Posted on 11/25/2007 5:20:01 PM PST by Josh Painter
Former Tennessee Senator and presidential candidate Fred Thompson has been accused of lacking fire to run for the presidency.
Seeking to alter that image, Thompson fired away at Chris Wallace of Fox News this morning, accusing the network of being biased against his campaign:
Thompson said, "This has been a constant mantra of Fox, to tell you the truth." He noted that other conservatives have praised his bid for the GOP nomination and took issue with a Fox promo that focused on polling in New Hampshire, where Thompson is registering in the single digits.Thompson has a point. While his campaign has been universally criticized for gaffes and missteps early on, it is equally clear Thompson has righted the ship in recent weeks and is starting to generate some momentum.He said he is running second in national polls and has been leading or tied for the lead in South Carolina for "a long, long time." Thompson, in a firm, but measured tone, scolded Wallace: "...for you to highlight nothing but the negatives in terms of the polls and then put on your own guys who have been predicting for four months, really, that I couldn't do it, kind of skew things a little bit. There's a lot of other opinion out there."
His policy papers on social security and immigration have been widely praised on the right as being well rounded, thoughtful, and meaty. His tone on the stump has changed as well as he as begun to criticize both Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney for what he calls their "fake" conservatism.
The media, including Fox, have focused largely on the inside the beltway criticism of the campaign and the candidate himself while ignoring the fact that despite the bad start he is still polling in second place nationally among Republicans.
At the very least, this criticism of Fox shows Thompson to have some fire in the belly - something the media has criticized him for lacking. It also shows an independent streak that not too many candidates have demonstrated.
Another good point. If those two RINOs don't do well in the North East they are toast.
The real candidate will be decided in the South.
And stop with the 'Fredbots' already. All it shows is you are a fool, best to not let everyone else see that.
LOL, like you’re trying to continue to derail Duncan Hunter by convincing people that they should settle for Fred when they clearly think Hunter is better!! The irony is always there in these Fred thread discussions. And though you might be successful in a GOP election even though clearly many would rather have Hunter, in a general election you are going to get the GOP killed. So, I say to you that Fred cannot win a general election.
Your term “settling” is not catchy. And it ignores reality.
Whether you like it or not; whether I like it or not — Hunter is stuck at 1-2% and far less in some places.
I do like Duncan Hunter. Like I’ve said, I’ve put my money where my mouth is.
But the reality is that he is showing no movement in the polls. There is another conservative candidate. He has 12-20 times the support nationally that Duncan has, and it is time to decide for the good of the nation and not for my own personal preferences.
I guarantee you that anyone attacking Duncan Hunter is doing a disservice to this nation.
However, the same is true of Fred Thompson.
You name for me one other leading candidate in this race with more convincing conservatives ratings?
It’s GOT to be Thompson, my friend. Just realize that Dec 1 should be your cutoff date.
Yeah, right.
People want the tone of the station to be like Rush, Town Hall and the Heritage Foundation 24/7. Not gonna happen.
They employ plenty of conservatives there and more so than any other network.
I can’t see how anyone wins if you have two New York liberals running ‘against’ one another...
What the heck is FoxNews thinkin’?
Hillary vs Rudy? ... yea, that’ll set the rest of the country on fire.
Barf!
Your attacks on Hunter help Giuliani, and more importantly, Hillary. I am not changing my support for the candidate I feel strongly is the best we have had in 20 yrs!! I will not have you attempting to guilt me to abandon support for the BEST candidate conservatives and the GOP could hope for.
Again, Sauce for the goose...
And I take exception:
...while you mock Hunter.
We mock some of you Duncan folks, only because of your general attitude/arrogance etc., but Hunter is a favorite among many of us "Fredbots". We just prefer Fred for this particular office...
How about the fact FRED has had the advantage of getting coverage!! So it is YOU who is lost to the irony in that your candidate has been built up as a ‘top tier’ candidate and has not lived up to it while campaigning and is losing support due to his own failures as a candidate and how he comes across.
I could never out-a** you ever! I find it funny how you say you are not settling while attempting to get me to settle. If there was honest support based clearly on the candidates and who people thought the best, Hunter would win in a landslide. I’m simply working to bring back the Hunter people who are brainwashed into polls(though with Fred they are falling polls!) and throwing their support elsewhere than with Duncan Hunter who they would truly want. Maybe not you, but we have seen numerous threads throughout this board and others and it is clear you do have something to worry about with my posts.
In this age it is the responsibility of the conservative candidate to make converage happen. If they cannot do that, then they cannot make it.
Those who admit that Fred is getting coverage are admitting that Fred knows how to get coverage. Say what you want about his career choices, but at the end of the day it is admitted that Fred's contacts and choices are able to make coverage happen. Others are not able to make coverage happen.
That is a reason to have him be the candidate. It is a point in Fred's favor. It is not a reason to oppose him.
I’m honored to be called a ‘fool’ by you. You people sure do like dishing out the ‘Duncan who?’, ‘Duncan Donuts’ and all that BS but you can’t take it. As Truman said, “can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen”. And they did say Truman ‘couldn’t win’ as well, now didn’t they?!!
So lack of coverage is Duncan’s problem, you know the guy “Everyone wants to be president”, your words by the way...
I don’t see FDT losing support, indeed looking at the polls he is coming back up. He is neck and neck with Mitt the lib in SC according to the last Rasmussen. I think he has unofficially written off NH and he would not be the first Republican to do so.
May want to check in with RCP every once in while. BTW don’t be upset, Duncan’s name is not on any of the charts, despite being a “favorite”.
I seemed think there are a lot of folk who would disagree with your “assessment’ of the current landscape...
But like I said...
Whatever...
So you are 0 for 2....
Nice to know polls mean so much to you. Polls should guide us. I remain true to myself and beliefs in my support of Hunter and think if a lot of people were stronger, they would stop settling for second best. And, yes, that is what you are attempting to do. You clearly state that you would support Duncan Hunter if not for polls. I don’t go by that. Never will.
Look at the republican polls and you’ll find Hannity there. Look at the acknowledged beltway wisdom and there you’ll find O’Reilly.
I recall the night that O’Reilly endorsed the president’s illegal amnesty bill on national tv. He was simply following the liberal lead.
Hannity knows that Giuliani isn’t anything even approaching a conservative, but there he is following the republican party lead. Hannity is Trent Lott behind a news desk.
Excuse me, 0 for 3...
Keep talking. Stop mocking Hunter. You know a great many people would have Duncan Hunter as there first candidate of choice of the GOP candidates and that Fred is settling for a lot of them. But if polls mean so much, you had better question why Fred has gone down!
0 for 5...
Do I hear 0 for 6 anyone?
Well, O’reilly was very wrong about that but is right on many other issues and comes across as a strong character to me.
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