Posted on 03/20/2007 8:19:04 PM PDT by Josh Painter
Over the last few days, much has been said about Fred Thompson’s possible run for President. Some say that “he is the answer” for conservatives… others are saying “Fred? Conservative???? What???”. Look, I for one will most definitely be supporting Fred Thompson if he chooses to run for President. Might I disagree with some positions that he may take. Maybe. Who knows?
I will be supporting Fred Thompson because he is the “real deal”… more so than any politician that I have had the opportunity to be associated with. In 1994, I was a college kid at Vandy. I went to work for Fred’s campaign, when he was waaaaay behind in the polls and nobody even knew who he was. Some knew him as “hard-ass” in “No Way Out” and “In the Line of Fire”. But, really, nobody knew who he was… except for insiders who knew his potential.For those of you who may not recall, Fred’s campaign headquarters was in the 1808 building on West End. Well, at that point in the campaign, Fred was rarely leaving the office and - in no way - was he in active campaign mode. In fact, he spent many of his days kicking back in the office. As I said, I was a college kid…. licking envelopes and making phone calls - asking people for money for a candidate that they did not know about.
Fred won me over during those months. He didn’t have to “hang out” with me. But, Fred routinely came out of his office, pulled up a chair and just sat down and talked. He asked me all about myself and the things I cared about. He told me stories… great stories… memories that I will always treasure. Fred didn’t have to do that. I was just a kid. But, after being around politics for many years, I have concluded that the way politicians treat “lowly” volunteers separates great leaders from poor ones. By that standard, I would have to rate Fred at the top of any of the politicians I have had the privilege of being associated with. That year - I became a Fred fan for life.
Forward the clock 13 years, I was in a car coming from the airport in Chicago (Midway). When the driver found out that I was from Tennessee, he asked me if I knew Fred Thompson. I was proud to say yes. He told me that he drove Fred and his bride from his wedding to his hotel, the night of his wedding. After speaking with this guy, I realized that he was a fan, too. He said that Fred was one of the most genuine, nicest guys he ever met. We both talked about how much we wished that he would run for President. To tell you the truth, I am giddy about a potential Fred candidacy. When I worked with Fred, I travelled with him and his “entourage” to help out at some of his “truck stops” - in the latter days of the campaign. I saw him deal with media and voters. I have never seen a politician with more ability. And, based on personal experience, I have never had the privilege of knowing a more genuine, charismatic man in my life.
Look, Fred knows that if he runs people will be critical of him. That is part of it. But, the people who support Fred know why they support him, and they respect and admire his common sense approach to goverment grounded in the values of common people… not Washington.
Clearly, there is a void on the Republican side in this race. Fred, please run. This country needs you, and this is your time.
Fred Ping.
Oh, here we go with the ad hominems.
You'll have to do better than that if Fred gets close and the Clintonistas go after him.
He's the most conservative electable Republican. What else do you need to know?
I've done some digging into Fred's record. What I found has convinced me that he is absolutely fiscally conservative enough for me (I'm a small-l, small government person). In addition, he has been talking about restoring the proper balance between federal and state powers since the 90s, so the federalism talk is not a convenient pre-election stance. It's frankly apalling that more candidates are not talking about Constitutional principles.
As of now, Fred is tentatively number one for me, with Romney number two if Fred doesn't run.
No, I didn't wite it. Only found it and posted it.
How about Thompson & Thompson as our candidates for Prez/VPrez? Tommy & Fred, or vice versa?
She is a Washington insider, a lawyer who worked for the Republican National Committee. Compare and contrast to, say, Judith Nathan, Rudy's wife number three, with whom he diddled in the Executive mansion while still married to and living there with wife number two, who was starring in the Vagina Monologues on Broadway at the time.
You are all obsessed with Rudy's sex life.
I looked at Fred's record too and I agree that he's the only truly small government guy on either side. Whenever he had a choice between voting to allow government to do more or to prevent it from doing more, he chose to constrain government, not to grow it. At a time when the country is being led by two big government parties, that's a very attractive option, especially considering that the guy seems tough enough to take on the Islamists and could probably translate his Law 'n Order fame into votes in the swing states.
Uh huh...Ok ...Uh huh ;)
ping
Of course.
But there's not a single candidate on the GOP side that the Clinton's aren't gonna go after:
Giuliani - three marriages...relationship with kids...
McCain - Crazy, two marriages, unstable
Romney - Mormon, flip-flopper
Newt - three marriages, gov't shutdown..."corruption"
You get the idea - I'm not saying these are things that would stop ME, but they're things the Clintonistas are going to go after.
I've added your name to the ping list.
I was on a couple pretty leftist blogs and most of them said things like "Bush-ite" and "just like the current occupier" but those are the people that won't vote for ANY Republican, regardless, not even Rudy.
What gave me hope were the ones who said that, despite being liberal, they admire Fred's honesty and would vote for him.
I think he'd get a LOT more independent and even a few Democrat votes than we think he would.
He comes across as genuine and authentic, no doubt about it.
I agree.
I only raised the issue because so far on FR - all I've heard was how wonderful Fred was while seeing many threads picking at the other GOP candidates because they didn't get along with their still adolescent children to name one example.
Yikes, have none of these people raised children? And look at what serpents the Reagan's biological children are.
FredHead, I like it!
FredHead it is! :-)
Count me in! (Unless someone better comes along...;-)
I have been a minor political junkie for years.
Fred Thompson is a viable conservative candidate.
Just IMO...
Prost!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.