Posted on 12/30/2007 10:10:33 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
If Fred Thompson is nothing else he’s honest, or at least as honest as politics will allow one man to be. Presidential candidates through necessity are forced to make promises they know they can’t keep. Occasionally a candidate will say something in an unguarded moment being totally frank with his or her audience they wish later they hadn’t. At a town hall meeting in Burlington Iowa Fred Thompson was explaining becoming president wasn’t an obsession of his. He had a life before he decided to run and he’ll have a life if he isn’t the voter’s choice. The media’s reporting it as though he doesn’t care one way or the other, which is not what he meant to say.
WE MUST SELECT OUR BEST CHOICE AND STICK WITH THEM, I MUST ADMIT I WAVERED ONCE, NOT AGAIN.
Sometimes a little ass chewing can be a good thing. After I SUPPORTING Fred Thompson I wrote a critical article pertaining to Fred Thompson’s lack of enthusiasm, I received two e-mails from two of Fred Thompson’s State Campaign Managers taking me to task for my disloyalty. I must admit I was guilty of following the media hype. I was allowing Cable TV pundits to lead me on a false path away from what Fred Thompson is all about. I became lazy and wasn’t doing the research and follow-up as a writer I’m compelled to do to be creditable. Political punditry should never be a part time sport.
Like all Monday morning quarterbacks I stood on the sidelines telling the players what they should and shouldn’t do. Some input from the outside can’t hurt but it isn’t going to win in the long run. After receiving some video clips from one of the Thompson campaign managers and seeing Fred Thompson on Fox News Sunday it became obvious Fred Thompson is doing exactly what he has to do to win the nomination. Fred Thompson doesn’t have to win the Iowa primary all he has to do is make a credible showing. Iowa is only one of 50 states, flyover America has yet to speak.
It may seem I’ve flip flopped in my support for Fred Thompson, actually what it shows is when the facts aren’t available even the most devout can falter. I’m a Red States Voter in a Blue State, which means most of the media coverage in my state goes to the Democratic Party. What little MSM coverage Republicans get is devoted to Mitt Romney’s Mormonism and Rudy Giuliani’s sex life, neither of these are of any concern to voters. Mike Huckabee seems to be getting a lot of media attention, this to will pass. Mike Huckabee has a lot to learn before he’s ready for prime time. It seems when Huckabee doesn’t have an answer he always manages a joke. I doubt the country is ready for a wise-ass president yet. Humor is no way to cover up past positions on issues that don’t fit into a political party’s platform.
There’s no question most of the Republican candidates would like to be known as the air-apparent to the Reagan legacy. Any Republican who assumes they can come anywhere near the accomplishment of Ronald Reagan should be arrested for impersonating a Great Statesman. Times change, a cloned Ronald Reagan would fail as a president today. Each of these candidates must come up with their own programs. They should not let the Media and the Democrats set the agenda for them. Reagan picked a few issues [less than a dozen] and concentrated on those, he never allowed Democrats or the media to sidetrack him into fighting their battles.
He was also emphatic about not speaking ill of fellow Republicans.
Things important to Democrats aren’t necessarily important to the majority of the voters. The 1948 election of Harry Truman was an example of a man the media and his own political party wrote off as a loser then he came back to win the election. If conventional wisdom ruled I’d win the lotto every week and Al Gore would be sitting in the Whitehouse.
Like many voters I’ve been letting media hype lead me down a path of discontent. The media’s hammering away as though it will all be over after the Iowa caucus has a mind altering effect on voters. The premise is as Iowa goes so goes the nation, this of course is not true Iowa is only the beginning. One thing we know about the media, what is fact today are never the same facts tomorrow. The media follows the clouds flowing on a path the political hot air directing them to who knows where.
I must apologize to Fred Thompson for doubting his campaign strategy. It would seem he’s on track and doesn’t seem to be all that concerned about winning Iowa. Fred Thompson realizes Iowa is only one state out of 50. Fred Thompson may have more insight to our political system than the rest of us. This nation is 230 years in the making, Those 230 years have produced 43 presidents and 110 sessions of congress. One president resigned and two were impeached, all for political purposes generated by their opponents. No president has ever committed a felony this has to give us comfort in the process of selecting leaders. I’m sure Fred Thompson has already figured this out and is willing to do it the smart way and take his chances. I would like to warn Mr. Thompson to watch his six he’s in a pond of political alligators up to his shorts. May I suggest we all control our hysteria and let the system work its magic? It’s worked for 230 years I’m sure it will work for at least one more election. With Iowa down and 49 states left to go the system will prevail as always. Win lose or draw America will survive to vote again
MAKE YOUR CHOICE AND STICK WITH HIM OR HER TO THE END, YOUR CANDIDATE DESERVES NO LESS THE ONLY WASTED VOTE IS NO VOTE AT ALL
My New Year’s resolution is that you post Fred Thompson articles to News/Activism instead of Bloggers and GOP Club. You are an excellent poster here, but only a fraction of folks get to see your good work when it’s posted outside of News/Activism.
Poorly written and intellectually dishonest with a whif of oak and blackberry notes.
While I agree that Mr. Hughes is presumably a better businessman than columnist, his heart is in the right place. Not everyone can be a William F. Buckley, Jr.
If you insist...LOL
Many posters have their options set up to only see News/Activism posts, so if you can get away with it in News/Activism, then go for it (especially if it’s politics related). The only exception are articles from blogspot and a few others, where FR software forces you to post them to Bloggers.
:O)
I find it interesting that “winning in Iowa” isn’t important and that Fred’s strategy is working. He isn’t ahead in NH or SC either.
What IS the strategy? Come in third fourth or fifth forever and get elected on sympathy. Please, if you want to claim a brilliant strategy, articulate it. Advising people to keep supporting a losing politician is equivalent to recommending betting on the Dolphins to win the Super Bowl.
Fred has to earn support. If he finishes 4th or worse in Iowa, worse in NH and can’t do better than 3rd in SC, he should get out.
Let's play poker some time.
Brilliant.
Lets bet on President Fred now.
I think the author is wrong.
Fred isn’t doing what he needs to be doing to win the nomination. Fred needs a Reagan moment. He needs to prove the pundits wrong, and he can’t do that by acting exactly like the way they say he is. He needs to stop acting like he’s too tired to run, and run already, tell the voters point blank that he’s ready to do what’s necessary to win in November. The campaign does not end after the nominee is chosen. That is when it begins. The primary is an audition for the real thing, and if Fred is the nominee and runs in the general election against the Democrats the way he’s run in the primaries, then we’re toast. This is the main reason of several that Fred has been on a 2 month long nose dive. The other reason is he’s never really made a compelling case for why America needs him as president, not just why conservatives need him as the GOP nominee.
Let's play poker some time.If this was poker, then Fred would have been in the bathroom the whole time while the hand was played. This is no master card player's strategy. This is a guy who threw in his ante then never drew any cards.
I’ve made my choice and I’m sticking with him.
I was worried by the headline, I was thinking it’s too early to do a “retrospective” on Fred Thompson, that’s usually reserved for people who are done, and he’s certainly not done yet.
However, I think people can also “do the right thing” if on the day of their vote, they look at all the candidates and assess what vote makes the most sense to get the most of what they want.
And that might not be to vote for the person they have supported, if their candidate can’t win, and another candidate could win if he got enough support, and would be better than the candidate who would otherwise win.
I have my filter set to see everything posted, so I don’t miss anything. I filter by reading the 1st paragraphs, because it doesn’t take long.
Patience, my FRiends.
An admission I fear many here need to make.
It's amusing how loudly and frequently we condemn the media for pushing prevailing wisdom and "truth" that they just kind of hear about in the press room, and yet we have people strutting around here in type as if they just know Fred is done, it's all over but the cryin, etc...thus doing precisely what the hated media WANT them to do, which is invest the media with incredible powers of persuasion by directing the national debate.
For those condemning Fred's strategy, I'd love to read their reasoning for why the winning strategy worked. Of course, you'll have to tell us who the winner is going to be, AND explain that winning strategy now. But you folks seem to think you have all the answers, so let's have 'em.
BTW, 2ndDV, if you have a ping list put me on it. I find you post 90% of the interesting stuff around here these days.
I think we need to stop comparing everything and everyone to Reagan.
“Comments?”
Yes, 2ndDivisionVet, you’re doing a great job posting all these breaking articles. Thanks for your hard work!
Who exactly is running for President here - the pundits or FDT? Think about it.
A true leader doesn't give a rat's ass what the "experts" think.
I will bump it.
Patience? Patience??
Fred is the hare in the race, taking a nap under the tree as the tortoise crosses the finish line. And you’re sitting here telling me not to worry, he’ll wake up and spring into action any day now. I think it’s already several days too late.
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