The Yoko Syndrome

Chris Cillizza on the nascent Fred Thompson campaign:

Before he even becomes a full-fledged candidate for president, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) is reshuffling his senior staff.

Tom Collamore, who had been functioning as de facto campaign manager for Thompson's bid, has been moved into a "senior advisor" role, according to communications director Linda Rozett. Randy Enwright, a longtime Florida operative, will take over the political operations for the campaign while former Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) will serve in an as-yet-to-be determined capacity.

"We are preparing for the next phase and bringing on some new political strength," said Rozett, adding that Collamore had done a "good job of putting together an organization."

Rozett disputed reports that Collamore had been pushed aside due to clashes with Thompson's wife, Jeri. But, it's worth noting that washingtonpost.com's own "Sleuth" aka Mary Ann Akers reported last month that Jeri's central role in the campaign was rubbing some within the organization the wrong way. (In The Fix's look at Thompson's Inner Circle we noted that "no one has more say over Thompson's budding presidential campaign than his wife.")

(emphasis added)