Posted on 09/06/2007 9:41:35 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
Candidate Says U.S. Must Return To Basics. Republican presidential candidate and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson said Thursday that he's ready to work hard in Iowa to make up for lost time.
Thompson was in Des Moines a day after announcing his White House run.
He said he still has enough time to get out his message.
"The preliminaries are over, the game is beginning as far as I'm concerned and I'm looking forward to it," he said.
He said he skipped the debates in an effort to reach more people.
"I want to reach them as directly as I can -- in the ways that I can. One of the ways you can do that is television, another way is the Internet," he said.
He said the numbers of months spent on the campaign trail probably does not equate that many times with ultimate victory.
"It's who you are and what you believe in. That's the main thing," he said.
He said there will be plenty of times for debating and he is looking forward to them. He added that he does not like the format.
"I don't think it's really designed to illicit much information in 30 second sound bites. I'd prefer to sit down one on one with somebody and talk for an hour," he said.
When asked what sets him apart, he declined to compare himself with other candidates.
"That's for the people to decide. Those are all the things that the people of Iowa are going to have to judge for themselves and I look forward to that judgment," he said.
He said his main message is about getting back to basics.
"We need to get back to the first principles of this country, principles that founded this country that were based on the Declaration of Independence. The fact that our basic rights come from God and not from man and not from government and it leads you to believe things like the sanctity of life, it leads you to believe things like lower taxes and less government. I think that's what made our country great. I think it will continue to make it great if we apply them," he said.
“...less government.”
except in the area of campaign finance reform, there we need more government... /s
A Paulestinian as my first poster? I am unworthy...
Fred played by his rules last night. He didn’t play according to rules created by others. The fact he was successful in his efforts made the entire evenings events that much sweeter. It was a special night. A night when politics and entertainment merged, as they often do in our pop culture. Some folks around FR have taken offense to Fred`s tactics. Anyone who felt slighted, that is your problem. Deal with it.
Good move worthy of note. : )
This is risible. The debate was on television, wasn't it? Fred could have been in the debate on Wednesday, and on Leno on Thursday, and had twice the exposure.
More likely FDT realizes that the meandering vague answers he gave Hannity tonight wouldn't have cut it in Durham.
You’re right, he needs to drop out immediately while he’s only in first or second place in most all national and early state polls. What a lazy old loser!
Hey, the have to take a break for text polling sometime...
I trust you will get over it although the trauma must be an extreme shock.
Look at the bright side, Paulestinians have no land of their own so they focus on others land for gain.
Spread the message, Freddie.
Drive that red pickup of yours all the way from Tennessee to New Hampshire and confront the granite faces that you meet. You’ve got some ‘splaining to do!
If I were you I would not vote for him, but for one of his possible VPs or cabinet members instead...
Is that because most of them live in Mom’s basement, an old trailer or a flophouse?
But but but, that’s not fair!
I believe Senator Craig was trying to illicit information. Perhaps Senator Thompson had something else in mind.
They post, you decide...
After watching that poor excuse for a debate, those guys were lucky Alan Keyes was not there to wipe the floor with them.
Those aren't debates, they are sound bite sessions, I can't believe the debates are getting worse and worse.
with fred's numbers he doesn't need to do what others have been doing. the honeymoon will be over very soon, though. although i can't stand the current set-up of the debates, fred's first debate will say a lot about where he is going.
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