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.
Have to have a plan to get there. Which his campaign doesn't have. Good intentions or dreaming it will happen, doesn't make happen.
Yeah, and the complaint is that he’s ‘not known’. It’s nothing really about the way he talks, his record, conducts himself and who he is. It’s all ‘name recognition’ and ‘I’d love him to be the nominee, BUT’. Same old, same old. And, yes, there are concerns as to how reliable Fred would be for conservatism in office. And how exactly is Thompson appealing to independents?? Seriously. He has not exactly been that hot on the campaign trail and certainly has shown that with dropping poll numbers WITH THE GOP and people really starting to doubt him. He doesn’t come across well and would be a disaster for a general election.
Sure, it’s ok for you to question someone’s electability based on name recognition and really no substantial fault of the candidate alone and hold polls in such high esteem yet when Fred goes down in the polls we are not supposed to make a point that you are being hypocrites. I’m simply turning it on you in my belief that Fred is not electable as a general election candidate and the fact remains so many people have really not been impressed by him when he officially got in and he has LOST support so he isn’t exactly setting the campaign trail on fire. There are candidates who are *just as* or more conservative than Fred in the race(Hunter, Tancredo) so he isn’t the only option for conservatives.
You keep complaining about name recognition.
That is HUNTER’S FAULT.
It is HIS JOB in a campaign to OVERCOME that obstacle.
Unless he pulls off a miracle in the next few days, then all we can say is that he did not have a successful campaign.
The buck stops with Hunter.
shhhhhh.... That is too obvious an answer.
Well then that leaves us with Giuliani and Romney.
Who is your pick between those two Bozos?
You think Romney is going to appeal to non-religious independents or Southern Religious Conservatives?
Romney is virtually unelectable.
That leaves us with Giuliani or Hillary.
Yeah, those debates really give equal time and an opportunity for Hunter to speak as well as the RNC deliberately leaving Hunter’s name off of surveys they have sent me as well as the coverage the candidates get.
So far, you have no clue on HOW to get to the nomination. Please, for the sake of all of us here, educate yourself.
Neither. I’m staying with Duncan Hunter. I can honestly say I believe I am with the best candidate to come around in 20 yrs. and that he is exactly what the GOP and this country needs and that he is an awesome all-around candidate. He is my choice and not because I am settling for him either.
Heh. :)
Better get used to the idea of President Hillary Clinton.
But who knows, maybe Giuliani can beat her.
Can you honestly say having known Fred Thompson from the Senate(did you?) that you honestly believed that that was a man who should run for and be President? That he exuded leadership? Can you honestly say you really believe he is the best? I can honestly say when I discovered Duncan Hunter that I wanted that man to run for President. He is exactly what has been missing from the lame, spineless GOP and has not only recently discovered outspokenness. It is who he is and always has been. He’s proven reliable and has proven he knows what he is about and is as solid as they come. I thought he needs to be President. In fact, when there was discussion of candidates for 2008 early in the game, I posted right here on Free Republic that Duncan Hunter should run. Months before he announced and I was amazed when he did because really when do you get that fine of a man and candidate with the GOP. There really are only a handful as worthy as him. That’s it. I believe in him and can honestly say these things.
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Now, now. Some might say that, but others might admire her creativity. It's not easy making this stuff up, er, creating this stuff, out of whole cloth.
First Fred's polls are stabilizing and indeed are coming back up, which among the serious supporters was a known entity, just based on the way Fred works.
As far as Duncan, electability and all that. There maybe some truth to that, but you may find, again among the serious, that supporting Thompson is not about electability, but about ability. I think Thompson, for this particular office, is the better candidate for conservatives because he has a broader range of experience than Hunter.
Hunter has been in congress for 25+ years. He is very well versed on the issues of that body. The Presidency is much more than that. I fear Hunter is to "stuck" in his ways right now, to narrowly focused on a set of core issues to be able to bring both the need depth and the ability to "make the deal" that is the main tasks of that office. Reality is the President has to broker deals on policy. If he is unwilling to make that deal, we get nothing until he is replaced at the end of the term by the next guy, who is more than likely not of the same party. Then where are we, 4 years of nothing when we could have had a bill, law or whatever with Conservative input and guidance.
I trust Thompson to broker deals that will maximize his conservative input while at the same time moving us forward. That's what politics is all about. We are a Federal Republic, not a Conservative Dictatorship as some around here fantasize about it seems. I don't want someone to take iron fisted stands where none is required and costing us progress, because that just yields our turn to the liberals.
Debates, name recognition, etc., etc.,
You are acting as if you think there are "fair fighting" rules!!!
You want to point me to a link for "Robert's Rules for Fair Campaigns"
That's not the way it works, friend. It is called a "campaign" for a reason. Campaigns are major offensives in a war.
One of my favorite lines in any movie is in the "Untouchables" when Sean Connery as Chicago cop Jim Malone talking to one of Al Capone's hitmen says, "Just like a wop to bring a knife to a gun fight."
Duncan has come to a gunfight with a knife.
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Exactly right.
Count me in!
You got it! :)
1. You are proving how polls change. But the fact Fred didn’t lose poll numbers for nothing and has proven that he can bore a lot of people and is a disappointment for many. Now, if conservatives continue to grasp in desperation because they continue to be afraid of the other ‘top tier’ options there really are doubts about Fred and he has shown it.
2. Yeah, right, Fred was such a leader in the Senate. /s And Fred Thompson’s ‘make the deal’ in the Senate was McCain-Feingold. We don’t need that far of a bad judgment. I don’t want any part of the ‘centrist coalition’.
That’s right. Fred sure did his part with campaign finance reform. You must all be so proud to be behind such a flip-flopper. Of course, he’s running as this great reliable conservative now, isn’t he?! Romney could easily hit him back with the charge. Two peas on a pod.
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