Fred is the great right hope. He's my hope as well. Unfortunately he has no more political experience than Obama and no executive experience. His resume resembles Reagan only in its Hollywood and divorce dimensions.
Fred has neither been governor nor run in a difficult race. I hope he has the right stuff and we'll find out in less than six months.
I'm from Tennessee and I can ease your mind on one of the two points you bring up. In his first Senate election, he was 20% down and discarded the advice of his advisers to pull out a landslide. As for being a governor... no, but he has taken one down for corruption.
Look Fred has “no more political experience than Obama.”
What say you?
Obie Wan wrote: “His previous Senate stint seems to be inconclusive from what I hear and read.”
Maynerd wrote: “Unfortunately he has no more political experience than Obama..”
You’re both wrong.
Fred’s political resume:
*a lawyer in private practice
*a federal prosecutor
*TN 7th Cong Dist campaign mgr for John T., Williams
*a worker on Bill Brock’s bid to unseat Albert Gore Sr.
*Mid-state TN campaign mgr. for Howard Baker’s re-election
*Minority Counsel for Senate Watergate Committee
*Special Counsel to TN Gov Lamar Alexander(1980)
*Special Counse; to Senate Foreign Relations Cmte (1980-81)
*A US Senator for one and a half terms (8 years)
*Member, Foreign Relations Committee, 1995-96
*Member, Judiciary Committee, 1995-98
*Chairman, Youth Violence Subcommittee, 1995-96
*Member, Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights Subcommittee, 1997-98
*Member, Technology, Terrorism and Gov’t. Information Subcmte, 1995-98
*Chairman, Governmental Affairs Committee, 1997-2001
*Ranking Minority Member, Governmental Affairs Committee, 2001-02
*Member, Finance Committee, 1999-2002
*Member, International Trade Subcommittee, 1999-2002
*Member, Taxation and Oversight Aubcommittee, 1999-2002
*Member, Social Security and Family Policy Subcommittee, 1999-2002
*Member, Health Care Subcommittee, 1999-2002
*Visiting Fellow, American Enterprise Institute
*Member, US China Economic and Security Review Commission
*Member, Council on foreign Relations
Obama’s political resume:
-Two years in the U.S. Senate
-Seven years in the Illinois Senate
-One loss in a primary election for the U.S. House
-One stirring keynote address at a DNC Convention
Fred’s Senate service was far from “inconclusive.” Read and learn:
· As Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, Thompson enacted a law that required federal agencies to calculate and report the cost of regulations on taxpayers and businesses.
· Press reports stated: “He put heat on federal agencies by holding hearings on mismanagement and by asking them to tote up the improper payments they made each year.” That added up to about $20 billion in taxpayer dollars. His efforts saved taxpayers more than $2 billion in 2005-06 alone at the Department of Health and Human Services.
· He published a two volume report, “Government on the Brink,” detailing the waste, fraud, and abuse of federal agencies as well as the management challenges facing the incoming Bush Administration. Paul Light, a New York University professor and leading expert on government, said, “I consider him to be one of the most dedicated overseers of the executive branch of the last 25 years.”
· Twenty-five years after he’d gained national prominence as hard-charging counsel on the Watergate committee, Thompson again stepped into the investigation spotlight. In 1997, as chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, he opened an investigation into attempts by the Chinese government to influence America policies and elections through, among other means, financing election campaigns. The investigation identified at least six Democrat donors and fundraisers, with ties to the Clinton Administration, who had laundered or aided in the laundering and distribution of foreign money into Democrat political party coffers. The investigation also exposed two Democrat Party donors with “a long-term relationship with a Chinese intelligence agency,” according to the Senate committee’s report.
· In his eight years, Thompson, who served on the Finance Committee, supported and worked to enact three major tax-cut bills, reducing the federal tax burden on all of us.
· As a member of the Senate Intelligence Committee, Thompson focused on the threat of nuclear proliferation and technology transfers that could damage American industrial and national security.
· While a vocal supporter of free trade, Thompson also fought to link free trade to our national security interests. For example, when voting to grant full-trading status to China, Senator Thompson fought unsuccessfully to include an amendment in the bill that would have required the president to impose sanctions against China if it violated nuclear-nonproliferation agreements. Thompson also served on the Intelligence Committee at a time when it examined the failings in intelligence and analysis leading into the September 11th terrorist attacks, as well as the reforms needed to better prepare for future threats.
http://whenevilprospers.blogspot.com/2007/07/in-light-of-fred-thompsons-surging.html
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“When H 400 passed the House of Representatives on a voice vote, with no member demanding a recorded vote, we knew we were in trouble. S 507 was set to be reported out of the Senate Judiciary Committee by unanimous consent the following week. We needed one member of the United States Senate with the courage to stand before the Committee and object to the bill.”
“We decided to approach Senator Fred Thompson, and when S 507 came up in committee, he objected on the basis of national security. He had the courage to defy the President and Vice President, the Japanese government, the Chinese government, the Lippo Group of Indonesia, and eighty or ninety of America’s largest multinational corporations. America dodged a bullet in 1997, and Fred Thompson was the man who made it happen.”
http://www.theconservativevoice.com/article/23891.html
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“On the Republican side, Fred Thompson’s record on spending puts the rest of the field to shame, and is even more conservative than that of Newt Gingrich. Perhaps Thompson’s supposed lack of accomplishments in the Senate are the result of a legislator who erred on the side of ensuring that government didn’t grow, didn’t spend more, didn’t meddle more in people’s lives, and generally left Americans alone. In an age of two big-governnment parties, it isn’t surprising that such a candidate is garnering interest.”
http://race42008.com/2007/03/24/fiscally-fisking-the-2008-contenders
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