Another week, another round of bad news for Fred Thompson. "Beyond the mere anxiety of the waiting game," writes The Politico's Jonathan Martin, Thompson "has suffered through a summer of stumbles. In a short period of time, Thompson has already been hit with the sort of problems that it takes most campaigns months longer -- not to mention a full-blown candidacy -- to accrue." Those include, but are not limited to, staff firings and resignations -- the most recent his communications director Linda Rozett -- and questions about his ability on the trail.

In an interview, Thompson "acknowledged his circumstances put him in a situation where nearly everything must go right over the next several months if he is to make the transition from the potential candidate with lots of buzz to a real candidate with lots of votes," writes Martin. Asked if he would officially announce his candidacy around Labor Day, Thompson said he "wouldn't be shocked if you turned out to be right."

First Read's Kelly O'Donnell spoke to Rozett, who said that her "hope is this will be seen for nothing more than [campaign manager] Bill Lacy bringing his own team together."

While speaking at the Minnesota State Fair yesterday, Thompson defended his decision to delay an announcement, reports the Pioneer Press' Bill Salisbury. "All the rules got changed this year," Thompson said. "We weren't there when they made the rules, so I had to follow my own, which is the more traditional way of doing things."

The revelation that Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho) was arrested in June, and pleaded guilty in August, to lewd behavior has forced the senator to resign from Mitt Romney's campaign, reports CNN's Alexander Mooney. As a co-Senate liaison for the campaign, Craig "did not want to be a distraction," said Matt Rhoades, Romney's communications director. The campaign also pulled a video featuring Craig from its YouTube channel.

Rudy Giuliani visited Detroit yesterday to raise $300,000 and "to watch his beloved New York Yankees play the Detroit Tigers," reports the Detroit Free Press' Kathleen Gray. Michigan Republicans back legislation to move the state primary up to Jan. 15 -- a development Giuliani said he supports. "I'm very competitive in Michigan," he said. "So you tell us the schedule and we'll comply with it."

Mike Huckabee's decision to attend the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers convention in Florida Monday -- the only GOP candidate to do so -- could "pay off for the former Arkansas governor when the union, with about 700,000 members nationwide, endorses a candidate in the Republican primary for the first time in the group's 119-year history," reports the Palm Beach Post's Michael Bender. Citing his blue-collar upbringing, Huckabee said, "If I asked how many of you had confidence that your children and your grandchildren would be living an even better life than you, my fear is that nobody's hand would go up." Joining Huckabee at the convention was Hillary Clinton, who told the crowd of 700 that "our country worked best when we're creating a thriving middle class."

Clinton, however, took some heat from John Edwards later at the Lance Armstrong LIVESTRONG cancer forum in Iowa, reports The Hill's Jim Snyder. "Edwards used the forum to return to a theme that played well at the Yearly Kos event in Chicago several weeks ago in which he challenged candidates to refuse lobbyists' donations," reports Snyder.

Speaking of health care, Bill Clinton is about to come out with a new book defending his administration's attempt to reshape the nation's health care system, an effort spearheaded by Hillary, reports the AP's Beth Fouhy. The book, "Giving," is scheduled to hit shelves Sept. 4.

The Wall Street Journal's Brody Mullins is asking questions about a suspicious high-dollar donor for the Clinton campaign. The money trail, which begins with a California family of modest means, could lead to wealthy New York businessman Norman Hsu, who is a top Clinton donor.

The nation's first elected black governor, L. Douglas Wilder of Virginia, is supporting Barack Obama, reports The Politico's Mike Allen and John Harris. Now the mayor of Richmond, Wilder's "unstinting embrace" of Obama, as well as his "notably cool" reaction toward Clinton, was "surprising," Allen and Harris report, since "Wilder's frequent practice has been to haze fellow Democrats."

Finally, the Washington Times' Stephen Dinan wonders, "Does someone who isn't running for president really need a D.C. communications operation?" That someone is NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg.

Get these and other stories at RCP's Politics and Elections page.

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