Late-Breaking Surge for Thompson

National Review Online ^ | 2 January 2008 | Peter Robinson

[big'ol_freeper]

The latest news from Iowa? According to Zogby’s latest—and I quote: “Sen. Fred Thompson…has seen a late-breaking surge.” (Rich notes the same poll below.)

What’s going on here? My guess is that there are whole lot of Iowa Republicans who have about the same attitude that David Limbaugh displayed in his column yesterday:

Fred is the only [candidate] I don't have major reservations about….I find his lack of "fire in the belly" refreshing. He strikes me as one of the few presidential candidates since Ronald Reagan whose primary motivation is not personal aggrandizement but rather serving and leading the nation in very troubled and dangerous times. I see him as almost being drafted into this project, and his refusal to drool publicly over the prospect of becoming the most powerful man in the world is positively delightful.

[commonguymd]

I find it amazing just how many people are really in search of Bozo the Clown, Brad Pitt, or Robin Williams as their president. Policy, positions, values, morales, and dignity mean nothing.

[penelopesire]

LOL...maybe you need to put your twelve year old daughter on a diet of twelve year old fun....like going to the skating rink or something.

If your 12 year old daughter is sitting around ‘enjoying’ Fred Thompson....’Houston’....we have a problem...and it’s probably mom’

[Politicalmom]

Uh, no. I have intelligent children who love politics and history.

I don’t tie her to the couch.

[Shortstop7]

I thought Rush was great today. He really made it clear how he felt about the Huckster.

[TheCornerOffice]

Hillary Clinton’s message to Iowa voters was 2 minutes. She was focused and direct, compact

So, vote for her, CP. So, when are you going to stop the constant negative posts and actually do something publicly positive to help Fred win? Never, I would guess, since you are really NOT a Fred supporter, in spite of your claims otherwise. When are you going to reveal who you are really supporting? still waiting.....

[brothers4thID]

And someone in another thread was just saying the Thompson couldn’t ad lib. Morons.

[Shortstop7]

The Morons are what scare me when it comes to the future of this country.

[commonguymd]

Huh? Children can be children while they actively understand our American political system and get engaged in other things beyond sex, drugs, and violence.

If you have children, do you let the others babysit them on the street, in the malls, or at the roller skating rink or do you include them in various interests beyond the video game and tv at home while letting others do your job while you hang out on websites?

[brothers4thID]

I, on the other hand, have taught my preschooler to correctly identify FDT when he comes on the TV:
Mommy: “Who’s that honey?”
Darling child: “The next Pwesident.”

(Alas, Hubby drew the line at letting me teach the child the correct way to refer to Hillary...)

[WFTR]

Bravo Sierra. Grow up.

Yep, I can always count on the rabid Fredheads for a huge load of Bravo Sierra. Drop dead.

[Mensius]

And someone in another thread was just saying that Thompson couldn’t ...

His critics have been saying a lot of things. In a little over a year they will be saying Mr. President.

[penelopesire]

Wow...that’s great PM. Can you quit stalking me now? It’s been months since our last dust up and frankly I really don’t care what you think since you rarely post anything of substance or consequence that I can see.

Let’s just agree to let it be.

Happy New Year and Blessings to you and your family.

[brothers4thID]

I like to divide the morons into two categories: the willfully ignorant and the “born stupid”. The willfully ignorant don’t bother to educate themselves and instead lap up every drop of rancid cream the MSM hands out. The “born stupid” are.. well.. genetics can be a PITA sometimes. ;)

[fluffdaddy]

“I would have Fred run a better campaign that convinces more people to vote for him.”

But you never give anyone the slightest reason to believe you have a clue how he might go about doing this. Many here are disappointed that Fred’s campaign hasn’t taken the GOP by storm. But your idea that stressing his national security credentials more would magically lift his campaign out of the doldrums is just silly.

Fred does stress those credentials. He raises them prominently in every stump speech. He mentions them in every media appearance. Nobody who is within reach of any message he puts out could fail to be aware of them. If Fred went further and slavishly followed your advice he would become a one dimensional candidate with less potential to attract support not more.

The only other suggestion I’ve seen from you is that his closing argument was too long and not sufficiently focused. Long it was by comparison to Hillary’s two minutes but it was hardly unfocused. It said precisely what needed saying and said it very well. If voters want vacuous soundbites there are plenty of choices. It may be wise to be the one candidate who refuses to insult the voter’s intelligence.

Fred hasn’t had the success he deserves so far. I wish you were right and his campaign had an obvious glitch that could be fixed. But if it does, you haven’t found it. Endlessly repeating the same lame advice serves no useful purpose.

[counterpunch]

All campaigns are a craps shoot, but Fred's run and won before. I'll stick with him and if I have anything constructive to offer, I'll email Sean at the campaign. I won't sit on a forum and deliver slam after slam without ever touting him to others or celebrating his good news.

Everyone Fred is running against has run and won before. Every single one. Ok, except for Alan Keyes, but if Fred ends up losing to him too, then we might as well just elect Hillary and get it over with faster. I'd like to know what this "good news" for Fred is though, because I haven't seen it. You mean good news that he's back into double digits in Iowa (after dropping about 20 points) or the good news that he's now tied for 3rd against John McCain, the candidate who was left for dead and never even made a play for Iowa? You are absolutely fit to be committed if you think there is any good news for Fred Thompson anywhere.
 

[counterpunch]

That’s right.
Maybe if enough people stand up and say the Emperor has no clothes then maybe he’ll get dressed. I’m even saying exactly what he needs to wear: national security credentials.

[WFTR]

Thanks for your comments. Maybe if he were my first choice, I could ignore some of his supporters. I've never had huge reservations about any of them except Rudy Giuliani and John McCain. Mike Huckabee isn't wearing well with time, but I could still support him against Hillary. The sad thing is that most of these blow-hards have probably never made a phone call or knocked on a door in support of any candidate. They are lazy cowards who hide behind their keyboards, do nothing to advance any campaign, and think of themselves as great activists. They will keep some of us from lifting a finger for Fred Thompson if he happens to win the nomination.

Bill

[altura]

Rush went as far as he could possibly go without violating his pledge in endorsing Fred, or may UN-endorsing everyone else.

Mark Levine went even further without claiming to endorse.

Two very respected conservative thinkers for Fred.

[SuziQ]

and I might add to that:....’time to lose the monotone drawl that puts conservatives(and most everyone else) to sleep’.

I'd rather have a monotone drawl that actually SAYS something than a polished smooth, or sing-song cadence that says NOTHING. Seems a lot of conservatives have ditched the notion of IDEAS in favor of fluff. Too bad.

[Checkers]

“Fred has talked about his National Security experience ever since he entered the race. All of his supporters are familiar with it. His statement upon the death of Benazir Bhutto was the perfect example.”

Why are you replying to me?