He looks pretty "outed" here...
Posted on 10/27/2007 7:13:01 PM PDT by dano1
In a startling admission, the wife of Fred Thompson, the Republican presidential contender, confessed last week that the “bone-crushing” pressure on candidates’ wives was like “walking down the street with no clothes on”. She was “terrified of embarrassing Fred”, she added. “It would break my heart.”
Jeri Thompson, 41, was attending a conference on women chaired by Maria Shriver, the wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who quizzed her on her reputation. “I’ve read everything, from you are the campaign mastermind to you are the campaign strategist, you are the trophy wife, you are everything,” said Shriver. “Which is the right depiction of you?”
Thompson laughed and said she was focused on her children, aged four and one. “I’m not even qualified to do a lot of the other stuff,” she said modestly. Her sole demand, she said, had been for a changing table for nappies on the campaign bus.
It was a nice line, but about as likely as Hillary Clinton staying at home to bake cookies, Thompson insiders say. Jeri has been at the forefront of her husband’s campaign from the moment he was pressed to run. The problem is that she is regarded as keener on victory than he is.
Ronald Kessler, biographer of Laura Bush, the first lady, said: “[Jeri] is a political operative who is naturally more active than any of the other Republican wives. She is very highly respected in conservative circles, but there is a widespread feeling that she got her husband into this business. I don’t think he really wants the job. He seems to be treating it as a part-time effort, a nice way to pass the time of day.”
Behind the scenes, Thompson is playing a crucial role in shoring up support for her husband. She has been leading contacts with Christian conservative leaders, who view the 6ft 6in former senator for Tennessee and former Hollywood actor as the most likely mantle bearer for their pro-life, pro-family views.
It is Jeri, as much as Fred, who has been winning them over. While some Republicans have been wondering whether Jeri, a second wife who is 24 years younger than her husband, is too sexy for the women voters of Middle America, she is receiving a resounding vote of confidence from some of the country’s most influential evangelical leaders.
Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, a prominent Christian conservative think tank, said he had spoken many times to Jeri as well as to Fred Thompson. He said it was unfair to describe her as a trophy wife: “She’s certainly a gain for him, but it’s not just because she’s attractive. She is smart and has very strong conservative credentials.”
Before marrying Thompson, Jeri worked for the Republican National Committee in Washington, gaining an impressive contacts book and knowledge of the hot-button conservative issues.
Richard Land, head of public policy for the Southern Baptists, said, “I know Jeri is a person of faith. To me, calling her a trophy wife is a lethal blend of sexism and ageism. It’s assumed that if a woman is attractive and younger than her husband she is a trophy wife. Jeri Thompson was a guest on national television talk shows before she even met Fred.”
Fred Thompson’s stock with evangelical Christians dipped recently after it emerged he did not attend church regularly and had once given legal advice to a pro-abortion group. His position on gay marriage, which leaves open the possibility that some states may permit it, has also disappointed social conservatives.
However, Gary Bauer, head of American Values, a pro-life group, said: “I don’t have any doubt, having met Senator Thompson and his wife, that they are both Christians. He’s got good positions on many of the issues Christians care about such as the right to life.” The ability of evangelical leaders to influence conservative voters is crucial to Thompson’s chances at a time when many of his own closest supporters are questioning his appetite for the presidency. After losing some of his most important campaign staff over the summer, there were new high level defections among staff and volunteers last week amid grumbling that Jeri was too hands on and Fred was too lackadaisical.
Although Thompson is still in second place in the polls, he is running 10 points behind Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, according to a poll of polls from RealClearPolitics.
Some conservatives who dropped John McCain for Thompson last summer, in the belief that McCain was too liberal on immigration and too old for the job, are now giving the former Vietnam war hero a second look.
The Arizona senator scored a direct hit on Clinton last week when he attacked her for seeking $1m to fund a museum in Woodstock, New York, site of the 1969 hippie festival. In a line that he has turned into a television commercial, he said, “I wasn’t there. I’m sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. I was tied up at the time” – a reference to his years as a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton.
Thompson supporters were shocked when Dan Hughes, the Tennessee senator’s enthusiastic front man in the key primary state of New Hampshire, switched sides last week and became vice-chairman of McCain’s state campaign. Against the advice of his staff, Thompson has barely bothered to show up in New Hampshire since launching his campaign on the Jay Leno television show last month, instead of appearing at a debate with the other Republican candidates in the state.
“I’m not going to be the token chairman of a token campaign. I was told they were going to run a vigorous campaign and they haven’t,” Hughes said. “Fred Thompson would have been a good candidate but he doesn’t want to go out and campaign.”
Thompson’s support slumped to just 7% in New Hampshire’s poll of polls last week. A drubbing on that scale in an early voting state could put an end to his hopes of winning any primary contests. Hughes said Thompson needed Jeri’s energy to be in with a chance of the White House. “I like Jeri. I wish she was running. We’d have a horse in the race then,” he said.
Jeri’s alleged micro-management has upset Thompson’s staff and advisers. Nelson Warfield, the media guru who produced the television commercial for Thompson’s launch, last week became the latest in a long line of consultants to resign.
According to Kessler, part of the reason was Jeri’s “meddling” and Thompson’s “lazy” approach to campaigning and fundraising. “It’s not the way to operate,” he said. “It’s going to make it very difficult for Thompson to attract high calibre staff now.”
One former staff member predicted that Thompson would be crushed by Clinton if he did not raise his game. “Hillary is tireless,” he said. “She doesn’t take anything for granted.” However determined Jeri is, she cannot win it for him.
Strike that...
reverse that. ;o)
WHY are you so fixated on the LCRs, Calpernia?
Okie dokie!
Will do just that...then we’ll see.
Been there, covered that, but thanks for pointing it out.
Say hi to Rudy for us...
Of course he does. He consumes oxygen, so he’s an expert on Thompson...
Make sure you have a lot of salt...
LOL at you!
You are a very funny guy! ;o)
I’ll have as much salt as I can muster up.
In an aside, been meeting with a few MS Republican folks. Among the rank and file Fred is quite popular. Several big dollar party folk have or are doing fund raisers and such. Very interesting the way Thompson works, slow and steady among those that really count, the voters.
They can't criticize his stance on the issues so they go after his wife. Just like a bunch of little old ladies gossiping about the pretty, but successful businesswoman at their Every Other Saturday Get-together - the Blue Hairs.
What is wrong with these people? So much for fair and balanced.
It’s pure crap and the people except for Jeri Thompson don’t mean a whistle in the wind in the grand scheme of things.
Thank you.
There were 3 Republican wives:
Ann Romney
Jeri Thompson
Cindy McCain
2 Democrat wives:
Michelle Obama
Elizabeth Edwards
Plus Maria Shriver - a democrat married to RINO.
I'd say it all balanced out. Except Elizabeth Edwards and Ann Romney hardly let anyone else get a word in.
>>>How many non- political operatives would : ...know any..., ...have recognized..., or ...be aware...
All of that is posted and has threads here at FR.
I see you’ve had no replies from the HunterHeads, so I’ll remark on your good post.
I don’t understand the blind loyalty to a single-digit candidate either. We can all wish the entire country was made up of conservatives but wishing doesn’t make it so. As you say, “but then there’s reality”.
Yet we are supposed to throw our support and votes to a man who most people in America have never heard of and can’t break 4% in ANY poll.
I simply won’t hang my hat on 4%.
LCRs are a big issue. David Mixner helped start the Log Cabin Republicans. David Mixner also headed up the Vietnam Moratorium and was a leading anti-Vietnam War activist.
People are not satisfied with Fred. He does not seem to want the job, so it will be interesting to see how it plays out. The most interesting part of all the state polls is the fact that McCain is gaining. He also polls the best against Hillary. I would not be surprised if he was the one that overtakes them all in delegates.
If Fred can not win Iowa or New Hampshire (which he is now in single digits) he will not win. At least with Rudy, he still has his strong states following those two, so if he even places he will remain in the race. Fred (so far) only has South Carolina, which according to numerous polls, he is fading slightly.
Free Republic Memo - Anyone who speaks out against Fred is a liar, and the MSM only prints the stuff because they are afraid of Fred. Any candidate that can "surge" from 29% - 19% (Rasmussen daily polls) in less than a month is to be feared, because only He can beat Hillary (regardless of the point that not one head to head matchup has him winning except for Tennessee). We must have a board filled with golfers, since that is the only time that going down in the polls is considered a good thing, that needs to be feared.
I guess that you like being shot at for truth telling. Don’t worry, anybody who goes against popular opinion always takes heat.
He looks pretty "outed" here...
My guess, judging from ticket sales, is that you are not going to Hollywood.
It is not surprising that Fred can sell out a NRA banquet, because these guys will pack a room for a gun raffle, much less a movie star. But Fred supporters at a marriage amendment rally? We shall see.
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