Posted on 12/11/2007 9:03:28 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Freddie Thompson hit full height in the 10th grade, some 6 feet, 5 3/4 inches. His buddies called him "Stick." He was a nice-looking kid, played football and basketball, chased girls, horsed around in class, rarely cracked a book.
"Basically, just a carefree, underachieving kid," he says today. "Pretty good kid. Never gotten in trouble or anything like that. But didn't care much about my studies." Years ago, he put it a different way in an interview with The Washington Post: "I was interested in two things -- and sports was one of them."
He must have had something going for him, because he caught the eye of Sarah Lindsey. Freddie was smitten. She was a year older, a pretty brunette, smart, bookish and on her way to becoming salutatorian at Lawrenceburg High School in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. She planned to study English at Vanderbilt University. The Lindseys were pillars of the community, a clan that peopled the important jobs such as mayor and lawyer and county administrator. They owned a business manufacturing church pews.
The Thompsons were a rung down on the social ladder. Freddie's parents, Fletcher and Ruth, had grown up on farms during the Depression, and neither had made it beyond the eighth grade. They lived at the edge of town in a one-story house on a hillside that plunged to a creek. Fletcher sold cars for a living, on Route 43, and did it well, selling to the same folks again and again, eventually opening his own used-car lot. Freddie admired his father's manner, how he could be at ease with anybody, whether it was a guy who didn't have two nickels to rub together or the governor passing through town on a campaign stop.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
What is your evidence that Fred isn't running hard?
Definite bump...
bump the bump...
He's convinced me. What does he need to do to convince you?
WOW!
And they talk about FRED being lazy. Dang, man, hook yourself up! Read a bit.
You can make it real easy on yourself and just go to www.fred08.ocm and everything is there, position papers, events, videos, you name it.
But most likely nobody is going to come by your house with all this stuff. You have to make a bit of an effort yourself. It's called "DYOR". Do your own research.
Couldn’t have agreed more.
“He’s convinced me. What does he need to do to convince you?”
I’ll vote for him if he gets the nomination. I’m voting Hunter in the primary.
I tried to say the same thing diplomatically, but dang you've got a way with words!
It really was a good article. Even the dig that one Democrat made about Fred during the Watergate hearings was offset by the positive comments of other Democrat staffers during that time.
Since there hasn't been much about Fred in the MSM, at least in the positive sense, you need to go to his website, Fred08.com, to get a real feel for where he's been campaigning (lots of places) and what he's been saying (serious proposals on the issues).
My impression of Fred is that he is authentic. His story is a very human American story people can identify with. He is not just a whirlwind of soundbytes. He has substance and I think his decisions would be Presidential - studied, decisive, confident.
Fair enough. And, if Duncan Hunter gets the nomination, I’ll be out there for him doing whatever I can, and I’ll proudly vote for him as a strong, honorable Republican.
Nobody has ever accused me of diplomacy... I have a tradition to carry on. ;>)
You must read the article. It is very good and it makes Fred sound very Presidential! Definitely worth reading.
And that article right there is why we need to vote for this man. His past has taken him through the whole spectrum of life from non-politician all the way to contending for the presidency.
Based on the info provided, it isn’t likely that he will ever become too disconnected from what normal day to day life is like for the majority of us.
Elect Fred Thompson!
I want to know their positions on the issues and nothing more.
We have public schools in the interest of promoting an informed electorate. I don’t think the role of “informed voter” has ever been an easy one. You’ve always had to “do your research”.
But then, couldn't the same be said of Bob Dole in '96? (ie. 100% conservative positions and record, but dull, old and boring). And yet, he won the GOP nomination handily.
What am I missing here?
what are you missing?
We have become conditioned to seek cheerleaders instead of wise men to govern.... seek sound-bites instead of substance.... seek those who tell us what we want to hear instead of what we need to hear (social security).
Modern politics has become as much theater as reality and while it is surprising that a great actor is not “playing the role we expect” I respect him for not doing so.
Fred is in a good spot right now IMO. This is a VERY long presidential campaign and people are going to get sick of it sooner or later so the guy who does not act like a desperate high school kid looking for a date at the prom might have more appeal. The media for whatever reason does not seem to give him a fair shake but I suspect they want other candidates in the GOP to emerge. Fred would clean Hillary’s clock and he makes Obama look like the youngster he is.
Don’t count him out just yet! He is certainly not lazy and he is at his best when nobody gives him a chance (see his first senate race in Tennessee).
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