Posted on 09/24/2007 3:39:20 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
There have been so many dismissive or blistering articles about Fred Thompson in recent months, I half expected last weekend to see Larry, Curly or Moe lead a bumbling three-day bus tour through Florida.
George Will likens the former Tennessee senator to overhyped New Coke; Robert Novak suggests the late-announcing candidate may have crashed and burned before takeoff; Dick Morris declares him clearly over his head on the campaign trail.
These guys need get out of the Beltway for a few days and see what's happening on the ground in places like Florida. They're underestimating hunger among Republicans for an alternative to the current field.
"I've been fighting to find a candidate I can support," said David Nelson, a retiree from Fort Myers Beach, echoing Republican after Republican who came out to see Thompson in Cape Coral recently. "Fred is so straightforward and comes off so logical, he's the kind of candidate people have been screaming for."
Yes, the 65-year-old lawyer/lobbyist/actor was vague or uninformed about some key issues like Terri Schiavo, offshore drilling and a national catastrophic fund while campaigning in Florida. Yes, Thompson had a languid pace of campaigning, with lots of hours driving on a cushy campaign bus between occasional events. No, he's not a riveting orator.
But even after Thompson's weakest performances - in Cape Coral he breathed heavily into the microphone, lost his train of thought, and at one point under the sweltering sun, his hand started shaking ominously - people gushed with passion and constantly compared him to Ronald Reagan.
"Fred Thompson sounds like he's really down to earth, in contrast to what we're seeing from some of the other candidates," said Joe DeRose, a retired pharmaceutical company manger in The Villages. "He comes off as very believable, and I think it's because his values are the values of the American people."
Certainly, Thompson shares some of Reagan's Teflon. The fallout from publicity about the shaky start of his campaign organization, about him once lobbying for an abortion rights group, about him not belonging to a church, about Nixon viewing the young Senate Watergate Committee lawyer as a "dumb as hell" ally? So far, zip.
Most national polls show him in a close second place to Rudy Giuliani among Republicans. A Mason-Dixon poll of likely GOP voters in Florida released last week found Giuliani and Thompson in a dead heat, with 24 percent and 23 percent support respectively, followed by 13 percent for Mitt Romney.
Despite his many years as a Washington lobbyist, Thompson is pitching himself as a folksy, outsider with a track record for stepping up for public service when his country needs him: as the 30-year-old minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee; as the lawyer in a Tennessee whistle-blower case that wound up leading to the imprisonment of a governor and Thompson playing himself in the movie; as part of the Republican Revolution in 1994.
If he can bump off Romney as the viable conservative alternative to Giuliani - thrice married, estranged from his own children, supports gay rights, abortion rights and gun control - the nomination may be Thompson's for the taking. It won't be easy, but there is a path for Thompson and Florida is a key part.
Late-starting, Thompson probably won't win the crucial early contests of Iowa and New Hampshire. But he must finish strong enough to keep Romney from riding a tidal wave of momentum. It would help if Giuliani or John McCain could keep Romney from winning New Hampshire, on the heels of winning Iowa.
"This is an atypical presidential election cycle. Winning Iowa and New Hampshire is not insignificant, but it is not as significant as in elections past," said U.S. Rep. Adam Putnam of Bartow, a Thompson supporter.
If Thompson can stay alive through Iowa and New Hampshire in early January, the only Southerner in the race is positioned to win South Carolina's primary on Jan. 15, then Florida on Jan. 29 and compete well among some two dozen states voting on Feb. 5.
"What we have to do as a campaign is figure out how to build a strategic bridge from the very early states to South Carolina, Florida and Feb. 5 states," said Thompson's national campaign manager Bill Lacy, who well remembers how in 1994 the pundits foolishly wrote off Thompson's prospects for winning the nomination for Al Gore's Senate seat.
Feb. 5 is shaping up as a virtual national primary day, and many observers note the big Giuliani-friendly states voting that day, such as new York, Connecticut and New Jersey (183 delegates combined). Overlooked are how many delegates will come from Thompson-friendly states like Georgia, Tennessee and Alabama (175 delegates combined).
If he wins the nomination, and he can, Hillary Clinton will probably find out what Hollywood already knows: The D.A. on Law & Order and admiral in Hunt for Red October can sell America reassuring power and competence as well as anybody.
The next couple months will be crucial for Thompson to capitalize on the lack of enthusiasm for the other Republicans. But forget all the skeptical pundits for awhile. Conventional wisdom doesn't necessarily apply in the first Republican primary in decades without a clear front-runner.
Here’s the secret:
Fred is REAL.
I wouldn’t call this a very positive piece on Thompson, from “long bus rides on a cushy campaign bus” to “his hand started shaking and he lost his place in Cape Coral” they are not painting inevitability of Fred very well fellas.
And what the grass roots is being fed are opinions stated earlier by another candidate while this candidate was “testing the waters”. He obviously also
“had his ear to the ground”. Duncan Hunter beat him to it on every issue. Now FDT is claiming the honors.
The bitterness on the part of Hunterites (some, not all) about Fred’s success in the polls versus Congressman Hunter does you & your candidate no favors.
>>>The bitterness on the part of Hunterites (some, not all) about Fred’s success in the polls versus Congressman Hunter does you & your candidate no favors<<<
This same garbage has been coming from Thompson supporters for months on end. And far more stridently than you see out of Hunter supporters for some time now.
I’ve generally found Hunter supportes (with a few exceptions) to be fairly cordial.
Flak is thickest over the target.
Duncan who?
Ping!
I know this is hard to realize, but being a conservative Fred will often see issues the same as Hunter. I doubt Fred is paying him much mind, he is off the scope right now.
Good try though...
Fred Thompson truly needs to be 100% conservative on all of the issues. Fred truly needs to be against the present campaign finance reform system still in place as well as have something very acceptable to conservatives to replace it with. He also has to successfully explain his absences from all of the GOP Presidential debates that have occurred since Fred’s official announcement that he’s running for the ‘08 Presidency. Fred truly shouldn’t lose many of the social conservative votes just because Fred has skipped several debates already, and this is already a possibility!
In fact most of the attacks have come from your camp as I have seen it. The Hunter and Thompson camps share some of the same values. Oh there are exceptions and the heat rises.
But the Mittocrits take the cake, the Fred is dead/dying and his wife dresses like a whore memes originated from the Mitt side.
No try. The truth is always good, ejonesie22. And as a Christian, I tell it the way I see it. Take it or leave it.
>Duncan Who?<
LOL! Pet, you are a card! :)
We’ll leave the light on for you.
No, really. Duncan who?
Duncan Hines? I love cake.
Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
WARNING: If you wish to join, be aware that this ping list is EXTREMELY active.
Now, Duncan Hines! I’d vote for him. He’s all about cake and no pork and actually shows up for work. He’s got name recognition too!
Much better than some stiff congressman with ornery supporters.
Fred’s opinions are his own, and have been for many years.
Click to help Fred:
https://www.fred08.com/contribute.aspx?RefererID=c637caaa-315c-4b4c-9967-08d864cd0791
The fact is Fred has not connected with the press. That is not a bad thing. McCain was the press’s favorite Republican in 2000 but that did not cut the mustard with the Republicans voting in primaries. Now Rudy is the press’s favorite Republican including the MSM whores at the Fox News Channel. Fred does not have the insatiable willingness to please, and when he can’t please spin like a top that Guiliani or Romney has. Because Fred is not flapping his gums every waking minute of the day that is offered up as laziness by the media . The media would have us believe that the opinion polls that they control are the only polls that count. Well, maybe Fred understands the polls that count right now are called primaries and Fred trusts each voter to vote his own mind. I used to like sports but all the endless stupid hype that precedes the games really turns me off. And that hype is nothing compared to the way the stupid media covers politics before even one vote has been cast in a primary. Fred hasn’t been kissing any rings worn by MSM poohbahs, whether that matters will be determined when the real polling starts and real people vote.
"The Beltway" doesn't get it for a number of reasons: (1)Thompson didn't enter when they thought he should; (2)Thompson didn't confer with nor cultivate them first; (3)He's not "one of them," (doesn't live there, go to their parties, vacation where they do, etc.)
The Beltway crowd prefer to think of themselves as king-makers and Thompson's not played by their rules.
I say these things NOT because I'm a "Fred head" but I do find his candidacy interesting.
This is the same bitter, childish garbage she posts on every Fred thread.
Just ignore, her comments are worthless!
FRED VETS, SIGN UP TODAY AT:
Fred bump.
Considering this is now the third variation on this I've seen, this must be the latest Hunter tactic -- tear down Fred by claiming that he's just parroting Hunter.
I'm not sure what y'all hope to accomplish by this.
Amen to that!
And not just to the blue bits.
Rudy being a frontrunner is an embarrassment to the national republican party, the guy is Dem Lite.
So far I have been ruling OUT candidates, Rudy is OUt and McLame is OUT among the so-called frontrunners.
Oh really? Are you a personal friend, or just on the defensive?
Bitter? Hardly. Just convinced that Duncan Hunter is the best an for the job, and that it is vitally important that he gets it.
Perhaps one of you can give me three things that FDT accomplished during his stint as Senator that give him the credentials for the top office in the land.
A friend sent this “Pick A Candidate” questionnaire. I would have included more questions and answer choices, but found it to be a pretty good questionnaire. You just have to pick the answer closest to your opinion on the various issues, and it ranks the candidates on how they agree with your answer choices. Don’t mind sharing I came out Hunter, Thompson on top. I do love Hunter, but believe Thompson has a better chance of winning against Hillary. We just have to see how things progress as we get closer to the election for the nomination. :)
http://www.wqad.com/Global/link.asp?L=259460
Just stating the facts. I’ve know about Fred, and his views, for a long time. Even before he was on “Law and Order”. ;o)
Good. Then you should be the perfect person to tell me three things FDT accomplished during his stint in the Senate that give him the credentials for the top office in the land.
Hunter isn’t the leader/executive type but rather a more hands on dedicated fixer, nuts and bolts type. In that role he’s been superb.
Of course, none of that will be sufficient for you, but I didn't expect it to be, because he's not your candidate. ;o)
>Hunter isn’t the leader/executive type but rather a more hands on fixer, nuts and bolts type. In that role he has been superb.<
Well, I believe that Rep Hunter IS the leader, executive type who is the fixer, nuts and bolts type that we need in a CIC today. He demands respect, has the vision to note the trends and do something about them. He doesn’t play a role, but has been highly successful in all his endeavors so far, and will be exactly that as president.
Thank you, Suzi. At least you tried, and that’s more than anyone else has done. I, too, appreciate anyone who strives to reduce the size of the Federal government.
Well, I believe
Tell me why others can bring the populace to their campaigns but Hunter can’t? If you can figure that out then maybe just maybe it isn’t too late for Hunter. Some people are destined or have that unique ability to atract people to their endeavors where others are basically follows or the nut and bolt types.
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