Fred Thompson is supposed to be the savior of the Republican Party, right? Well, if he is it looks like the GOP is in for a world of hurt this cycle (as if they weren't already). NBC News' Kelly O'Donnell has the details about some of Thompson's woes.

Sources close to the presumptive campaign tell NBC News that Fred Thompson's fundraising is down "markedly." One claimed it has "slowed down big-time." The pace is described as a consequence of the delayed announcement to enter the race.

"The Friends of Fred, Inc." will report to the IRS its revenue by July 31st. Sources reveal to NBC News that number will be in the range of about $3 million. Five million dollars had been the talked-about June goal. Sources describe an early burst of donations in June and say the summer fundraising has fallen off. While additional fundraisers are planned, sources say the scheduling of fundraisers was "frozen" for a time while the team was going through some internal strains.

It's not just fundraising where Thompson is having serious problems. Yesterday brought news that Thompson had lost his campaign manager -- a stunning development considering that he had not yet officially constituted his campaign. Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Carly Zakin expound on the ramifications of this move.

[T]he shakeup before the campaign started only fuels speculation among some that Thompson's fledgling candidacy has gotten off to a rocky start (mixed reviews of his speeches, questions about his conservative credentials, delays in his campaign kickoff) before it truly has begun.

As if were not bad enough that Thompson's fundraising efforts have been remarkably lackluster for someone proclaimed by some to be the Republicans' knight in shining armor and he has already lost his campaign manager before he officially jumped in the race, Thompson has now lost yet another high ranking campaign official. Marc Ambinder has the scoop.

J.T. Mastranadi was hired just a week and a half ago to be the campaign's director of research. He resigned this morning, a friend of his said. The friend said that Mastranadi was "fed up" with the "lack of structure" and was unclear about his role in the coming campaign.

[...]

Mastranadi was a former NRSC research director and is considered one of the best investigators in the business. Most recently, he worked with Thompson friend David Bossie on an anti-Hillary Clinton documentary.

I suppose that it should come as little surprise that the man who believes politics should be about nothing and who is viewed by many to be relatively lazy would have difficulty putting together an effective campaign. But all of this news, coming so quickly, even before Thompson announced his candidacy, has got to worry all of those Republicans who thought Thompson was going to be their man. Who's next? Dan Quayle?