Thompson takes aim at 2nd place, Democrats

Washington Times ^ | December 31, 2007 | Stephan Dinan

[ellery]

AMES, Iowa — A more fired-up Fred Thompson said yesterday he needs to finish second in Iowa's caucuses this week, and he went on the attack, accusing Democratic leaders of having let their party be hijacked by liberal interest groups.

Campaigning heavily here over the past two weeks, Mr. Thompson has refined his message and yesterday released a 15-minute Web video laying out his qualifications and telling voters they need to pick a Republican nominee who is willing to call out Democratic leaders for abandoning their principles.

"They're all NEA, MoveOn.org, ACLU, Michael Moore Democrats," Mr. Thompson charges in the video, which is on his campaign Web site. "They've allowed these radicals to take control of the party and dictate their course."

He said that gives Republicans a chance to recapture independents and "good Democrats" who agree their party has been hijacked, but he said Republicans must choose someone capable of making that case.

The former Tennessee senator is in the middle of a two-week, 50-stop tour in Iowa trying to gain momentum as the polls show the race tightening. Former front-runner Mike Huckabee has slid back into a tie with Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, for the lead in Iowa, while polls show Mr. Thompson vying with Sen. John McCain of Arizona for third.

Mr. Thompson told reporters at a stop in Ames that he needs to finish second, though he refused to speculate what would happen if he doesn't meet that goal. Later, speaking to supporters in Webster City, he said, "People say, 'You'd be satisfied with a good third-place finish' — No, no, no."

[John Valentine]

Counterpunch is more consistently wrong than anyone I have seen on Free Republic in the last 24 months, save for Kevmo, and he’s wrong because he WANTS to be.

[counterpunch]

What am I wrong about?
Are you saying that Fred isn’t actually the best choice, or that he’s actually leading in the polls?

[John Valentine]

How about these horse nuggets from counterpunch?

“Fred just doesn’t want it.” or “He doesn’t want to work for it.” or “His sense of entitlement to the nomination is what killed his chances of getting it.”

Utter nonsense.

As for the two choices you gave me, I’m not saying either of these things. I’m just saying that you are wasting everyones time, to say nothing of your own, with your anti-Fred FUD dispersal.

[counterpunch]

He was just quoted today saying that he wasn’t interested in running for president. That’s certainly playing into the stereotype, at the very least. If all the Republican primary voters believe it to be true, then it is as good as true. Fred should have put more effort into proving he isn’t lazy. The effort alone would have proved he wasn’t.

[brothers4thID]

Same tune, different, thread, eh?

[Titus Quinctius Cincinnatus]

He was just quoted misquoted by a hostile, Simonising press today saying that he wasn’t interested in running for president.

There, buddy, fixed it for ya.

[commonguymd]

It’s almost funny now, this constant rehash of tired mantras about being lazy. Several folks like to buy into MSM narratives as written for Republicans. Easily duped I guess and can’t think and research for themselves.

[Honeybunch]

He was misquoted, because the context of the one sentence you mention was ignored. He said some other things that were completed left out:

"I like to say that I'm only consumed by very, very few things and politics is not one of them," Thompson said at a town hall meeting in nearby Burlington. "The welfare of my country and my kids and grandkids are one of them.

[Honeybunch]

He was misquoted, because the context of the one sentence you mention was ignored. He said some other things that were completed left out:

"I like to say that I'm only consumed by very, very few things and politics is not one of them," Thompson said at a town hall meeting in nearby Burlington. "The welfare of my country and my kids and grandkids are one of them."

Are you MSM? Or do you just believe everything they feed you?

[counterpunch]

It doesn’t matter if he was or not, because the vast majority of people out there believe it to be true, and that’s all that counts when they’re the ones voting. Thompson constantly gives journalists the fodder to proliferate the perception. If journalists are pushing the angle that he’s lazy and unmotivated, then maybe it would be wise of him to stop telling anyone who is willing to listen that he doesn’t have any desire to run for president.

[ReveBM]

Ultimately it's not up to how much the candidates "want" the nomination, it's whether the voters "want" them. I think Thompson is a great candidate. If the Republican party & American people are not in a place where they can find themselves voting for him in 2008, then they deserve whoever else they get. I actually think that any choice but Thompson is quite a peril because he is the only one pushing a real restructuring of Social Security which is going to suck the life out of our economy (and military, as budgets shrink and we have no money left spend on defense), which is something no-one else seems to want to publicly face.

I'm in New Jersey, I have a Fred Thompson bumper sticker on my car and I'm voting for him on Feb 5th even if he has already dropped out for some reason by that time (and even though he should have no chance in NJ). That way I can still tell my grandkids someday (if there are any) "I voted for Fred in '08".

[ejonesie22]

Fred isn’t going anywhere yet. There are a lot of things in play. But your instincts are good, it has been impossible to call.

[deport]

Not sure who you are promoting as your candidate but I think you are reading everything in the mind set of history or the way it’s always been. You maybe correct and then there is the possiblility that the voters won’t react to that same mindset this time.

For one thing this is a state by state race to secure delegates to the convention and not a national election as such. Thus Thompson maybe sucking hind teat in national polling data but what is he doing in state by state data. Depends upon the state but he’s not as bad off in those polls as in national polls.

Thompson hasn’t consumed his life with ambition to be President and didn’t come forward until proded by some sectors of the GOP... He may lose and in reality all of the candidates [contenders or bottom feeders] except one will. Your prediction about Thompson losing maybe correct and the same can be said of all but one of the others. I think you need to give it just about 35 more days before driving the nail in the coffin of the contending candidates.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

Three of us.

[skinkinthegrass]

Is that you, $hrillary?

[teledude]

You obviously haven't watched this:

The real deal

Imagine the surprise when, after "lowering expectations," he comes in 2nd, or even 1st. Fred knows what he's doing, and his supporters aren't the type who buy the media spin.

Fred has said all along he is not going to play their game and he knows how to win elections. We'll know in a few days if he's right.

[EDINVA]

Under the best of circumstances, it would be impossible for Hillary to appoint bill to a court from which his license to practice was suspended for five years. Also, it doesn’t suit his personality. Being a Justice requires self-discipline and living in relative obscurity. Bill Clinton could tolerate neither. Nor would he want the pay cut.

[Michael A. Velli]

You’re exactly right... Fred had to be BEGGED to enter the race, and then BEGGED to actually campaign. It’s all been a huge waste of time and money.

He would have been better off just sticking to Paul Harvey fill-ins.

[RockinRight]

McCain’s good on pork and defense and doesn’t usually pander. He’s not great on taxes, and he’s bad on immigration and is moderately high on the nanny-statism list...but we could do worse than McCain (Ron Paul, Mike Huckabee for starters)

[RockinRight]

That’s not saying he doesn’t want to be President. That’s saying that he’s a real guy not consumed by politics.

Just a typical MSM misquote.