Senator Fred Thompson in Laguna Woods plays to an enthusiastic rally of 700 people

Red County OC Blog ^ | December 01, 2007 | Chuck DeVore

[SoConPubbie]

I was proud to host Senator Fred Thompson to the 70th Assembly District today to an enthusiastic crowd of 700 people in Laguna Woods.

According to my wife, Diane, Senator Thompson, “Covered all the bases. He hit all the conservative themes and he covered them articulately and with passion.” I was very glad to hear that as Diane is very tough to impress (she had a weak moment when she met me, for which I am eternally grateful).

Greeting Senator Thompson at the rally were his state chairman, Sen. Tom McClintock, radio personality John Ziegler emceed the event while former Sen. Dick Mountjoy announced his endorsement of Senator Thompson.

[RonDog]

See also the two threads posted here from BEFORE this event:

Fred Thompson Rally This Saturday (Orange County, California)
	Posted by 2ndDivisionVet On GOP Club 11/27/2007 7:36:51 PM PST · 20 replies Red County OC Blog ^ | November 27, 2007 | Jubal
FRED THOMPSON in California THIS SATURDAY (12/1) 9am Laguna Woods, with TOM McCLINTOCK
	Posted by RonDog On News/Activism 11/27/2007 12:33:25 AM PST · 55 replies The Rightosphere Temperature Check For November ^ | 11/26/07 | Politicalmom

[Fred]

What kind of press was there?

[RonDog]

Indexing AFTER-ACTION threads:

Senator Fred Thompson in Laguna Woods plays to an enthusiastic rally of 700 people
	Posted by SoConPubbie On News/Activism 12/01/2007 2:17:20 PM PST · 21 replies Red County OC Blog ^ | December 01, 2007 | Chuck DeVore
After Action Report! Fred Thompson Rally, Sat. Dec 1st, California
	Posted by reformjoy On News/Activism 12/01/2007 1:17:04 PM PST · 25 replies fred08.com ^ | 12-01-07 | reformjoy

[Ladycalif]

I tried to get in. We were denied entry for being Minutemen.

[Finny]

I went, and thought John Ziegler was just over-the-top good. That's a talented and gutsy guy, there. He had the audience groaning (good naturedly) and chuckling. But the guy with the funniest line, I thought, was McClintock. Zieg had praised him to pretty high heaven as the best legislator in Sacramento, I think it was (don't quote me on it), and the audience must have agreed because McClintock got a standing ovation when he took the podium. He modestly acknowledged the praise: "It's kind of like being told I'm the tallest building in ... Modesto," he said, and everybody who's been to Modesto busted up.

Thompson is not glib. He knows the conservative philosophy he upholds and how the Constitution and structure of American government enable it to thrive. He's not a sound-bite guy. He is a good instructor in government. When he's passionate about the subject, it shows through loud and clear and convincingly. It's easy to get entranced when he's on a roll.

He is humble. "I don't need another thing to add to my resume," he said, and I believed him. He's doing it because he knows he's one of those rare politicians who, like Tom McClintock, intellectually embraces the core values of American conservatism in government, starting at the Constitution. I think his conscience is making him do it.

I shook Jeri's hand! She is prettier and more glamorous than her pictures, and dressed well, low key, classy. There's a lot to her, you can tell. But she needs to relax. I wish I'd thought to remind her to laugh, count her blessings, enjoy the adventure, go with the flow. Let go and ride the wave, dude!! That would be my Southern California message to Jeri if I had it to do over again. I hope I shook the hand of the future First Lady.

Aside from Thompson's true, deep, humility, the thing that came across the most for me was his way with people. He was quietly, respectfully mobbed for quite some time getting out of the building. Just watching body language, the comfort levels were extreme. There was no wall that I could see between politician and person. Thompson believes in the power of the same conservative principles that a lot of those folks there have lived, loved, and voted, and it gives him a lot of confidence. He's very tall, but oddly, not imposing.

[topher]

It makes sense to get around the country, and not limit appearances to Iowa and New Hampshire.

California has quite a few delegates for the National Convention...

[seekthetruth]

Thanks so much for a wonderful report on seeing and hearing Fred today! Also great that you got to meet Jeri too! :)

[RonDog]

See also THIS thread:

FULL VIDEO now online! Fred Thompson ROCKS SoCal! Tom McClintock (and JERI!) Laguna Woods 12/1/07
	Posted by RonDog On News/Activism 12/01/2007 5:38:37 PM PST · 9 replies www . floppingaces . net / 2007 / 12 / 01 / a - visit - from - fred - thompson ^ | December 1. 2007 | Curt with Flopping Aces

[lesser_satan]

I shook Jeri's hand! She is prettier and more glamorous than her pictures, and dressed well, low key, classy. There's a lot to her, you can tell. But she needs to relax. I wish I'd thought to remind her to laugh, count her blessings, enjoy the adventure, go with the flow.

Well she is a political consultant by trade (and a damn good one from what I've heard), so things like this probably get her fired up in the first place, and even more so when it's her man at center stage.

[Fred]

How did they know that you are a minuteman? Wearing a neon sign blinking minute-man??

[Finny]

Good point.

[RonDog]

How did they know that you are a minuteman?

Wearing a neon sign blinking minute-man??

I was also at the rally this morning.

As it happened, the woman who was sitting next to me in the second row said that she was with MinutemanHQ.

I understand that OTHER Minutemen were at the rally, but were not allowed to bring thier signs with them inside.

I can understand BOTH sides. It WAS, however, a "Fred" rally, not a "Minuteman" event.

[SoConPubbie]

Were you out front on the corner?

[SoConPubbie]

He was quietly, respectfully mobbed for quite some time getting out of the building. Just watching body language, the comfort levels were extreme. There was no wall that I could see between politician and person. Thompson believes in the power of the same conservative principles that a lot of those folks there have lived, loved, and voted, and it gives him a lot of confidence. He's very tall, but oddly, not imposing.

I could not agree more and was struck by the same things.

He just seemed genuine.

I was very impressed!

[SoConPubbie]

What kind of press was there? There were about 4 TV cameras dispersed throughout the room and several people with smaller cameras.

No insignias that I could see so I could not tell which news agencies they were with.

[Fred]

Excellent, thanks.

Looks like CBS will be covering it tonight

Fred Thompson To Conduct Orange County Rally

[Ladycalif]

Yes

[Ladycalif]

The guy recognized us from other events.

[Ladycalif]

That is NOT true - we put down the signs were still not allowed in.

[RonDog]

That is NOT true - we put down the signs were still not allowed in.

I am sorry that your experience was different than mine.

I was (obviously) not with you when it happened, so I cannot effectively address what happened to you.

I CAN, however, state with conviction that the woman who sat beside me in the second row was wearing a Minuteman BASEBALL CAP (and perhaps also a Minuteman SHIRT) -- and they let HER in with no problem.

Perhaps the volunteers that hassled you were overly protective. Some of the FDT staff that I encountered did seem a little lacking in people skills.

Still, Fred himself seems to support our cause, from totalbuzz.freedomblogging.com:

Let me ask you a couple questions about immigration. What needs to be done to secure the borders?

I think complying with existing law would be a good start. And that would mean several hundred miles of fence. Clearly, technology has an important part to play in that. I think more Border Patrol is needed.

It’s not a matter of how. You can get a few experts around the table and figure it out precisely in a day. This is a nation that went to the moon how many years ago? And we’re saying we can’t even secure even a long border? That’s not serious. It’s a matter of political will and priorities.

It will cost some money. Just as a lot of other things, frankly, are going to cost additional amounts of money. National security and military needs and capabilities. We’re stretched too thin and worn out in a lot of respects.

But it’s no trick as to the how. The trick is to the whether. It’s true with so many issues facing our country. The most important issues are still on the table because they’re politically difficult.

You can’t get an expert in Washington worth his salt who will tell you that our current entitlement course is sustainable. Just the opposite. And here we are in the middle of a political campaign, and nobody’s saying anything about it. And nobody is pressing them to say anything about it. And here we go along. Is it a matter of lack of expertise? Is it a matter of know-how? No.

To say you have a stretch of territory here and the United States of America can’t make it preventable so that illegals can’t come across? It’s not a serious (assessment) I don’t think.

Let’s say we secure the border. There’s anywhere from 12 million to 20 million illegal immigrants in the country. You’ve spoken in the past against any plan that would give them amnesty. What would you do with those people?

Enforcement by attrition is what I call it. If you secure the border, if you require employers to obey the law and give them some assistance in doing that – again, technology is a great help here. They have a system called the e-verify system where employers can, in effect, punch a button and pretty much tell…

And, at a time when we’re suppose to be trying to secure the border, quit luring people across the border with sanctuary cities and in-state tuition and things of that nature. Both of which, incidentally, are against the law. When I was in the Congress, we passed laws that prohibited that, and it’s been violated on a daily basis. The locals are telling their local law enforcement people that they cannot cooperate when they come across an illegal presence in their jurisdiction.

So if we quit shooting ourselves in the foot in that respect, after a while the situation will reverse itself and we will begin to see it take care of itself. It will take a good while, there’s not question about that. But the alternative of either a mass deportation – you can’t even apprehend them and nobody wants to do that – or just say, “Well, you got here so welcome to the club. And you’re entitled the (rights) of citizenship. And never mind those people that waited 14 years in line in Hong Kong to become American citizens.”

Orange County is one of the bases for the Minuteman Project, a civilian border patrol group. President Bush called them vigilantes. Gov. Schwarzenegger praised their work. What do you think of that?

(DARRELL NG, a former aide to Schwarzenegger and one of two Thompson aides in the room for this interview, clarified that Schwarzenegger later backed off from his initial praise for the group.)

FRED THOMSPON: Schwarzenegger? I don’t know enough of everything they have done to pass judgment on all of them.

Anybody trying to help secure the border, I think, is a good thing, if they obey the law.