Posted on 08/21/2007 5:10:38 PM PDT by xcamel
More than a dozen years after it was credited with helping turn around his first bid for public office, Fred Thompson's old pickup truck sits parked behind his mother's house in this Nashville suburb.
The red paint is faded and the tailgate hangs open, but supporters would like nothing more than to see the actor-politician leap back into the bed to make stump speeches in his bid for the White House.
The Republican has not yet announced his candidacy _ that's expected next month _ and there's been no word from Thompson's campaign about whether there will be any role for a red pickup truck. A spokeswoman for Thompson did not respond to messages seeking comment about the truck.
Early in the 1994 race, after struggling to connect with voters, Thompson decided to lease a used truck and drive around the state in what turned out to be a wildly successful effort to recast himself as a folksy man of the people.
His opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, derided the truck as a cynical prop to deflect attention from Thompson's inside-the-Beltway status. But Thompson was able to shake off Cooper's suggestion that he was actually a "Gucci-wearing, Lincoln-driving, Perrier-drinking, Grey Poupon-spreading millionaireWashington special interest lobbyist."
Thompson ended up capturing more than 60 percent of the vote.
Bill Lacy, hired this month to run Thompson's campaign, has a bit of personal history with the truck _ he opposed the proposal to make the pickup a focal point when he was an adviser on the 1994 campaign.
"Fred had the good sense to ignore my advice," Lacy said in an opinion piece in The Knoxville News Sentinel in June.
But Thompson so far has not appeared overly eager to climb back into the cab. At his first public event in Nashville after forming a "testing the waters" committee in June, Thompson shook off an attempt by supporters tohave him address the crowd from the back of a brand new red pickup truck they had brought to the event.
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On the Net:
Fred Thompson: http://www.imwithfred.com
Seriously, get on jellybean’s ping list to get caught up on Fred, on issues and his campaign.
Ping jellybean or politicalmom to get educated.
Governor
Thomas Jefferson - Virginia
James Monroe - Virginia
Martin Van Buren - New York
William Henry Harrison - Indiana Territory
John Tyler - Virginia
James Polk - Tennessee
Andrew Johnson - Tennessee
Rutherford Hayes - Ohio
Grover Cleveland - New York
William McKinley - Ohio
Theodore Roosevelt - New York
William Taft - Philippines
Woodrow Wilson - New Jersey
Calvin Coolidge - Massachusetts
Franklin Roosevelt - New York
Jimmy Carter - Georgia
Ronald Reagan - California
Bill Clinton - Arkansas
George W. Bush - Texas
I’ll agree with you except for the part about weighing the effects on his family. If he hasn’t done that already, why test the waters? Anyway, that’s just a quibble.
“If that isn’t reason enough, then frankly I don’t think you want to hear any.” Your opinion has been duly noted.
Senator, U.S.
James Monroe - Virginia
John Quincy Adams - Massachusetts
Andrew Jackson - Tennessee
Martin Van Buren - New York
William Henry Harrison - Ohio
John Tyler - Virginia
Franklin Pierce - New Hampshire
James Buchanan - Pennsylvania
Andrew Johnson - Tennessee
Benjamin Harrison - Indiana
Warren Harding - Ohio
Harry Truman - Missouri
John F. Kennedy - Massachusetts
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I met him at the Freedom Concert in San Diego and told him I am doing the documentary film that is going to help him beat Hillary. I got a big smile and an autograph.
They’ve all commanded Guard troops and dealt (well) with state emergencies?
Okay...now you've crossed the line...and now you know why a lot of us hate...yes hate...Duncan Hunter people for ruining Free Republic.
This used to be a great site...you folks have ruined it forever. A lot of us have left. I have stopped supporting financially. Duncan Hunter is a loser politician who stayed in his "safe" Congressional seat for 30 years without accomplishing anything more. He will NEVER be MY President.
I'm kicking myself for being nice to you for so long.
we’re going to see a REAL candidate that will have Obama wishing he were back in Illinois and Hillary looking for coverYou might want to lower your expectations a bit. He's not Paul Bunyan. And the army of committed traitors (and their fraud-voting illegal and dead friends) who are marching behind the Beast's Big Thighs are not going to fall like axed trees.
It's going to be a hard-fought election. The Beast will lose, but it's not going to be a walk in the park.
This is the major distinction between '08, '00 and '04 (and even '96). The Dems threw Gore and Lurch at us and we had no choice but to vote for whoever ran against them. It was Mr. Compassionate.
This isn't going to happen this time around. Conservatives will now be voting "FOR" a candidate, rather than 'against' a Shillary. And they are screwed, and here's why: Affection toward a candidate is contagious. Those around you will note the sincerity that you exude toward Fred.
Nothing could be further from the truth surrounding Hillary. There's no affection. Only gamesmanship- first woman president. Novel, but not everlasting. And certainly nothing approaching what could be considered 'affection'.
What ever happened to Howard Dean?
Is he still around any more??
I’m more interested in what policy he has to offer than in what he drives. I could care less what he shows up in.
Wow. I’m not sure what I’ve done, so I can’t apologize for it, but I am sorry you feel that way. Have a good night.
Just for the heck of it, I will add that I haven’t been around much in a few months, but when I was here I didn’t realize that anyone actually hated Hunter. Some were supporters and some didn’t care about him, but I never came across anyone who actually hated him. First time for everything, I guess.
Well stated. IMHO, the conventional wisdom that is mired in the 2000/2004 electoral map will be turned on it’s ear. Fred is a much stronger candidate than Bush was.
Again...you are being a jerk. No one here hates Hunter. We do disagree with a lot of the obnoxious stuff by his supporters.
He didn’t say he hated Hunter. He said he hated Hunter’s supporters here at FR.
I personally don’t hate them, though I’ll admit to coming close a while back. After Ames, they’re nothing but a bunch of delusional moonbats. It’s much more fun to make fun of their ridiculous conspiracy theories than it is to hate them.
“Duncan Hunter is a loser politician...”
If that’s not hate, then what is it?
I’m really at a loss as to how I’m being a jerk. You were explaining something and I was asking questions. We were having a discussion and all of a sudden you’re mad and I’m a jerk. Sorry if I’m a little lost on this.
I like Hunter from what I’ve heard from him. Calling me a supporter is a stretch.
I’m really sorry you’re upset, but it was unintentional from my end. I don’t know what else I can say except that misunderstandings happen, I guess.
Guess I’ve been out of it for a bit. They have conspiracy theories? Glad I missed that boat, but then it’s fun to listen to the conspiracy nuts sometimes. Everyone needs a laugh now and then.
Not a gun owner, are you?
There is never going to be another Reagan. But Fred doesn’t need Reagan’s coattails, he can run on his own.
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