If nothing else, Fred Thompson is unconventional in his campaign

The Newport News Daily Press ^ | November 27, 2007 | Peter Brown, Asst. Director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute

[2ndDivisionVet]

One word: Courage.

[Ronin]

I think Thompson is in this to win. He has his own plan and he’s following it.

I don’t think he is lazy or unprepared at all. He strikes me as a crafty old chess player who is making moves in his own time, in his own way, but is precisely where he expects to be right now.

Whether it’s all going to work or not is another story.

[A. Morgan]

GO Fred GO!

[SuziQ]

Although some might consider his course courageous, the conventional wisdom, at least inside the Beltway, is that this is akin to committing political suicide. It will put a big, bright target on his back.

Which just goes to show that the punditry inside the Beltway isn't wise, after all.

[ari-freedom]

this is why Fred deserves our support

[taxcontrol]

I would look at this as spend vs vote percentage. Fred has a VERY good ratio while Rudy has a poor ratio. Fred is “mostly” second (sometimes first, sometimes third) and has a spend rate of what Rudy does.

Fred also knows that many folks are tired of the contentious election cycle and want a break from politics. So he is going to take it slow and build up from there. Seems like a wise choice for me.

[Leisler]

Fred is doing fine. This is the age of YouTube. Look at what Ron Paul has done. Old media just can not wrap it’s head around the Internet yet.

[LRS]

[SWEETSUNNYSOUTH]

I admire his stand on reforming social security. I think young people should demand it. I hope he gets support from the 25 to 45 croud. Fred has the backbone to address a problem. Quite a contrast to Hillary. I’m sure what Fred has said after he speaks.

[Thermalseeker]

I’m sure what Fred has said after he speaks.

Really? I caught Fred on Fox News Sunday and I was left with the impression that he's just another mealy-mouthed, inside the beltway politician. The man spoke for nearly 15 minutes, almost uninterrupted, and didn't say squat. He spoke in broad generalities when responding to specific questions and for the most part did not connect his thoughts very well at all. I was very, very disappointed with what I heard. (and I'm a Conservative Tennessean)

If somehow he manages to win the nomination and he does this sort of tap dance in a head to head debate with her Thyness and her political machine, he will be cut to pieces.....

[SWEETSUNNYSOUTH]

I missed his interview with Chris Wallace so I can’t address that,but there is no way Hillary can cut him to pieces. I have seen several of his speeches this year and he sure impresses me. Hillary will not take a stand on anything contraversial.

[trisham]

Fred bump!

[MeanWestTexan]

Fred put Wallace in his place. It was pretty funny.

[SoConPubbie]

Really? I caught Fred on Fox News Sunday and I was left with the impression that he's just another mealy-mouthed, inside the beltway politician.

Are you sure you were watching the same Fox Interview I was?

Shoot, are you sure you were even watching Thompson?!

After watching his interview with Chris Wallace on FoxNews I was so pumped-up I was ready to go out and campaign everywhere I could for the guy!.

He was absolutely awesome in that interveiw!

[George W. Bush]

I missed his interview with Chris Wallace so I can’t address that,but there is no way Hillary can cut him to pieces. I have seen several of his speeches this year and he sure impresses me. Hillary will not take a stand on anything contraversial.

Fred stood his ground, went on the offensive but was still a gentleman. He wasn't willing to be Wallace's little doormat for the Giuliani shills, Fred Barnes and Charles Krauthammer. I didn't like the smarmy way that Wallace set that up. It was disrespectful.

I thought it was a good whiff of what you might expect if Fred was debating Hitlery.

[Eagle74]

It’s just these inside the beltway politicians, and MSM, that tried to cram Illegal alien amnesty down our throats, and we know how that turned out. I don’t think the inside the beltway conventional wisdom has any relationship with reality, and since most of the criticism of Fred is coming from these people, I think its fair to say that they don’t know what they are talking about.

[HANG THE EXPENSE]

FDT was on hannity today and hit it out of the park.Even hannity was impressed.

[ellery]

Courage — exactly.

The only chance to achieve social security and tax reform is to focus hard on those issues during the campaign. That provides serious leverage once in office because the electee can credibly claim a mandate and use it to push through congress.

Great job, Sen. Thompson.

[ellery]

It’s just these inside the beltway politicians, and MSM, that tried to cram Illegal alien amnesty down our throats, and we know how that turned out. I don’t think the inside the beltway conventional wisdom has any relationship with reality, and since most of the criticism of Fred is coming from these people, I think its fair to say that they don’t know what they are talking about.

Yes! All this nattering about Thompson by pundits and inside-the-beltway types harks back to the immigration debacle, and the Harriet Miers debacle before that. The arrogant predictions of the GOP powers-that-be turned out to be 100% wrong in both of those situations. This primary may be another example of how disconnected with the grassroots the GOP bigs are.

[wastedpotential]

I like his policies, but I don’t think he has the campaigning ability and charisma we Americans have come to expect from our leaders. Heck, Bush comes across as a great campaigner next to this guy.