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
Fred and his pickup truck are welcome in NH anytime. You’ll find a lot of old pickup trucks here in NH. The newer shinier trucks and SUVs are mostly in MA; go ask John Forbes Kerry....
What make, model, and year is Fred’s truck?
The primary date will most likely be January 12. Not much reason to be here until after labor day. Lots of people on vacation, gone for the weekends, etc. Kids aren’t back in school yet...
Having Fred in the race would be a good thing. Romney and Rudy are good candidates, but competition is a good thing...
Oh, and if Fred needs any work done on the pickup truck, tell him I got a friend in New Boston NH that does a fine job with older vehicles...
Not to mention the fact that if Fred were to foolishly gift his competitors - Republican and Democrat alike - with free "equal time" TV spots, they sure wouldn't waste time sniping at each other. Oh no, they'd all gang up and pound Fred into the ground like a tent stake. I see no reason for a smart man to cheerfully stick his head in a noose of his own making.
Isn't it odd, though, that someone who claims to have been a Thompson supporter from the beginning would need you to bring this fact to their attention? These "I used to support Fred" posts smell to the high heaven.
It’s a 94 Chevy pickup - extended cab longbed.
Cool. Thanks for the info.
Right, look how well the last Governor turned out.
NOT!
Time to break out of the MSM-Candidate Lock Box and look solely to conservative bona fides. Not just the talk. But the walk.
PERIOD.
I wonder just whether to believe you ever did. Since you are so busy "hating" other freepers who are conservative.
Sheesh.
Actually he is a conservative. And he has been a winner. From Day One when he came in with Reagan.
... who stayed in his "safe" Congressional seat for 30 years
Safe? What do you know about it? Honestly. And it was 27 years so far. Do you know how Democrat-oriented his particular District is? How often the Democrats in Sacramento kept gerry-mandering his District to oust him? And how he kept confounding them by appealing to Blue Collar Reagan Democrats...and winning by 70% ...in an UNSAFE district.
... without accomplishing anything more.
There are a huge number of accomplishments which you are apparently oblivious. Not the least is that people also serve who stand and wait. His role was to work for our legislation. And his fidelity thereto was dramatically superior to the last three Presidents. I will note just two of the many areas he has demonstrated that fidelity in:
(1) He has been watching our backs.
He helped pilot Reagan's Defense-Buildup through Congress...and kept an eye out for our military and tried to protect it ever since from the ravages of the Xlinton's, and sad to say of them (but it is undeniable), the Bushes. He has been instrumental at ensuring whatever degree of preparedness, readiness and strategic strength we still have. He was the one who helped keep the Tomahawks flying when Xlinton and Bush allowed its critical subcomponentry to be outsourced to Euroean nations. He helped the troops get their armor after Xlinton and Bush allowed the steel capability to wither here...and fought against the Xlinton Democrat-controlled GAO Reports which proclaimed we had "far more steel capacity" than we needed for defense. LOL! Idiots. But he was far more polite than most of us would be about it.
He is the institutional memory of our Defense needs.
(2) Border Guardian. He has been a stalwart thorn in the side of the OBL crowd. He would guard the border, and deal with the illegals, the drug trade, and terrorists.
His walk, not just his talk shows this. He tried mightily to keep Reagan from making the mistake at the end of '86 and signing the Amnesty Bill foisted on him by liberals (RINOS and RATS both). The proponents to induce his signature, had solemnly promised to ensure, and fund, border security and that this was going to be a "one time" fix. Reagan's diaries make clear he thought he was being given that result. That he could trust those proponents. Duncan knew better...and tried to warn Reagan. History has vindicated him. He was right with the San Diego Border Fence, and the National Border Fence with Mexico. His idea. Its worked for San Diego. We need it across the rest of the border as outlined by Duncan. And he has busted this President (a former Governor), who signed it, for his non-feasance and neglect. Who is the better administrator here? Who can mind the store better? Who is watching our backs? He will NEVER be MY President.
This strident adamancy sounds mighty suspiciously anti-conservative. I can just picture you saying that about Reagan, as today we hear the DU Lefties saying it of Bush.
I'm kicking myself for being nice to you for so long.
While this was not directed at me, or the rest of Free Republic, it might as well be. This was a bald-faced admission that all you are looking for, and really all you have ever looked for, is a flame-war, not reasonable discussion. I commend laptop_ron for having stayed so polite and engaged despite your simmering whatever "it" is.
Which is not what Free Republic is intended for.
I completely agree with that. However:
... Romney and Rudy are good candidates,
How much better is a candidate who actually walks the walk, and doesn't simply give lip service, suddenly espousing a 180-degree switch. Dramatic Conversions on the Road to Des Moines just are not plausible. We have seen how tepid W is on things which he did give lip service to, but manifestly doesn't believe.
Look at his signing the Fence Act under pressure. He gives border security mere lip service.
Constantly having to have his feet held to the fire (e.g., even on Judges...remember Harrient Meiers)...and even then he often just lashes back at conservatives calling them bigots, racists, sexists (remember the "glass ceiling" talk? )uncharitable, ungenerous, cowards, etc. And uses others to get his talking points out, so he doesn't get directly identified with the public with his oppositions. (Using McCain, Graham, Specter, Lugar, and the RNC Chair such as Mel Martinez...which he appoints for all practical purposes)
We can expect more of the same if we pick any of these guys who are even more flagrantly RINO than Bush was. He did give some clues which were picked up, see Lawrence Auster's My Busy Epiphany Too bad no one was paying enough attention when it would have made a difference.
but competition is a good thing...
Agreed again. We need it so that we can sort through all the chaff...to find those kernals of wheat.
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