All he has to do is not drool (Fred Thompson in his first presidential debate)

The Manchester Union Leader ^ | October 8, 2007 | Roger Simon

[2ndDivisionVet]

I can't believe the fear the Democrats, MSM, Beltway & Blogosphere has of FRed. It is starting to amuse rather than bother me.

[rogue yam]

If Fred does not make any mistakes tomorrow the MSM is going to be scrambling for a new negative narrative on him. They’ll come up with something, of course, but the one they have now (lazy, vague, uninformed, soporific) requires that Fred make some sort of tangible mistake.

[Smokin' Joe]

Fred in the non-annointed candidate the MSM cannot ignore. He is reasonably conservative, and becuase of his acting career, he is well known.

So they punt.

They can't just ignore his existance like they have done to Duncan Hunter, so they will ridicule him (like Bob Dole), try to portray him in as bad a light as possible (like Gerald Ford), or otherwise minimize him to put the debate back to the candidates the Democrat Liberal MSM picked as the Republican "front runners".

That way they control the level of disarray in the Republican ranks, and the level of dissatisfaction with the whole mess, increasing the likelyhood of a Dem win in '08.

Seems pretty basic to me.

[Darkwolf377]

Has there ever been a major presidential candidate with lower expectations on the eve of his first debate than Fred Thompson?

Is the writer on crack, from another planet, or just a lib (aka "stupid")?

I can't recall a candidate with BIGGER expectations, ever--he was drafted, people expect nothing but greatness from him.

How much did the writer donate to the Kucinick campaign?

[ARE SOLE]

Schwarzenegger knew people thought he was too stupid to be governor>

He was right.

Regards

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

The RNC hacks in D.C. are stuck on stupid allowing Chris Matthews to moderate a GOP primary debate...

What the hell is the matter with the Republican National Committee???

[Sir Francis Dashwood]

I can't believe the fear the Democrats, MSM, Beltway & Blogosphere has of FRed.

They are peeing all over their shoes...

I wish all the candidates would walk off the stage, tell the RNC and the media to go get bent.

[SoCalPol]

*What the hell is the matter with the Republican National Committee???*

Busy renewing their membership to the Country Club

[Smokin' Joe]

I have been disgusted with the RNC for a while.

It is obvious to me that Chrissy will do all he can to damage anyone who poses a threat to the Dems, and my bet is that any 'attack' on Rudy will be a pulled punch to make Rudy appear better.

Rudy is the most divisive candidate in the race, the one most likely to split the party and help get a Dem in the White House.

Besides, if he gets the nod, the Dems will take the gloves off and scuttle him, just as they would any of the MSM annointed front runners (Rudy, McCain, or Romney).

Fred is a wild card because they cannot ignore him out of existance, which is being done with others in the race.

Keep in mind, though, Hillary's crowd is STILL sitting on the data from those 900+ FBI files on "leading Republicans", and some chickens may be coming home to roost.

[Navy Patriot]

Roger Simon, whose testicles are in Hillarys lock box, is indeed, terrified of Fred. He needs a Pubbie Putz that meritless Hillary can beat, someone to discourage or split the party. He’s probably hoping for Ron Paul.

[Theresawithanh]

Fred Thompson 2008!

[Caipirabob]

This is a disgusting article.

As a thoughtful voter, I've expressed major concern for Senator Thompson's performance tonight. Mostly because I've already omitted Giuliani and Romney for their consistent use of socialist policy during their administrations. I'm really hopeful Fred Thompson can articulate his conservative positions and communicate his viewpoints without coming across as another "Bob Dole".

Here's to wishing Senator Thompson well... Yes, I have a very real fear of that. If Fred can deliver, I'll be ecstatic.

[Eastbound]

"The RNC hacks in D.C. are stuck on stupid allowing Chris Matthews to moderate a GOP primary debate...

What the hell is the matter with the Republican National Committee???

Classic autism. A condition, not a dis-order.

[freekitty]

I imagine Fred will be Fred. Just as Duncan is always Duncan. Don’t worry about the MSM. They are idiots who only wish they had a 10th of what good people have.

[Eastbound]

I’d like to see him lighten up the debate by playing the role of Chauncey the gardener just for the heck of it.

[Brilliant]

“He is depicted as the kind of man who would rather be sitting in a double-wide, sipping on a Yoo-hoo, eating a Moon Pie and watching “Jackass: Number Two” on DVD rather than occupying the Oval Office.”

Isn’t that the kind of President we really need?

[Always Right]

This is a disgusting article.

Not really. He is fairly accurately describing how the media talks about Thompson.

[EQAndyBuzz]

Matthews doing a Republican debate on PMSNBC?

How about Hannity moderating a Dem debate on Fox?

[syriacus]

...Fred Thompson who, while campaigning in Florida, didn't know the details of the Terri Schiavo case or that some people want to drill for oil in the Everglades?

I think he did know about those things. Perhaps he "didn't know" what he wanted to say at that time and in that place. Or perhaps he determined it was best to avoid those topics until he goes national.

Hillary's not the only "cagey" candidate.

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