Posted on 07/31/2007 1:53:30 PM PDT by houston1
Fred Thompson is laying on the southern-fried charm. It’s a tire-melting afternoon in June,
and the son of Lawrenceburg, Tennessee, turned two-term United States senator, Law & Order star,
and now almost Republican presidential candidate has just arrived at the Clarion Townhouse hotel in Columbia,
South Carolina, for a state-party fund-raiser.
A crush of reporters has swarmed him, one of whom has just asked if today will be the day Thompson makes things official.
Thompson delivers his honey-smooth reply as if on cue. “I’m just testing the waters, but the water is pretty warm,”
he says as he plows toward the ballroom...
In May 1994, Thompson trailed badly and talked of quitting. Frustrated, he called Knoxville political consultant Tom Ingram...
Although some of his campaign staff protested the move as cheesy, they leased Thompson a red Chevy pickup and he hit the road.
Cooper attempted to paint Thompson as phony, calling him a “Gucci-wearing, Lincoln-driving, Perrier-drinking,
Grey Poupon–spreading millionaire Washington special-interest lobbyist.”
But voters loved the truck. They didn’t seem to mind that the candidate often switched from a sedan to the truck just miles from his appearances.
“We couldn’t believe anyone was buying it,” says Kopp. “We underestimated him.
What we didn’t get is that Fred is the country version of a street kid.
He’s been talking his way out of situations since he was in high school. He’s a charmer. People fall for it.”...
But Thompson’s strongest card, his backers say, is his Hollywood-fueled image of strength.
“People think that with presidential candidates, you need a lot of information about them,” says Tony Fabrizio,
a GOP pollster. “That’s wrong. It’s all about the concept. He has the Schwarzenegger Factor"
(Excerpt) Read more at nymag.com ...
Loved that line. And he was right.
I’m sorry he was such a colossal disappointment for you.
Thanks for the ping! I might well have missed that great post otherwise.
Just damn. That’s as contentless of a post as I’ve seen lately from a Fred basher.
Go check his lifetime vote rankings at the American Conservative Union. Compare it to the rest of the Republicans in the race, or in the Senate, in general. Get back to me.
Your post reminds me of how many folks responded to Abraham Lincoln.
Apparently his physical presence was much more commanding than his delivery, because his voice was so high. He probably wouldn’t have survived our modern media scrutiny. Thank goodness his words remain a cornerstone.
Fred’s federalist message may seem dry, but its ring of freedom is music to my ears.
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