Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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Posted on 06/03/2007 9:41:53 PM PDT by Politicalmom
Thompson excites the conservative base. But will his unorthodox campaign succeed?
Monday, June 4, 2007 12:01 a.m.
RICHMOND, Va.--He lacks the compelling story of Rudy Giuliani during 9/11. He isn't a war hero with a 24-year record in Congress like John McCain. He doesn't have the M.B.A. smoothness and business success of Mitt Romney. But what Fred Thompson demonstrated to an enthusiastic Virginia Republican Party dinner Saturday is that he has gravitas, a presence and the ability to make people comfortable. Most importantly, many at the dinner saw him as a conservative who doesn't alienate or cause angst with any element of the GOP coalition.
University of Virginia political scientist Larry Sabato says the failure of any of the current candidates to excite chunks of the Republican base has given Mr. Thompson an opening. Conservatives "seem to look for reasons to like Thompson," Mr. Sabato told the Roanoke Times.
They certainly got some from Mr. Thompson's Saturday speech. After slightly ragged tryouts before audiences in California and Connecticut, he hit his stride with a speech that mixed warnings about the state of the country with optimism that the American people can overcome the challenges facing them.
(Excerpt) Read more at opinionjournal.com ...
Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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GREAT portrait. Captures his warmth perfectly.
~ LET FREDOM RING ! ~
If it weren't for his support of McCain-Fiengold, he would be the absolutely perfect candidate. But, even so, he is better than I hoped for and probably better than we deserve.
You, I, EVERYONE deserves the good Fred can do.
We DESERVE to be well represented.
Is he going to rub his nipple while singing "I'm to sexy for your party..too sexy for your party..no way I'm dicso dancing..."?
...which will grace some future American bank note, no doubt... :D
John Fund lost a lot of credibility in my book when he enthusiastically joined in the bashing of conservatives opposed to the amnesty bill at the WSJ Editorial Board meeting televised on YouTube...
He'll misspeak. That's for sure. He'll make mistakes too. But to think for a moment that the mental lightweights he is running against are more knowledgeable about ANY issues than Fred is absurd.
All they've been doing is practicing how to NOT deal with issues. Fred makes them all look like a bunch of kids running for class president.
Have you read THOMPSON'S FLOOR SPEECH ON CAMPAIGN FINANCE REFORM March 27, 2001?
After slightly ragged tryouts before audiences in California and Connecticut, he hit his stride with a speech that mixed warnings about the state of the country with optimism that the American people can overcome the challenges facing them.
I saw the video of the speech in Connecticut, and I didn't see anything wrong with the speech. (The video was lousy, but that's a different issue.) I'm happy for him that the Virginia speech seemed better, but the notion that something was wrong with the other speech seems like hype for a column.
Many doubt he can catch the front-runners with such a late start in raising money, organization and endorsements. He responds that "it's too late to follow those rules even if I wanted to, and I don't want to." Instead he plans to use new technology in innovative ways that include everything from the Internet to distributing videos to cell phones. Less tech-savvy primary voters can expect to see Mr. Thompson as a constant presence on talk radio and cable TV news. Will that be enough? Much of it may depend on just how much Mr. Thompson can build on the success of Howard Dean in 2004 in harnessing the power of the Internet as a fund-raising tool.
I don't see his justification for saying that it's too late to follow the traditional campaign model. Many of the polls are showing "undecided" running ahead of all of the other candidates. I seem to remember some polls showing that much of the support for the other candidates is soft support. If people really want Mr. Thompson to be president and if he can make his case to those who aren't sure, there's plenty of time for a traditional campaign.
The rest of the stated strategy sounds a little silly when packaged as something new and innovative. What's he going to do that hasn't already been done on the internet or won't be copied if it works for him? People are sick of political calls already. Sending videos to the cell phones of his supporters will make his supporters happy, and they might have a few friends who will look at the videos. This idea won't change votes and motivate people to vote in the primaries. If anything, he'd turn off people who received another unsolicited political call. Trying to go on talk shows and cable news is what every other candidate is doing, so that's hardly a new idea.
After he announces and enters the maelstrom of a national campaign, he will inevitably make mistakes, misspeak and demonstrate a lack of knowledge on issues the other candidates have had months to bone up on. How he handles adversity and crises on the campaign trail will be the true test of his mettle and adaptability.
These statements seem silly as well. Does Mr. Fund believe that Fred Thompson has been hibernating somewhere for the past few years? TV shows require a great deal of work for certain parts of the year, but they are not the same as working 8 to 5 for 50 weeks a year. The other candidates have had to spend their time raising money and shaking hands. Fred Thompson likely has had the most time to study on the issues. He's not my favorite candidate, but I certainly don't believe that he's going to be weak in his knowledge of what's happening in this world. Furthermore, a mistake or two is not likely to change the whole campaign unless he says something completely crazy. Even if he forgets the name of some foreign leader, no one is going to change to another candidate because their favorite forgot a name.
A related charge is that he was something of a slacker, both in his Senate duties and in campaign fund-raising. But the evidence for this claim is thin.
Few people really believe that accusation, and furthermore, no one really cares.
Mr. Thompson will run an unorthodox campaign, one that will challenge the conventional wisdom about how to run for president.
Again, I'm skeptical that Mr. Thompson will do anything even mildly revolutionary. He will win or lose based on how he seems to people as a real candidate and not as a name and face to apply to their "undecided" thoughts and feelings. There is no need for him to do anything unorthodox.
Bill
MY EYES!!!
Outstanding picture. Thanks for posting it.
And here is his official position paper from 2002.
Campaign Finance Reform
Americans have less and less faith in their government. One of the main reasons is that they are distrustful of the system we have in place to elect our political leaders. People look at the huge amounts of money in the system that both political parties raise to elect their candidates and they ask: “Where does such a system leave the average citizen with his or her $100 contribution?”
Senator Thompson too has the simple belief that there is too much money in the system. He believes that an excellent witness on this topic is Barry Goldwater. In testifying before Congress in 1983, he said that big money “eats at the heart of the democratic process. It feeds the growth of special interests groups created solely to channel money into political campaigns. It creates the impression that every candidate is bought and owned by the biggest givers. And it causes elected officials to devote more time to raising money than their political duties. If present trends continue, voter participation will drop significantly, public respect will fall to an all time low, political campaigns will be controlled by slick packaging artists, and neglect of public duties by absentee officials will undermine government operations.” His predictions were accurate and his concerns are still valid today.
Senator Thompson witnessed first hand the corruption in our campaign finance system during the Governmental Affairs Committee’s special investigation into alleged improper or illegal activities growing out of the 1996 federal campaigns. The Committee exposed a campaign finance system rife with abuse and open to foreign influence, and produced a 9,600-page report that led to several indictments and a number of on-going criminal investigations.
Senator Thompson has been a supporter of the McCain/Feingold campaign finance legislation. That bill would ban the unlimited amounts of soft money that currently flow into the coffers of the national parties and helped create the numerous scandals and violations we saw in the 1996 presidential campaign. Senator Thompson believes that by banning soft money contributions and fully disclosing the source of donations to political campaigns the American people will be able to have more confidence that the decisions made by their leaders
Senator Fred Thompson
511 Dirksen Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
(202) 224-4944
Right Said Fred
Right Said Fred
(Myles Rudge, lyrics & Ted Dicks, music)
“Right,” said Fred, “Both of us together
One on each end and steady as we go.”
Tried to shift it, couldn’t even lift it
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and
“Right,” said Fred, “Give a shout for Charlie.”
Up comes Charlie from the floor below.
After strainin’, heavin’ and complainin’
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.
And Charlie had a think, and he thought we ought to take off all the handles
And the things wot held the candles.
But it did no good, well I never thought it would
“All right,” said Fred, “Have to take the feet off
To get them feet off, wouldn’t take a mo.”
Took its feet off, even took the seat off
Should have got us somewhere but no!
So Fred said, “Let’s have annuver cuppa tea.”
And we said, “right-o.”
“Right,” said Fred, “Have to take the door off
Need more space to shift the so-and-so.”
Had bad twinges taking off the hinges
And it got us nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea and
“Right,” said Fred, “ Have to take the wall down,
That there wall is gonna have to go.”
Took the wall down, even with it all down
We was getting nowhere
And so we had a cuppa tea.
And Charlie had a think, and he said, “Look, Fred,
I get a sort of feelin’
If we remove the ceilin’
With a rope or two we could drop the blighter through.”
“All right,” said Fred, climbing up a ladder
With his crowbar gave a mighty blow.
Was he in trouble, half a ton of rubble landed on the top of his dome.
So Charlie and me had another cuppa tea
And then we went home.
(I said to Charlie, “We’ll just have to leave it
Standing on the landing, that’s all
Trouble with Fred is, he’s too hasty
Never get nowhere if you’re too hasty.”)
(c)1962, by Myles Rudge (lyrics) & Ted Dicks (music)
MY EARS!!
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