Posted on 09/13/2007 4:43:19 PM PDT by Sub-Driver
The Reviews Keep Coming In: Unimpressed by Fred Thompson's Campaign Roll-out, Conservatives Are "Still Looking"
It's been only one week since lobbyist turned Senator turned actor Fred Thompson announced his candidacy for president, but it's been plenty of time for conservative commentators to see what they need to and call him unimpressive. Today two prominent conservative columnists criticized Thompson and said Republicans were unenthusiastic about his presidential prospects and would keep on looking for a candidate to rally behind.
According to the columnists, conservatives' worst fears have been realized. Fred Thompson is just not the candidate they've been waiting for. George Will called Thompson's campaign a "belly-flop" and wondered if voters would ask "Is this product necessary?" Will criticized Thompson for being "unfamiliar with the details of his own positions" and botching his record during interviews. [Indianapolis Star, 9/13/07] Robert Novak goes further, writing that Thompson is not the "white knight whom worried Republican loyalists desperately desire" and that the "Republican electorate is still looking for the forceful, dynamic conservative many have thought Thompson might be." [Washington Post, 9/13/07] In addition, Thompson has failed to win the support of prominent fundraisers in Florida because of the "former Tennessee senator's unimpressive early organization and late entry into the presidential race." [New York Sun, 9/13/07]
This bad news for Thompson comes just days after news of his poor performance his first day of campaigning in Iowa was dubbed boring, unimpressive, rambling, and low-energy, as well as stories saying that a Thompson aide chided the role of Iowa's "first in the nation" status and that Thompson accepted donations from a family charged with ripping off state and local government Medicaid funds.
"After just one week of campaigning, the reviews are starting to come in on Fred Thompson's presidential prospects, and they're not good," said Democratic National Committee press secretary Stacie Paxton. "If Fred can't convince conservative commentators he's worthy of their support, how can he ever convince conservative voters? After years of failed leadership, Americans are looking for a president with a vision for our country, but Thompson has shown he's just another pandering, flip-flopping Republican candidate who doesn't have what it takes."
Thompson's First Act Disappoints Conservatives
After Thompson's Campaign, Conservatives Still Looking for Candidate. Conservative columnist Robert Novak thinks Thompson's campaign leaves much to be desired. "â|[I]it had been conceded in party circles that when Thompson finally became a candidate, his beginning needed to be memorable. It was not. While Thompson offered obligatory conservative slogans in New Hampshire, Iowa and South Carolina, he was not the white knight whom worried Republican loyalists desperately desireâ| The Republican electorate is still looking for the forceful, dynamic conservative many have thought Thompson might be." [Washington Post, 9/13/07]
Thompson's Campaign a "Belly-Flop." Conservative columnist George Will calls Thompson's rollout a "belly-flop." "Fred Thompson's plunge into the presidential pool -- more belly-flop than swan dive -- was the strangest product launch since that of New Coke in 1985. Then the question was: Is this product necessary? A similar question stumped Thompson the day he plungedâ|New Coke was announced on April 23, 1985, with the company's president piling on adjectives usually reserved for Lafite Rothschild -- "smoother, rounder yet bolder." Almost 80 days later, the public having sampled it, the company pulled the product from stores. Perhaps Thompson's candidacy will last longer than New Coke did." [Indianapolis Star, 9/13/07]
Thompson Not Winning Over Prominent Supporters: Thompson has lost support from prominent Florida fundraisers, including a Bush Ranger, because of the "former Tennessee senator's unimpressive early organization and late entry into the presidential raceâ|Explaining his and his colleagues' choice, Mr. Rood cited Mr. Thompson's late entry into the race as a key factor. 'Many in the group were eager to make a decision,' Mr. Rood said.
'Thompson not being a candidate means that, you know, we really looked at the top three, which included Senator McCain and Governor Romney and Mayor Giuliani, as announced candidates that we were going to pick between.'" [New York Sun, 9/13/07]
Bla,bla,bla.Now even more reason to like FDT.The inside the beltway does’nt like him.
Again with the ‘late into the race’ and conservatives going ‘ho-hum’ B.S.
They should file this screed under ‘wishful thinking’ in their archives at democrats.org.
LOL, I do the same thing! It's because the Dems pan any Republican they see as a possible threat, and love RINOs like McCain.
The more Dems try to trash talk Thompson, the more I'm certain he's a winner.
Okay, Thompson may not be my first pick, but this is just fecking ludicrous! When did the DNC become the experts on what conservatives are thinking?
Yes. And there was no internet and talk radio then. We knew Regan was winning because the MSM wouldn't show us his crowds. But don't worry about the pundits. Make up your own mind. Support the candidate of your choice. Coalesce around the eventual nominee and send the demon rats straight to h@ll.
I dunno .... Tennessee-Georgia .... would certainly win the South big time, but what about the rest of the country?
Then again, what do I know ... stranger things have happened
This is going to be wonderful. The Democrats are headed for complete and total meltdown. When Fred kicks their ass in ‘08 their heads will explode.
Eggzactly! You only worry when they STOP writing about you ;o)
Late entry into the race???????
ROFLMSS!!!!!
As far as I’m concerned last week should have been the earliest ANYONE entered the race.
BOTH are disdained by REAL CONSERVATIVES!
LLS
Barf, do Dims realize how stupid they sound?
vaudine
Fred is dead after a week on the trail?
What does that make McCain...a frog twitching during a High School Biology class or an extra that escaped “Dawn of the Dead”?
Fred’s been out a week, his gaffs haven’t been of the magnitude of “let’s invade Pakistan” ala Osama bin Bama nor backing the wildly unpopular Amnesty proposals...
He’ll get better/.
The willing suspension of disbelief.
New Coke = Old Pepsi
You might be interested in this Fred thread.
I was just trying to remember how many years it has been since Conservatives paid attention to anything Will and Novak had to say.
What liars. They sound exactly like the FRedfoes right here.
The only candidate I’ve given money to is Duncan Hunter, but Fred can expect to get a few bucks from me if he keeps scaring the liberals from both parties. George Will has a fantasy that the Goldwater dream can somehow be realized with Rudy or McCain, and that it can be done with the exclusion of social conservatives. Thompson is wetting on Will’s (l)ibertarian dream, and that alone makes me like him.
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