thompson and former president Ronald Reagan were “late entries” into the presidential race and were radio personalities at the time. As Media Matters for America documented, Thompson's commentaries for ABC Radio Networks repeatedly advanced conservative misinformation on a variety of issues.

From the September 9 edition of the NBC-syndicated Chris Matthews Show:

MATTHEWS: But here's the other connection we stumbled on just this week. They were both late entries. A lot of people have questioned whether Thompson was smart to take his sweet time getting into this race, which let him hold onto his Paul Harvey radio gig, but look at NBC's Douglas Kiker covering another actor who was worried about getting in too early back in 1979.

[begin video clip]

REAGAN [video clip]: This is Ronald Reagan. I'm on the air each weekday with my commentary on domestic, political, and social issues and world affairs as well. Join me, won't you?

KIKER: There's a good reason why Reagan has not announced yet: It would cost him money. Big money. As an official candidate, Reagan would lose the income he receives from more than 500 radio stations which carry his daily commentaries, and the huge income he earns on the lecture circuit.

REAGAN [video clip]: Thank you.

REAGAN: Well, yeah, that's the difference between me and the other my particular activity and the activity of most of the other candidates that if I'm a candidate -- and it was true the last time -- then I have no earnings during that period.

KIKER: Reagan is also worried about peaking too soon.

REAGAN: I just don't think the people are ready yet to be revved up, and I think that the candidates are going to stay on too long. Pretty soon, what are they -- what's there going to be talked about in October of 1980?

[end video clip]

MATTHEWS: God, is he good. And, Kathleen, he's totally honest. He says, “I'm not going to give up the radio gig 'cause I like the money.” What an honest answer.

PARKER: Well, he's a practical man. You know, and that's important --

MATTHEWS: These other guys come up with some reason: “Oh, I have commitments I have to meet under the law,” you know.

PARKER: Well --

DAVID GREGORY (NBC News chief White House correspondent): Yeah, right.

PARKER: Well, of course, as far as Thompson goes, he didn't have to come in early. He already has that name recognition, so he's way ahead of the game. All these other people have had to spend millions of dollars to get their names known.

MATTHEWS: Good point. We're going to come back and talk about Romney.