Posted on 06/11/2007 4:58:46 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Most Staten Island Republicans are four-square behind former GOP Mayor Rudy Giuliani in the 2008 race for the White House.
But we did manage to ferret out one borough Republican who's a big fan of likely GOP candidate Fred Thompson, the "Law and Order" star and former U.S. senator from Tennessee.
"Thompson has 'it,'" said the Republican, who couldn't speak on the record because his position in government prohibits him from talking about politics. "He offers something to everybody in the Republican Party."
In addition to the aura of his tough-guy roles in movies like "The Hunt for Red October" and "In the Line of Fire," the Republican said Thompson's pro-life stance and opposition to the McCain-Kennedy immigration bill would resonate with GOP voters, especially those in the party's Southern Christian base.
"Thompson says all the right things," he said.
Thompson also has real-world foreign policy experience from his Senate days, and was the chief minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee.
"He's also a fresh face," the Republican said. "He hasn't been running for president for the last two years. People aren't tired of him."
And don't forget Thompson's Reaganesque stage presence, he adds.
"He can go toe-to-toe with Hillary Clinton or anybody else the Democrats nominate," he said.
Former Borough President Guy Molinari, a top adviser to the Giuliani campaign, believes Thompson will get in the race and will have a few weeks of good poll numbers before coming back to the pack.
"I don't think he can sustain being in the top tier," said Molinari, who added that despite the similarities that many see, Thompson is a far cry from Ronald Reagan.
"Fred Thompson gave up government to be an actor," he said. "It's difficult for me to see people now saying that they want him to be president of the United States."
And while Thompson could take away some of Giuliani's "law-and-order" voters, Molinari thinks that Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney have more to lose from a Thompson candidacy.
"McCain has already been struggling," Molinari said. "And, like Thompson, Romney also looks like a Hollywood star."
I like Fred very much, but can he pick off one or two eastern blue states as easily as Rudy or Mitt could?
Have to see how he does in the primary. I just hope that during the winnowing process we all don’t start hating each other over our differences with GOP candidates.
We need the solid south, Rocky Mountain west and bulk of the midwest to win. If we get those, the east won’t matter, if we don’t, it still won’t!!
Rudy sucks.
PING!!
I’ve met a lot of voters who support Thompson without even knowing much about what he stands for. What is the appeal for them? The appeal is that he isn’t named Rudy, Mitt, or John. That sadsack trio has very little appeal for most conservatives and people are jumping on the bandwagon of anyone who promises something different. That is probably the best thing in Thompson’s corner. The other best thing? For the voters actually paying attention this far from the election many of positions are compelling too.
Come on. Stop regurgitating the inanities of George Will and his ilk without doing any investigation for yourself.
Don’t understand Fred Thompson’s appeal? It’s all on the internet. It’s all available to you, 24/7/365. Read his op-eds, watch his speeches, and check out the interviews with him.
THAT is where his support is coming from.
I take it you didn’t take the time read my whole post. I said it was easy to support him on the issues but that many I had talked to personally didn’t really know his positions but were eager to support anyone but the big three.
My apologies. That wasn’t 100% clear, but I get it now. I did think you were using the ‘old media’ trick of using the “some voters are saying...” line to promote your own view. I guess I’m getting cynical in my old age. :)
No problem. I should have been more clear.
“I like Fred very much, but can he pick off one or two eastern blue states as easily as Rudy or Mitt could?”
Any nominee is going to have problems with other regions of the country. A smart politician will pick their running mate to help them in those areas where they are weak. Rudy and Mitt are good possibilities for the VP slot.
I hope we never depend on these people for anything.
Good question.
Here's a better one.
Could Mitt or Rudy even manage to keep all the red states without losing a couple of them to a dem?
Would the loss of red states be more, or less then possible pick ups of blue states?
My feeling is that any blue states that a Mitt or Rudy could pick up would be more then offset by the red states they could very easily lose.
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