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
If he comes this way I’ll loan him mine.
Screw the pickup. Either announce that you’re running or step aside. This coy act is extremely old and annoying. I was a Fred! guy, but I’m sick of this. This isn’t a game, Mr. Thompson. Run or get the hell out of the way.
He wanted people to beg him to run, and they begged. He wanted time to get a staff together, and he has. Do it, or go away.
someone run over your puppy when you were young?
LOL!!
We don’t need gimmicks with prospect of the Beast B!tch and the Perv taking up residents at PA Avenue.
Fresh ideas are what the electorate needs. Fred can deliver without the prop’s.
fred ping
Sounds that way, doesn’t it?
I’m upset because I was really excited about this guy. His persona was a no-nonsense straight-shooter. Now, here we are months later and he’s still playing games with his announcement to run. Doesn’t sound like he’s very serious about this. If he can’t seem to make a commitment one way or the other, why should I be committed to him?
HTML-challenged here
Fred in that red truck might be just as effective as Reagan’s “there they go again” line.
Let me guess. You got so sick of FredT you switched to Rooty.
In politics patience is a virtue and campaigns are marathons and not sprints.
IIRC, he still has one showbiz contract that *has* to run out (September) before he can declare without screwing the people he used to work with.
I agree with you. An old red pickup that’s rusting and falling apart? What is this nostalgia playhouse? I don’t want some old geezer who’s trotted out for one last run around the track before he’s put out to pasture. The Republican party should be about the future. This guy is about the past and some absurd longing for a return to the golden era of Reagan. Let the Democrats nominate their retread. Republicans should pick a fresh face and an energetic candidate with the desire and the determination to win and some new ideas about how we’re going to compete in the 21st century. That ain’t Fred.
No, I’m not a Rudy guy. His social liberalism drives me nuts. The guy I like doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning: Duncan Hunter. Romney is starting to look good out of the two electable republicans.
Never heard that one. I’ll have to check it out.
Exactly! This is Series!!!
Fred also had contractual agreements that must be satisfied by law prior to announcing.
The Harpy’s “dissatisfaction” numbers are climbing every day.
so... you still think the “old fashioned way” was a bad plan?
Fred==Sand-Bager
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