Bump! Go Fred Go!
Posted on 08/25/2007 6:46:50 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
All-but-declared GOP candidate Fred Thompson said Saturday he is in a sound position to make a run for the nomination even though others announced their candidacies months ago.
"We have done within a few months what other people have spent much longer periods of time doing," Thompson told reporters before delivering a keynote speech to the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference, which has drawn party activists from 12 states.
Thompson has had a less-than-stellar summer that included a campaign staff shake-up and fundraising that failed to meet expectations. But he has polled well in national surveys despite his unofficial status.
"We've made some changes along the way and are better for it, and I think we are where we need to be right now," he said.
Thompson, a former Tennessee senator and an actor known for his role as a district attorney on NBC's "Law & Order," was the third and final GOP hopeful to speak at the conference. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee spoke Friday.
He received a more rousing reception when he was introduced to speak than Romney and Huckabee got, with many in the crowd of 500 or so whooping and hollering and shouting, "Fred, Fred, Fred."
Unlike the stiff character he plays on TV, Thompson was casual as he spoke. He warmed up the crowd with a few jokes, saying that while he was a senator he could recall that every once and awhile, a member of Congress would slip up by "actually spending their own money."
He spoke mostly in general terms on serious matters, saying that one of the most pressing challenges facing America was national security and the terrorist threat from Islamic radicals. Not enough people take the threat seriously, he said.
"Our country is in danger and it's going to be in danger for a long time to come," he said. "We have got to be more united and more committed than ever before."
He said government spending was out of control, and people had little faith in government solving problems in areas such as energy, education and health care.
"We probably have more cynicism toward our leadership than in a long time," he said. "How do people follow when people don't have any confidence in what is said and who is saying it?"
Jean Reed of Greensburg said she has been unsure who she would support, but that Thompson's appearance and speech probably won her over.
"I think he would make a great candidate," she said. "He seemed to be very personable, he seemed to be caring, he seemed to know what he believed."
Murray Winn of Mishawaka said he was still undecided, but hoped Thompson would get into the race soon. "I think it will energize the party if he does," he said.
Thompson is expected to announce his bid early next month, saying Saturday that he will "certainly be making a statement within short order."
Reacted to the depression or the Depression?
Thanks. Watching now.
Mitt does strike me at first glance as being the consumate politician: the hair, the oil, the ease with which he seems to slide from one side to another.
But the more I see and here him, the more real he seems. I like that he's been married to one woman longer than my wife and I have; that his family life seems genuine; that what you see is really what you get and more, witness a recent radio program in which some slippery d-jock tried haranguing him about his religion, but that he steered consistently toward a multi-faith outlook, then when deliberately kept open-miked but unawares during the breaks his real religious pluralism yet loyalty to his faith showed in droves. (It was a played by Hugh Hewitt.)
Yeah, I think I really like this guy. I'm with Mitt unless and until I can be swayed.
And I think he can clean Hillary's communist clock.
Sorry. I meant that if Coolidge had run 1928, he would have taken a much less activist role as President.
And I think he can clean Hillary's communist clock.The only candidate with higher negatives than Hillary is Mitt.
If that's the case, then the hell with it anyway as Hillary's communism presages the end of America as the number one superpower.
And as it would have stemmed from religious bigotry, then perhaps rightly so.
Bump! Go Fred Go!
What was the family tragedy?
A child, I think. Maybe I should have checked it out.
His daughter passed away of an accidental medication overdose.
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