I think that a big part of Freds whole early campange problem has been his accent and delivery with a lot of throat clearing and such...but I also think that this is simply who Fred is and that people will figure this out...You cannot change who Fred is... live with it and know that a southern drawl is not a negative.....
Fred can and will win...
Where I was brought up (deep South) I was taught that the faster someone talks, the more he’s likely to be trying to sell me something I don’t need.
btw...
According to an (unscientific) U.S. News analysis of all eight candidates at the debate, Romney, over the course of the two-hour event, had the fastest average rate of speaking, as measured in words per minute.
Here’s the tally, ranked in descending order from the night’s fastest talker to the slowest (words per minute = wpm):
Mitt Romney: 233 wpm
Tom Tancredo: 226 wpm
Rudy Giuliani: 201 wpm
Mike Huckabee: 199 wpm
Duncan Hunter: 188 wpm
John McCain: 182 wpm
Ron Paul: 179 wpm
Fred Thompson: 177 wpm
http://www.usnews.com/blogs/news-desk/2007/11/29/romney-wins-fast-talking-honors.html
I know quite a few people that were supporters of Thompson before he announced. They droned on endlessly about how Fred would energize the race and so on and so on. Maybe one of those folks is still a supporter of Fred. And we are Southerners. Fred's delivery has nothing to do with a Southern drawl. It has to do with the fact he's boring and recites the same tired nonsense of most of the other candidates. Bless his poor heart but he sounds like my 94 year old grandfather. A good man but nobody I'd leave alone running a nation.