Fredipedia v2.23: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
Posted on 04/21/2007 11:39:04 AM PDT by Josh Painter
Fred Thompson is nearly ready to run for president, a prospect that would change the 2008 presidential race overnight...
Republicans are already enthused about Thompson, an actor-turned-senator-turned-actor, who is better known to Americans than most other candidates. Speculation and media interest are keeping his star on the rise. He's running second in GOP polls, just behind ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and ahead of Arizona Sen. John McCain. It's an enviable position to be in, considering he has done essentially no campaigning or fund-raising.
Sure, some of that is due to name recognition from years in movies and on TV in macho roles, but it's also a reflection of the fact that 60% of Republicans say nobody else in the presidential race is really grabbing them...
Internet fund-raising would be critical to his campaign at first, allowing him to show broad appeal and to rise to the money level of other major candidates in the Republican race who have been raising, but also spending, for months now. A few single mega fund-raisers could also put him right in contention and possibly strip support from McCain, Giuliani and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney in the process...
[Thompson] also has a generally conservative voting record that appeals to many Republicans who question the conservative credentials of the other top candidates. Hailing from the South is also a plus, as it has been in many modern presidential campaigns.
A Thompson brain trust? For a campaign, at least, he would be able to assemble a formidable and well-connected team...
A decision by Thompson could come in a few weeks. He has several speaking engagements to Republican groups coming up in early May. These events are possibly the perfect opportunities for an announcement tour.
(Excerpt) Read more at kiplinger.com ...
Is Fred Thompson for real?
I certainly hope so. So the fellow has a couple of medical issues, but he is still remarkably clear and sharp, and projects a generally favorable image. Besides that, most of his record reflects a personal modesty, and politically he shows much more courage and grace than just about anybody seriously considered for the Presidency has over the past couple of decades. While it is true that George W. Bush, when confronted with a serious challenge to his leadership, stepped up and delivered, the allegations and rumors circulating before he was elected seemed entirely plausible. That is not a problem that Fred Thompson would ever be confronted with, as Fred already has “gravitas” in huge measure.
Last time I felt this optimistic about a Republican candidate was when I would see Gov Reagan on the Tonight Show, wishing he could somehow win the nomination.
Run, indeed!!
>Is Fred Thompson for real?<
In order to answer that, one must define the word “real”. Is he a real social Conservative in every sense of the word, or is he a real RINO who supported Lincoln Chaffee, was John McCain’s campaign co-manager in his last run for president, supported McCain-Feingold, and said at one time that abortion was a woman’s choice. Chameleons are not trustworthy IMHO.
LOL, that's pretty slippery. THIRTEEN YEARS AGO, if the quote is accurate, is what you meant by "at one time." Since then, he has racked up a perfect pro-life voting record.
Half-truths are lies too.
Hee, hee, hee... They're scared!
>Half truths are lies, too.<
That was no half truth, Petronski. I said, “at one time”, I did not say “now”. He did, indeed say that. And I will repeat my comment that IMHO, chameleons are not trustworthy.
What's most interesting to me about that Slate article is:
1) Slate claims to be listing "overlooked" downsides to FRed, but the listed items have been rehashed extensively from the get-go, here on FR and everywhere else where conservatives have been discussing FRed.
2) The list itself is really, really weak, overlooked or not.
The whole truth would be that he said that thirteen years ago (IF the quote is accurate), but has a perfect pro-life voting record since then.
Your post left out important facts that contradict your shabby claim that he’s a chameleon, and as a half-truth, your post was a lie.
Yep. It’s pretty thin gruel.
So I guess when he voted 100% pro-life while in the Senate, he is still considered untrustworthy?
Not really. Everyone knows Giuliani and McCain. Not everyone watches stupid TV shows.
I'm a conservative and I've never seen an episode of his show.
Even among conservatives, he's not known for any accomplishments in the Senate. Spending a year getting beat up by John Glenn in the investigation into illegal campaign contributions to the DNC had better not be the high point.
Yep, he's not Rudy, and the temptation to equate him as the last actor-President is inevitable.
He's probably the only hope this forum has of becoming something other than an exclusive third party site next year, since both Howlin and Spiff could support him.
The longer he waits, though, the further he is behind. It's one thing to be floating name recognition out there. It's quite another to actually hire people to do the things required to run a successful campaign.
From Robert Novak today:
~snip~ FRED THOMPSON’S MONEY
Starting far behind in the money chase for the Republican presidential nomination, Fred Thompson is considering following the 2004 pattern of Democrat Howard Dean by raising campaign money via the Internet.
At a closed-door meeting with House Republicans Wednesday, former Sen. Thompson assured them he could raise the funds needed to run. However, his close associates are just starting to seek out experts in electronic fund-raising.
http://www.townhall.com/Columnists/RobertDNovak/2007/04/21/what_kind_of_veto
~snip~
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