[Politicalmom]

There's a lovely pen and ink picture that goes with the story.

[Politicalmom]

PING!!

Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference

Please FReepmail jellybean if you want on/off this list. WARNING: This ping list is EXTREMELY active.

[b9]

There's a lovely pen and ink picture that goes with the story.

GREAT portrait. Captures his warmth perfectly.

~ LET FREDOM RING ! ~

[Ronin]

Mr. Thompson told the Associated Press that he plans to correct the record by pointing out that a senator's accomplishments don't "always have to do with putting your name on a piece of legislation. There was an awful lot of bad legislation that I helped to stop for one thing."

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.

[lesser_satan]

Right Said Fred

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..."?

[Skibane]

There's a lovely pen and ink picture that goes with the story.

...which will grace some future American bank note, no doubt... :D

[oblomov]

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...

[perfect_rovian_storm]

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.

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.

[WFTR]

I don't mean any disrespect to Mr. Thompson, but Mr. Fund's commentary seems a bit silly. He seems to have decided that he needed to write something about Fred Thompson, so he just strung together various silly things that people have been saying about the candidate and the campaign. I guess any publicity is supposed to be good publicity, but I see little value to this one.

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

[The Pack Knight]

"We are a nation of compassion, a nation of immigrants," he told the crowd. "But this is our home, and whether you're a first-generation American, a third-generation American or a brand newly minted American, this is our home and we get to decide who comes into our home."

Now that's how it should be put. What I'm noticing about Thompson's speeches, and this was mentioned in another article, is a "Back to Basics" approach to both policy and to his campaign.

If that's the underlying theme of his campaign, watch out. I think a lot of Americans are hungry for just that approach to politics, and not just conservatives. The political class has run wild in our Republic, creating a complex labyrinth of bureaucracy, legal codes, and regulations that only the well-connected mandarins of our legal and lobbying professions can navigate. I think the desire for a government the layman can understand transcends ideology.

Also, it's good to see Fred has some appeal on the Joural editorial page. While this appeal may give some conservatives pause, if he can unite exurban grassroots conservatives with Wall Street conservatives, he'll have a very formidable base for his campaign.

[Wil H]

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)

[iowamark]

[Loyal Buckeye]

I watched a rerun of the speech on C-span.

Good delivery and substance. Fred is a high level thinker.

[b9]

Portrait ping!
Scroll down for a nifty WSJ pen and ink of friendly Fred.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/diary/?id=110010163

[JCEccles]

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.

All image. An actor.

Unlike Reagan, he has no demonstrated executive experience. There is very little evidence of any leadership experience in his background at all.

A likable man. He says the right things. For the most part he voted for the right things in the Senate. I will support him if he is the nominee.

But he is an untried commodity.

What little we do know about him is he had a lackluster senate career due in large part to the fact that he hated elected office.

Apart from McCain-Fengold what were his signal accomplishments in the Senate again (other than voting for other senators' bills)?

[NavyCanDo]

Cafepress.com has a GREAT new Fred Thompson Bumper Sticker. I’m ordering one today.

FRED THOMPSON-PRESIDENT ‘08

$400 Haircut Not Required

[kevkrom]

Wow... it was a busy weekend for Club FRed, with the announcement of the "testing the waters" organization and the Virgina speech (and all of the commentary that drove).

[kellynla]

BTTT

[ImpBill]

"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.

This is what my old and almost "given-up" eyes see in Senator (hopefully soon to be President) Thompson.

The Republic needs FredPERIOD.