Posted on 07/07/2007 11:47:08 AM PDT by STARWISE
HOLLYWOOD - Republican Senator Fred Thompson spoke to the Young Republicans Saturday and hinted a run for the presidency, but did not make an announcement.
He said he is “raising seed money” and “getting people together.”
“We’ll be making a decision in the not too distant future,” he said.
Speaking of the 2008 elections, he said “we’ll win this next election, like so many we have before.”
Thompson thanked the Young Republicans for their support, noting that he started a chapter of the group as a young man after reading “Conscience of a Conservative,” by Barry Goldwater.
Thompson said in his remarks that he is “tired of having to apologize for the United States of America around the world,” and tired of people’s perceptions that the country has anything to apologize for.
Although Thompson has not officially announced his run for the presidency, he already has one high profile backer: Mary Matalin, a prominent GOP strategist and aide to Vice President Dick Cheney. She said she supports Thompson because of his “core conservative values,” and said she was encouraged to see so many “Fred-heads” among the Young Republican
LOL...loved Fred’s appreciation of Mrs. Bill Cinton and the New York Times sending out the hit pieces:) WOOO HOOO!!
FRED!
Go peddle your pessimism somewhere else--like DU. Maybe you're a DU plant.
Republicans are our only hope for waging an effective war on radical Islam and to keep our country safe. If the voters of America are too ignorant to know that, then we need to be telling them over and over.
Democrats will raise taxes and throw our economy in reverse. Thanks, President Bush, for knowing the value of tax cuts to stimulate an economy.
If you don't like the price of gasoline--thank a Democrat. They are the ones standing in the way of the United States producing more of our own oil. Their environmentalist wacko friends are more about the destruction of capitalism than protecting the environmnet.
If there is anyone unhappy with Republicans over the illegal immigration issue, Democrats are far worse and want totally open borders.
Democrats are the ones that are toast for 2008 and every year thereafter. NO MORE RATS--EVER!!
Good speech! I was down in MS over last weekend, and almost every one of my family members said they were looking seriously at Fred. None knew I was supporting him either, before they said it! They just know they do NOT want Hillary or Obama, and they don’t see the other major Repub. candidates as being able to beat them.
You need to quit farting in your spacesuit.
Somebody change this guy's diaper.
Yeah, someone like RootyMcRomny.
Thompson Wows Young Republicans
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. (AP) - Not yet a 2008 candidate, Fred Thompson energized young Republicans with a speech Saturday that was heavy on rhetoric and short on policy pronouncements. He branded Democrats as “the party of despair.”
Chants of “Fred” and “Run, Fred, Run,” greeted the actor and former GOP senator from Tennessee from many among the 350 people at the Young Republicans National Convention. The crowd interrupted his nine-minute speech with wild applause and mobbed him when he left.
“It makes me feel like the waters are pretty warm,” Thompson said afterward. He has formed an exploratory committee to gauge support for a White House run and raise money. He is expected to announce presidential campaign plans to run soon.
While he has yet to join the 10-man Republican race, he has soared in polls, taken in at least several million dollars, assembled a staff and visited early primary states New Hampshire and South Carolina.
Thompson’s speech came on the heels of reports that a pro-abortion rights group hired him to lobby President George H.W. Bush’s administration 16 years ago. At issue were attempts to ease a regulation that prevented clinics that received federal money from offering abortion counseling.
Thompson gave an oblique response when asked about the matter, first reported by the Los Angeles Times.
“I’d just say the flies get bigger in the summertime. I guess the flies are buzzing,” said Thompson, who is considering running for president as a social conservative. He refused comment on whether he recalled doing the work.
His supporters did not seem bothered, citing policy stands by some of the leading GOP presidential contenders, including former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, ex-New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Sen. John McCain.
“Whatever choice do we have? Mitt Romney has been on both sides of the issue,” said Paul Boyd, 26, of Memphis, Tenn. “Rudy Giuliani is 100 percent pro-choice. John McCain, at least for the first four years of the Bush term, was against whatever the president was for. Everybody has their flaws.”
In his speech, Thompson fired up the crowded when he said he was the top target of The New York Times and Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton. He said the United States was the greatest country, and that set the audience off, too.
“I’m getting tired of having to apologize for the United States of America around the world,” Thompson said. “I’m tired of other people’s perceptions that we need to apologize.”
He said voters will not support Democratic candidates who are “driving over a left-wing cliff.” Thompson added, “I don’t think the people are going to turn the keys of this country over to the party of despair.”
Not everyone at the convention was ready to join the Thompson bandwagon. Daniel Ruoss, 27, of Lauderhill said he is supporting Giuliani.
“Fred Thompson would not only have to hit a home run, he’d have to hit a grand slam for me,” Ruoss said before the speech. Afterward, he said there was a lack of substance in the speech. “I would call it a double. I liked it, but we need more.”
Participants at the convention were to hear from Romney late Saturday.
Kevin Fickert, a 22-year-old college student in Los Angeles who originally is from Massachusetts, said he liked Romney’s leadership as governor but thinks Thompson has more appeal. “Thompson has this star power about him that I really like,” Fickert said.
Before arriving at the convention, Romney took questions from about 150 people in West Palm Beach. He said he would like to use the country’s leading marketing minds to help sell the idea of American values in the Middle East.
“People will give up half a day’s salary to get a Coca-Cola in some parts of the world. We market Coke well. We market McDonald’s well. We market our rap music, our movies, our jeans,” Romney said. “We market everything America sells brilliantly, but when it comes to marketing ourselves and what we stand for, we don’t do a very good job of it.”
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8Q7VEF00&show_article=1&catnum=0
Most of the people in that age group who I know or come in contact with (and it is a large number) have never watched L&O. It’s more of a show for the old farts in my age group although I’ve never watched it either.
Those young republicans I know are for Fred because of his ideals and what he says, not his acting credits.
Maybe They want a candidate that understands the second amendment and not only understands the importance of appointing conservative judges to stop judicial tyranny, but also understands how precious life is.
Maybe They want a candidate that won't pander to European socialists and is willing to tell the Mexican government how things are, as well as being willing to actually say how useless the UN is.
Maybe They also feel it is extremely important to nominate a candidate that can articulate conservatism in a way that everyone can understand, to counter the demagoguery of the left. Maybe They like a candidate who can explain why tax cuts are good for our economy and can show man-made global warming for the joke that it is. It would be refreshing to see a candidate explain why we should back Israel and make damn sure Iran never gets a nuke.
Maybe they think it would be great to have a candidate that see's CAIR for what it is? Maybe Even better to have a candidate that calls out Democrats for being the defeatist losers that they are.
Maybe while they're dreaming the impossible dream and looking for this perfect candidate, they would dream about a candidate who can use the new media to his advantage and get around old media liberal bias.
I don't know where we'd ever find such a candidate, but if we can find him, we'll do well in 2008. :)
The other guys have been doing this already for months, pounding the pavement, working their hearts out, going full out, while Fred T strolls around without a care in the world. And the other guys have made themselves available for major debates while Fred is lallygagging.
I don’t have to like it.
I thought he was going to announce on July 4th. This is really starting to get on my last nerve.
The reasons people are somewhat fed up with the war is:
#1 President Bush has prosecuted it well enough so that we do not feel we are at war at home.
#2 Media/Liberal/Democrat 24-7 attempts to slam and sabotage the war effort.
#3 Bush abdicating his responsibility to spend a lot of time backing the war against Islamic terror.
#4 Not enough troops IMO or enough being required by Iraqis to get their own country in order.
#5 We have Iran, probably China and others financing insurgency against our efforts in Iraq. IMO we should have bee starting major insurgency against Iran to get the bastard President out of office.
That would be the start.
IMO if Fred and others discuss the reasons for being there, the eventual benefit of being there for us years down the line and so forth, I think the people will understand the benefit of fighting to win instead of running like socialist cowards.
Evidently you must've lost invested a lot of money in Mitt's campaign.
That's what happens when you bet on a Schwarzenegger in McClintock's clothing.
Posted by Mobile Vulgus
You have to see this speech ~ standing Os for what he SAYS, not who he is.
Energy, conviction, passion, humor. Unapolgetic AMERICAN.
#6 It is easy to pretend to support the troops as you stab them in the back by calling them failures.
My response to "I'm against the Iraq War." is a simple one.
"You're against the Iraq War. At least I know one person who agrees with the terrorists."
I haven’t got a clue how you can compare Schwarzenkennedy with Mitt Romney. But I thought this thread was about Fred T.
Are you all aware that Fred T voted for McCain-Feingold and that he voted to let Bill Clinton off the hook during impeachment?
Also, there was an abortion questionnaire on which Fred T said he’s pro choice during the first trimester.
Correct me if I’m wrong.
That’s good for them. I’m just talking about my own experiences and coversations.
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