Posted on 08/18/2007 9:21:51 PM PDT by SmithL
WASHINGTON — He’s an actor-turned-politician in the mode of Ronald Reagan, someone who’s at ease in front of a camera or a crowd, a man who can charm an audience with a folksy tale or a clever turn of phrase.
But is Fred Thompson truly Reaganesque?
Reagan was, after all, the Great Communicator, a leader so skilled at connecting with his subjects that he has become the standard by which all would-be presidents are judged.
Thompson’s admirers, elated over his expected decision to seek the Republican nomination for president, already are hailing his candidacy as the second coming of Reagan.
The former Tennessee senator, an ex-prosecutor who plays a stern district attorney on the television crime drama “Law and Order,” is expected to officially enter the race sometime next month.
Like Reagan, Thompson believes in smaller government and fiscal conservatism.
But let’s put aside politics for a minute and focus on the other trait he shares with the last actor who was elected president — an innate ability to communicate, to tell a story in a way that captures the public’s attention.
Both men come across as strong, authoritative figures on stage and screen. Their speaking voices are fluent and resonant, though vastly different. Reagan’s was smooth, mellow, grandfatherly. Thompson’s is deep, gruff, sometimes gravelly. Both men were blessed with the gift of gab and a flair for spinning a good yarn.
But is Thompson Reagan’s equal as a communicator?
Thompson does have the Reagan touch, said John Geer, a political scientist at Vanderbilt University in Nashville.
“Thompson is at ease with the camera,” Geer said. “Certainly, Reagan was at ease with the camera. Second, at least from what I can see so far, Thompson, when he decides to be critical of somebody or question them, he does it in a way that has less of an edge to it than a lot of current politicians, and I think that is also Reaganesque.’’
In some ways, though, Thompson seems less like “the Gipper” and more like Sheriff Andy Taylor of the old “Andy Griffith Show,” Geer said.
“He has this kind of disarming quality about him, where he tries to use folksy kind of metaphors just like Taylor did,” Geer said. “But at the same time, Taylor was the most wily (man) in that entire city. Thompson is very smart as well, so he has this old country boy kind of routine that I think serves him pretty well.”
Clark Judge, who worked as a speechwriter for Reagan in the White House, also sees a little of Reagan in Thompson.
“Thompson has a very solid, reassuring presence at a podium and before a camera,” Judge said. “He comes across as someone you trust a lot. Look at him on some of his TV speeches, responses to State of the Union, that sort of thing. He’s very much someone who’s talking to you.”
One of Reagan’s greatest attributes, at least as an orator, was his ability to take written text and give it additional meaning, Judge said.
“For me, it was very, very different listening to Reagan before I started working for him and then listening to him when he was delivering text that I had actually written,” Judge said. “He would find meaning in the text and bring it out through his delivery.”
Judge said he doesn’t know whether Thompson has that talent because he’s never written for him. But, “Thompson is a very effective communicator, which is one reason he has moved up so fast (in the polls),” Judge said.
Others are less impressed by Thompson’s oratory skills.
“He’s no Reagan,” said John Kares Smith, a professor of communications at State University of New York in Oswego, an expert in presidential and political communication and a devotee of Thompson’s television show.
“Ronald Reagan had an ability and a real underestimated skill of being able to touch very deep-held American myths and beliefs,” Smith said. “When he would talk about the city on the hill, he really could resonate with our puritan past. Fred Thompson, I don’t think he has any of those skills at all.”
Thompson “just doesn’t connect the way Reagan did,” Smith said. “Reagan had maybe three ideas, and everybody knew what they were. He knew people. He had a wonderful sense of humor. Fred Thompson is not known for his humor.”
Reagan also was the eternal optimist and, like Franklin D. Roosevelt, used his speeches to raise people’s spirits, said David E. Johnson, a political consultant in Atlanta who worked on Bob Dole’s presidential campaign in 1988.
“That was Reagan’s whole persona,” Johnson said. “That’s what his greatness was, very much like Jack Kennedy. Thompson, on the other hand, is more a ‘just the facts’ type of person. He doesn’t lift to the oratorical lengths that Reagan or Roosevelt did or even Bill Clinton did.”
As evidence, Johnson cited a speech that Thompson gave to a group of Republicans last May. Some complained that the address, Thompson’s first as a prospective presidential candidate, was downright disappointing.
But whether Thompson can live up to the Reagan legend may be beside the point. He doesn’t have to be a Reagan clone to win the GOP nomination, Judge said.
“The real issue,” Judge said, “is how he compares to the rest of the field.”
It truly is WIDE open. Pretty amazing, considering the fact that this election has already gone on so long. A testament to the astounding weakness of this particular field.
Hunter
Fred
Mitt
I also like Huckabee, but think he has even less chance than Hunter. However, if someone other than Fred wins the nomination, I can see Huckabee as one of the best VP choices ever. Even Fred should give him a look, though two Southerners on the same ticket might be passing up a chance to help ourselves in a battleground state.
Hillary Clinton. If you enjoyed Jan 20, 1993- Jan 19, 2001, then by all means, stay home on election day.
It doesn't matter who you vote for, it matters who takes office. You use your vote to make sure the best possible person takes office, not so you can pose for holy pictures with you're oh-so-pure ballot.
"I would rather be ruled by a competent Turk than an incompetent Christian."--Martin Luther
And if you want more of the same shiite, vote for Rudy or Mitt.
“You use your vote to make sure the best possible person takes office”
Lecture your kids, Mr. Silverback, not me. I’m not voting a “lesser of two evils” again. I’ll leave that foul tasting experience to you.
Tell me about it. But you know what's great about being a conservative? We Illinoisans had fun anyway. When Barack Obama came to Freeport there were freepers waiting for him, and by the time we were done every democrt in town was freaking out. Then, in late October Keyes came to town for a pro-marriage rally. We knew he was going to lose in a spectacular manner, but we all had fun and promoted doing the right thing. We even got our Democrat then-mayor to speak at the rally, and he said that since marriage affects so much in our society, every politician at every level should have to go on record on the issue.
Liberals can win every day and be miserable. We were losing our butts to one of the Left's biggest morons and we had the time of our lives, because we were doing the right thing.
I will never send alan Keyes any money or support his candidacy for any office, even though he's a very good man and I found him to be very personable and generous with his time when I met him. </name drop>
That said, If I were President I'd appoint him Secretary of State. If the Senate wouldn't confirm him, I'd make him White house Press Secretary. :-)
That's a mischaracterization. A presidential candidate who doesn't talk about uniting people might as well stay home.
That's likely true, and too bad. The best thing Newt can do for America right now is to be to political strategy what Nixon was to foreign policy: A humble and oft-consulted guru giving advice behind the scenes. If he gets in this race he's just going to clog things up.
You misunderstand. I don’t mean that. I only mean that after we have chosen our nominee, we vote for that person. I’ll support whomever is the Republican nominee. To do otherewise is helping Hillary back in the White House. That is unconscionable. There may never be another chance. I’m sick of those who want to teach the Republicans “a lesson”. We had that happen here in Iowa and the consequences have been dire. I hope even the die hards have learned their lesson that there is a difference between Republicans and Democrats.
And how! Look at how the crowds in Iowa react to her compared to her husband... and those rallies are full of rabidly committed Democrats!
No it isn't. That's always been his primary thrust. Go back and look at his first speeches and communications from right after his trial balloon went up several months ago. Pay special attention to his speech to the Lincoln Club of Orange County, California. Bipartisanship was what it was all built around, even to the extent of offering up a bizarre apologetic for the honor of Neville Chamberlain.
Let's all remember this: the next President will almost certainly appoint two Supremes in his or her first term. If that President is Hillary, that becomes a certainty.
Any action that makes it more likely that Hillary will appoint those justices is inexcusable.
Does he want to be President? Can he win without them?
Hillary's trying to court pro-lifers. You think that means she's pro-life?
Will a Hillary clinton Presidency be good for our country?
And if you want it even worse, go sulk and let Hillary win.
Just make sure you don't do any whining during the second Clinton administration. I intend to remember all the people who said they'd help her win, and I will probably not be kind.
You, and all those like you who espouse the opinion that ONLY rudy or mitt, can beat the beast, are delusional...and it’s insulting, as well.
They make medicine for that. Perhaps you should ask your doctor for some. :)
And, please, STOP putting words in my mouth.
You cast your vote, and I’ll cast mine.
BTW, are you just against Southerners?
Peace.
If God himself were running for President, you’d probably complain about him not being conservative enough too.
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