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
I think you misinterpreted my post. And if you read what I said, I didn’t tell you what to say.
Air Supply? You surely jest, I hope. I’d almost rather root for Edwards. (I did say “almost”).
Those were rumors posted on the internet and repeated by the media. The around Labor Day is being put out by the campaign.
Good point. Now that I look at it, it doesn’t make much sense, but dang it sounded good. lol
But, if you think about it, if you can’t manage a campaign for a couple of years how are you going to manage the White House, and the country, for 4 years?
I will grant you one thing, you are right...Duncan Hunter has been in the House for 30 years and not achieved anything worthy of the White House. 30 freakin' YEARS!!!
The only thing Fred needs to get out of the way of is floundering candidates on their way down.
Ron, in Test the Waters mode, it takes about three months to bring up a campaign. Rudy took about that much time. I believe Huckabee took half a year. I'm not sure about the others. On Sep. 5th in will be three months for Fred in Test the Waters mode.
So cool your heels and watch that date. Never let the DBM determine when a candidate should announce.
Yeah, well, I didn’t realize how angry I was with him until I started that first post. Talk about getting angry about nothing.
That said, similar to Reagan, Fred can run an across the board conservative campaign...and I think he will.
What would be considered “worthy of the WH?”
Ronnie, lay down your laptop and go to sleep. You have got your allocated attention for the evening.
Get educated on the Fred and come back later.
lol...dude...you are among friends....
I still don't know who I'm going to support, but it does seem that Fred isn't wasting his money on the DisneyWorld season...
We all will get much more serious in the next 60 days.
The last red pick-up I heard about was Janet Reno driving one around while running for office in Florida. I don't think "Fred" should expect it has any magic considering her outcome.
I’m skeptical, but not unreasonable. We’ll see what happens.
You are coming across like an Air Suppppppppppppply Guy.
Good question. In my mind, it would be someone who would work his way to the Senate, or, preferably, a Governorship. House members are valued people...but small change in the grand scheme.
I want someone in the Oval Office who has had to command National Guard troops, deal with disasters on on statewide basis.
Duncan Hunter has done nothing to get out of his comfy little corner.
Thanks. Felt good to vent.
Okay, but Hunter would not have been in a position to do any of those things.
Sounds like you’re looking at either Rudy or Mitt.
Hey, that was low! I’d rather come across as a raving lunatic, thank you.
I am glad that you are such good person that you reply to my posts.
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