Posted on 09/14/2007 10:13:22 PM PDT by Doofer
Nobody is more surprised to see former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson in the 2008 race for the White House than Fred Thompson himself. At age 64, with a successful acting career, a stable financial future, a second chance at family life, a bright beautiful young wife and two small children, running for President of the United States was likely not on his list of things to do.
Thats before the conservative core of the Republican Party drafted him. Fed up with out of control federal spending, deteriorating individual liberties, a lack-luster national defense and the growing tolerance for leftist notions exhibited by the current crop of moderates busy running their GOP into the ground, conservatives passed on all RNC panderers and drafted their own presidential candidate.
I could run down the list of conservative votes that make up his two term senate career, but others have already done that. I could talk about his down home southern charm, his good ole boy nature, his face and name recognition as a result of a life filled with personal accomplishments or even talk about those red pickup truck campaign stops reminiscent of much simpler days. But you already know these things.
Unlike all other candidates, its hard to find someone with anything bad to say about Thompson, someone besides his political challengers of course. In a fever to find trash on Thompson somewhere, the Democrat war room tracked down every girl he ever dated between his two marriages, looking for dirt. When every woman who ever knew Thompson had only praise for what a kind, gentle natured southern gentleman he really is, Democrats knew they had a real problem on their hands. Even his exs still like him? Never seen that before
All of these reasons are true and valid. They all mean something. But there is an even bigger reason why Fred Thompson is the likely winner in 2008, a reason few political analysts can comprehend.
On the campaign trail this week, Thompson was asked why he was not participating in the Values Voter debate in Fort Lauderdale on Monday. In typical Thompson form, he responded, "Debates are important, but let's don't let the tail wag the dog here. Standing up there 10 in a row, you know, like a bunch of seals waiting for someone to throw you the next fish is not necessarily the best way to impart your information to the American people," Thompson said. "I'm not above acting like a seal every once in a while and waiting for the next fish. I just don't want to do it all the time."
And thats why Fred Thompson could be the right man with the right stuff for 2008!
Atop the list of many disappointments in our federal government today is the clear message that nobody in Washington DC has the least bit of common sense or honesty about them. Okay, lets say a few do, but so few that they arent worth counting. Modern politicians are just career politicians. They arent the pillars of our communities anymore and I dont care which political party youre trying to blindly defend.
Washington is full of career liars and every American knows it. Now, the average American voter can not always detect a lie when its told by a really good liar and lets face it, our nations best liars arent reading scripts in Hollywood, our village idiots are. Our best liars are reading campaign cue cards in Washington DC.
The people may not always catch the lie as its told by the best liars in the business. But Americans inherently know the truth when they see it or hear it and thats what they seem to like about Fred Thompson.
There isnt a single American who wouldnt describe modern campaign debates the same way Fred did, or feel about them just as he does, as a result. But what politician has the nerve to say it out loud for God and the whole world to hear? Besides Thompson I mean I was starting to wonder if I was the only American who noticed what a ridiculous scam the alphabet network debates had become.
What other truths will the average American voter connect with?
For starters, any American that understands our current confrontation with international terror inherently knows that leaving Iraq has nothing to do with leaving the war. It only represents moving the central front in that war from there to here. It doesnt take a national security expert to recognize the flaw in that plan. But apparently, it does take one smarter than the average politician or news anchor.
They also know that until we secure our own borders, were not serious about preventing the next 9/11.
Like Thompson, voters know that there is no such thing as a pro-war American. Americans dont like war, any war, anytime, for any reason. Good men die and not one American likes it.
However, they also understand that there are only those Americans who are willing to fight to defend this nation and those who are not. They know which ones are responsible for the freedoms we enjoy today and which ones they can count on to secure those freedoms for tomorrow.
They know that some Americans will leave their loved ones behind and travel half way around the globe to some God forsaken hell hole where they might well die trying to protect and preserve the American ideal. They also know that there are those who wont fight even once they have allowed the war to come to their doorstep and that these folks cant be counted on for anything.
Voters are starting to figure out that we dont have liberals anymore. Liberals believe in personal liberty, not federally mandated rights for a greater communal good. Liberals believe in personal freedom, not an endless supply of free (paid for by others) stuff. They are figuring out that what we have today is Democratic Socialists, not their grandfathers Democrats. JFK would be kicked out of the DNC today just like Joe Lieberman, if he dared to utter the words ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country at a DNC rally.
Americans know what real civil rights are all about. They are those rights which were endowed by our Creator (who is no longer allowed in our schools, our courts or our civic offices), and they apply to every man who was created equal by a kind and generous free-will God, not just special interest voting blocs. They are those unalienable rights that NO politician, NO voting bloc has the power to take away from any individual, no matter their race, color, creed or social agenda.
Americans know that it is our common love and respect for freedom, personal liberty and the opportunity to be anything we want to be, that bonds us together as a people, not the celebration of our differences based on such superficial nonsense as the color of ones skin or ethnic heritage. Its our common future of freedom, not our diverse past, which makes us One Nation.
Fred Thompson is the only candidate drafted into the 2008 race by the people. He is the peoples candidate. All others aspire to be president for a variety of largely selfish reasons. Thompson has been clear - he wasnt thinking about running, he has never aspired to hold the office. He was asked to make a difference, sees a need and an opportunity to make a difference and is willing to make that difference. Thats the difference!
All other candidates see themselves as the answer to every problem. Fred Thompson correctly sees the American people as the solution to every problem and politicians as their biggest problem. Thompson clearly believes in himself. But he obviously believes even more in the power of the American people and I for one, share that belief.
People always claim to want real change, but seldom mean it. Our Republican President has a 30% public approval rating and our Democrat congress has less than a 20% approval rating. This means that 70-80% of Americans think we can do better than either of them They are right.
Some say Thompson is too old, but frankly, on those rare occasions when Ive been lucky enough to stumble into true wisdom in this world - it has never come out of anyone any younger than Thompson.
Some say hes a Washington insider. Hes a former Senator who set his own term limits when he ran and lived by them. Thats hardly a career politician. Others say hes too well connected in Washington. But anyone not well connected in Washington cant get anything done in Washington.
Still others doubt that he is qualified to be President of the United States. Can you name the last President that we all would agree was qualified? Exactly what are those qualifications? Im quite certain that nothing can fully prepare one to be president of the greatest nation on earth. Besides, the founders designed our nation to be self-governed by average people, not dictated to by some group of elitist intellectuals.
To be certain, Thompson has and will have his detractors. But he will also resonate with average American voters across the political spectrum like no other candidate can and thats because he is making it clear that he is going to be true to himself first. Hed rather lose this race for the right reasons than win it for the wrong reasons and America is overdue for just such a leader.
Some will say Im campaigning for Thompson here and maybe I am at this point. I sure wasnt planning to, anymore than Thompson was planning to run for president ten months ago. Im sure not getting paid to campaign for him or anyone else.
But any leader willing to march to the beat of his own drum and call things what they really are today, has my attention real fast. How refreshing!
Maybe we both just see a need and an opportunity to make a difference.
Maybe the American people see it too!
A primary vote for any of the good but virtually unknown conservatives such as Hunter or Huckabee who are in the under 5% polling category is tantamount to a vote for either Rootytoot or Mitt. If either of those two are nominated say hello to President Clinton all over again in '09 because a sizable portion of the religious right will not vote for Rootytoot or Mitt in the general election
What an analogy. With my limited knowledge of Aztec history you are right.
Translation....I need to be catered to? Leave me
alone...the nitwits have anointed me....by the way,
I deplore the Moveoncrap..ad? Hey, so does every
other candidate, but Rudy did something about it..I
think Rudy is a guy with a temper and won’t take any
BS from Dems, especially the pervert and his leader..
HRC....Haven’t seen Thompson lay it on the line...am
waiting?????????? JK
If it came down to it I would.Maybe campain for him. Rudy? Between him or the beast? Close my eyes and vote for him. Campain for him,NO.
But I'm not worried. Fred will be the nominee and the NEXT President.
I will vote for Mitt if he's nominated, but only because President Hillary with a Democratic Congress would be our worst ever national nightmare.
But I don't think I can bring myself to vote for Rudy. I would rather have him in the White House than Hillary, but it's a close call. And anyway, my one vote won't make the difference one way or the other and at least I can say I didn't vote for him if he gets in.
Your welcome. The use of metaphor is probably a Tennessee cultural trait from Thompson’s childhood. I don’t think kids in the south speak this way much anymore. TV is killing regional accents, dialects and speech patterns, and replacing them with a Los Angeles drab. He is from a dying era.
There is no coronation for a Republican this year, but there most certainly was in 2000. Piles of early money were dumped on Baby Bush. He had a huge early war chest and he was so certain of being the Republican nominee, that he basically quit campaigning for the nomination and started preparing to govern. Then he had to scramble to fight off challenges from the other Republican contenders.
Think back... Baby Bush was shoved down our throats. I guess it was his “turn” just like it was Bob Dole’s turn before that.
not in my family...we speak Dixie, same as Fred.
I detest Southerners who put on airs and try to talk like they are from Colorado.
Would someone from Jooisey or Baastan be ashamed?
No, and I sure ain't giving in to the MTV droll generation..
“Translation”
Debates are worthless, I’ll take my message directly to the American people.
You do have a point. I worked for a number of years for a Fortune 100 company. Southern workers who were deemed fit for promotion were sent to class to undo their southern accents and speech patterns. The company's point of view was that they couldn't be promoted unless they had very vanilla speech.
My father, a Louisiana river rat, had a metaphor, a song, a poem, story or tale for every occasion. The southern states have a very rich history of colorful colloquial speech. I'm sorry to see it lost. I wish I had taped the things my father used to say and sing. In eastern TN chicken and dumplings is "chicken and slippery bisquits". Could you find a more perfect description of the dish?
I attack Liberals.
In the Republican party and the Democrat Party.
And if a conservative, a real one, has a lapse and takes up a liberal cause I’ll attack that cause too.
Fred is no Liberal.
He’s had a few lapses. As Duncan has. As my favorite Senator Sessions has. But they aren’t Liberals. Any of them.
I like Hunter. He was my first choice. I waited months to see progress in the polls. It never came. Thompson is my second choice because he is no Liberal, and unlike Hunter, has shown steady movement up in the polls.
I don’t want a liberal nominated.
If Fred doesn’t get the nomination, Rudy will. And we’re screwed.
This is long winded just to get to one point. I admire, respect and wish Hunter could have been the “one”. It’s not going to happen. Because I respect him, continual posts like these by you do not affect my admiration for him. But neither do these posts aid a man I had hoped could make waves in the primary many months ago.
Are you saying that us Coloradans have a posh accent? I never noticed. LOL!
nah....Colorado folks have non-accents to me anyhow
Just curious...I American English your first language? You don’t seem to understand much of it.
read later
Amen and Amen again, I say! And have been saying for a long, long, time.
Fred is all for a real debate, in the Lincoln/Douglas mold. Not these dog and pony shows serving up 30 second sound bites. I personally would be pleased if he didn’t grace any of them. But I suppose for the “sheeple’s sake he will have to.
-- paraphrasing Robert F. Kennedy
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