Posted on 07/30/2007 7:41:58 PM PDT by Mobile Vulgus
A lot of people are atwitter over this addition to the Thompson advisory team of former Senator Spencer Abraham. But, it is starting to look to me like a story incorrectly reported by the MSM and rolling off track from there. It just seems that there are too many conflicting reports on Abraham's role with the AP reporting that he is a new "campaign manager" but others saying Randy Enwright is.
The website IsraelToday, for instance, has posted a story full of alarm over the addition of Spence to the team. Their reaction is similar to many Israel supporters here in the states, too. "Fred Thompson names anti-Israel ex-senator as campaign manager" their headline screams. They are very worried over Spence's past slights to Israel and for being "soft on Islamic terrorism."
Israel Today isn't the only one. Many bloggers and MSM news sources have been reporting that Abraham is the new "campaign manager" for the Thompson campaign. But, there seems to be a major misconception over Spencer's position with the Thompson campaign here. Many reports are calling Abraham Fred's "campaign manager" but this does not seem to be a truthful description of his role.
It seems more like Spence will be a mere campaign advisor and "ambassador" to Washington, NOT the campaign manager. According to one report in the New York Post, Thompson's campaign manager is Randy Enwright, not Abraham.
"Spence is not going to be the campaign manager," the adviser said. "He won't be running anything."And according to the San Francisco Chronicle:That job will be in the hands of Randy Enwright, a veteran Florida Republican who is widely respected and also once ran the GOP in Iowa.
Enright is a veteran operative in Florida who was part of President Bush's political operation in the key swing state; he also was executive director of the Republican Party of Iowa. Abraham served in the Bush administration after losing re-election in 2000 to Democratic Sen. Debbie Stabenow; in 2006, he joined a French-owned nuclear company, Areva Inc., as chairman of its board of directors.They say that "Enright is heading the political operation, while Abraham doesn't yet have a title," and this seems to solve the fact that Abraham is not the campaign manager.
We also have a more detailed report from Politico:
The day-to-day campaign will now be run by Randy Enwright, a Florida consultant who was the political director. And former Sen. Spencer Abraham (R-Mich.) will be the chairman, acting as the campaign’s ambassador to official Washington.In other words, Abraham is not in the decision making position that other news media is assuming he is going to be.
Now, it seems that the media has assigned Spencer Abraham to be Fred Thompson's "campaign manager," but I don't see Team Thompson ever saying that directly. I think this Abraham-is-manager meme is one created by and furthered by the media.
It just seems awfully odd that some sources say Abraham isn't the manager, yet others insist he is.
Additionally, Thompson does not have a record of being anti-Israel. To answer to that point here is an article penned by the candidate himself at National Review online.
Let me ask you a hypothetical question. What do you think America would do if Canadian soldiers were firing dozens of missiles every day into Buffalo, N.Y.? What do you think our response would be if Mexican troops for two years had launched daily rocket attacks on San Diego — and bragged about it?He also showed his sympathy for the Israelis and against the Palestinians here:I can tell you, our response would look nothing like Israel’s restrained and pinpoint reactions to daily missile attacks from Gaza. We would use whatever means necessary to win the war. There would likely be numerous casualties on our enemy’s side, but we would rightfully hold those who attacked us responsible.
The Palestinian strategy is to purposely target and kill Israeli civilians. Then, when Israel goes after those launching the attacks, Palestinians claim to be the victims. If Palestinian civilians aren’t hurt in the Israeli attacks, they stage injuries and deaths.He also uses the word "Islamofascist"...Too often, they garner sympathy and support from a gullible or anti-Semitic media in the international community.
I’m beginning to wonder how much longer this vicious plot will work though. International sympathy for Palestinians has diminished as the same Islamofascist extremists have brought havoc to Madrid, Bali, Somalia, London and elsewhere. More importantly, Israelis themselves are suffering so badly, they may be on the verge of losing their sympathy for the people who have sworn to kill them.... and more support for Israel:
The irony is that Israel has the military might to easily win the war that is being waged against them today. They haven’t used that might, in the past, out of compassion for Palestinian civilians and because it could trigger a wider regional conflict.Man. None of THAT seems too anti-Israel!!If the world doesn’t act to stop Iran’s nuclear ambitions, it must be prepared for the consequences of Israel defending itself.
It all seems to be a puffed up story, anyway. What do you all think? Will only time tell?
Seems to me if you are waiting for the perfect candidate, you'll be waiting an awful long time!
Since this has become an issue, why doesn’t Fred Thompson himself, issue a clarification.
I think there is a lot of misreporting going on.
This is a good story but was posted earlier in the day.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1873813/posts
I’m not the posting police, I was just on the other thread earlier. The subject is important, how gullible are we when the MSM puts out some twisted information?
Does he ever? He runs a real sloppy ship, IMO.
Also unclear is why Spencer Abraham, who is friendly with Islamists and was no friend of Israel, and who was an open border advocate, would even want to support Thompson, who is pro-Israel and wants to build the fence.
Fred silence says it all to me.
There are a lot of times when Fred does in fact issue a clarification himself. In interviews or written form. Many times people say he hasn’t when he did. He’s been on the road travelling for quite some time which limits such things. And does the press report all he says? No, they cover how they felt about what he said.
The written word requires that one be able to read and understand and take the time to read it. The interviews are largely on the internet. The daily FRed thread has links or full postings and excerpts everyday. If you truly are interested, it is there. Fred has in many interviews indicated that things the press has said about him are not true.
They are both strongly prolife. IMHO
Not one named quote identifies Abraham as campaign director.
Why should Fred respond when nobody has made a credible claim that Abraham is the campaign manager?
(Common sense really)
This Fred supporter thinks that this is MSM-driven and advanced by supporters of other candidates to hopefully convince others that Fred’s not a candidate they should support. For some here on FR, it has obviously worked.
And, you are absolutely right, those looking for The 100%Perfect Candidate are never going to find one.
Enwright is either a political genius (Karl Rove in training) or he is a soldier, marching on orders from the Bush campaign. For those conservatives who like the policies of Bush, it is good news. And for those conservatives who thought Bush was wrong on illegals and entitlement spending it just might mean more of the same.
So it begs a question: Is Thompson a Reagan conservative, or a Bush conservative?
That being said, I've read repeated claims about what Abraham isn't running or doing, but there's no real explanation of what he will be doing.
A "MERE" campaign advisor, and an "Ambassador" to Washington?
Sounds peculiar.
“Since this has become an issue, why doesn’t Fred Thompson himself, issue a clarification.”
I think Fred’s time is better spent getting his positions out there, as he has been by posting them on his website imwithfred.com. If there is any validity to all the various attacks on Fred, the attack will begin to show legs, until then Fred should ignore them, as the fact that your enemies are attacking, means they fear you, and the public will pick up on that. It also means more free publicity.
Oh, come on. Fred can spare 10 minutes from his busy day to issue a clarification.
“Oh, come on. Fred can spare 10 minutes from his busy day to issue a clarification.”
I don’t believe he should honor every attack with a response, there are going to be a lot of attacks, most will not deserve a response, and so all attacks must be treated inconsequential until they prove they have legs.
An open borders activist joining Fred's campaign is not inconsequential.
It appears that Fred doesn't know that.
As a Fred supporter I've had the same thoughts.
I'm sure he has access to the Internet and can reach his supporters directly, the question is why hasn't he?
“An open borders activist joining Fred’s campaign is not inconsequential. It appears that Fred doesn’t know that.”
Let’s see if a month from now it’s still an issue. If Fred limits himself to only hiring people who have the exact positions on the issues as he does, he would be left with an organization of 1. I support Fred and as a Jacksonian Libertarian I have differences with Fred on a number of things. It seems to me that Fred hired a centrist, that would be welcome every where in Washington, to Lobby for him. Fred isn’t going to have a problem gaining the support of conservatives, he is going to need to get in front of RINO’s and independents in order to work the old Fred charm on them and gain their support.
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