Posted on 11/12/2007 2:58:25 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
FORT MILLS, S.C -- Campaigning in New Hampshire and South Carolina, Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson raised his voice and shook his fists as he described his vision of an America true to conservative values.
The display of vigor last week was timely: Two months into his bid for the nomination, the former Tennessee senator is fighting to shake the image of a laid-back -- even lazy -- candidate who lacks the fervor of his rivals.
Thompson not only has adopted a forceful speaking style, he has taken a more aggressive approach toward other Republican candidates.
The push to put questions about vitality to rest is part of a larger effort to rebound from a spate of campaign stumbles, most recently his flights on the jet of a fundraiser who turned out to have a criminal record for selling drugs.
Once seen as a potential consensus candidate for social conservatives, Thompson is widely thought to have fallen short of expectations. Since the Sept. 5 launch of his campaign, his poll ratings have slid steadily -- most sharply in New Hampshire, the first state to hold a primary. Conservative luminaries, including evangelical leader James C. Dobson and columnist George F. Will, have given scathing appraisals of his candidacy.
Thompson advisors had hoped the avuncular Southern manner that drove his success as a Hollywood actor would prove a key asset, as it still may. But critics and late-night comics have portrayed Thompson not as wise and seasoned but as lackadaisical and unprepared.
"The rap against Sen. Thompson is that he didn't have the fire in the belly to be president," said Whit Ayres, a Republican strategist who has not aligned himself with a candidate. "Less-than-energetic performances on the stump . . . have given credence to that criticism."
(Excerpt) Read more at latimes.com ...
It isn’t the friendliest item but I’ve seen worse. You come away feeling Fred’s Fred. They can’t chip away at that.
Hmmm...no mention whatsoever of the numerous recent endorsements Fred’s obtained from leading conservatives.
I’m sure the Slimes just forgot to include that.
/s
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Michael Finnegan is a national political correspondent for The Los Angeles Times. He is based in their Washington D.C. Bureau.
Previously, he was a staff writer for The New York Daily News.
His older brother, William Finnegan, is a staff writer for The New Yorker.
I just love the idea of having a US President named FRED.
It’s just so American cool..
That said, I truly believe that Fred Thompson is doing a decent job HIMSELF of burying himself by his own lacksidasical style.
At this point in the GOP vs the lib-media-national-Dem-supporters, I truly believe Republican/conservatives are hungry hungry for someone who will fight out loud for conservative causes and principals.
Fred is cool, but sometimes he just seems to drift off into Washington been-there done-that mode.
If that's true, than judging by FR Ron Paul must be Eniwetok atoll.
The one thing to remember, after a year of the Rudy McRomney three ring circus, is that behind those polling ‘leads’ is the other half - that most voters aren’t all that committed to their candidates.
I’d sit back and lay low too, then go on a blitz when everybody’s expectations are low. I see Fred is starting to turn up the heat.
Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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Wrong island. On FR, Ron Paul is the Fresh Kills landfill. That's where the garbage is dumped.
I like that “lazy as a Fox” man.
The only knock I have on Fred is he needs to get his message out despite the media. If he’s to govern effectively he needs to show he can do that.
Fred vuses the radio better than anyone..ever. Even better than FDR. That’ll get him to about 30 million VOTERS on the cheap. He’ll need to turn some of the Hollywood crowd from Giuliani to get more TV coverage.
I will take the scarlet L, and believe it to be lazy like a fox. Fred is not lazy or slow, he is precise and effective with every speech. He is fighting his way through the MSM’s attempts to tag him with anything they can. WE THE PEOPLE will be making this decision, not the MSM.
Except for the cleaning woman who scours the sinks and the dry cleaning guy...
He’s connecting with voters, not George Will or Dobson or any of the other members of the chattering class.
‘Lazy’, ‘No fire in the belly’, now ‘lackadaisical’, ‘laid back’....the liberal punditry will repeat these tags every week but it’s not working. Recent reports show that Fred Thompson is connecting at the grassroots level to folks that sure as Hell aren’t listening to the yapping mouths in the media.
Ron Paul is an annoyance - not a threat. If it helps, though, I’ve noticed Hillary people are starting to spam the Internet too.
However, the performance on Meet the Depressed last week was terrible and he came across as somewhat unsympathetic to pro lifers and even suggested that we want to put women in prison if they have abortions, which is not the case.
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