Posted on 01/05/2008 9:05:25 AM PST by pissant
Manchester (NH): Fred Thompson spent most of caucus night in Iowa hovering between third and fourth place -- a far cry from the lofty first-place position he held in Rasmussen's poll of likely Republican caucus-goers last June. It has been a long time since Thompson has made a compelling reason to be in this race. And it should be a very short time before he confesses a compelling reason to exit stage right. A bystander in his own race, Thompson's political what-could-have-been slipped through his fingers long before he announced his candidacy. The process for running for president has begun so early, says GOP political strategist Charlie Gerow, that if you are not in the game, you are not in the game and Fred Thompson was never in the game. Larry Sabato, who directs the University of Virginias Center for Politics, says the biggest loser of 2008 is already known: Fred Thompson. The biggest pre-candidacy buildup since Ted Kennedy in the 1980 cycle has led to the same result -- a failure to come close to fulfilling his high expectations. The short story of Fred Thompson started just about a year ago at the conservative love-fest known as the Conservative Political Action Convention, or CPAC. There, hints of a Thompson hat-toss began. By late spring, he was all the rage. He hit his high note with a clever video smacking down docudrama king Michael Moore. Suddenly, the political and media worlds could not get enough of Fred. It was his shining moment -- except that Fred forgot to shine. Summer came and went. So did a whole lot of staff and a whole lot of opportunities.
His eventual announcement in September came with a hefty price tag -- the Republican Primary voters in New Hampshire. He chose to announce on Jay Lenos show, bypassing the first New Hampshire debate the same evening.
He was an attractive idea, an image, and the reality couldnt match it, Sabato says. This may be the fate of anyone touted as the next Reagan. Reagan is no longer a man. Hes a myth. No living human being can fulfill those expectations.
My opinion of what happened to Fred Thompson is that he turned out to be ... Fred Thompson, adds Matt Lebo, political science professor at New Yorks Stony Brook University.
I don't think its just his late entry -- that is just a symptom of the problem, Lebo says. The problem is that he has never shown a willingness to fight for conservative causes. Believing in those causes isn't enough. There should be some evidence that you are willing to do something about it.
While comparisons have been made to the failed 2004 campaign of Wesley Clark, those may not be fair. Clark was a political novice; Thompson is not.
So why did Thompson go wrong?
I think he was expecting to ride in, pick up the bouquet, and that would be that, says Bert A. Rockman, head of the political science department at Purdue University. It doesnt work that way.
People confuse appearance with reality. Thompson played hard-as-nails authority figures on TV and in the movies. But his campaign had no distinctiveness, no comparative advantage.
Somehow, someone must have convinced Thompson that times had changed and he could run a different kind of campaign, one that suited his low-key approach to politics. A campaign sans rubber-chicken dinners, moldy bus tours and all the other degrading aspects of running for president.
Tack on the misconceptions that tens of millions of dollars were waiting for him, that he could easily round up organizational support -- and that pretty much sums up why the promise of Fred never happened.
As the country shifts its gaze toward New Hampshire, Thompson stands to fare even worse here than he did in Iowa. As of Friday morning, he was polling sixth among likely Republican voters.
So, the near-term question for Fred Thompson isn't if he drops out of the race but when.
While I like him, it *IS* hurting him that he doesn’t seem to really ‘want it’.
There have been jobs I applied for, that I was quite well qualified for, but someone else wanted a LOT more.
Reagan had the ‘fire in the belly’, a decades long record of activism and rousing themes. Fred is competent, likable and solid on platform points; necessary but not sufficient attributes.
But the game ain’t over yet, it’s just starting (even if my man, Tancredo, did drop out)
It’s a bit early for this, I think.
I do think, though, that Fred needs a more clear and coherent message to capture voters’ attention. It can’t just be, “I’m not as bad as the other candidates.”
Even “I’m more conservative than the other candidates” is insufficient.
pissant, sometimes you play the one string ukelele too much
.....nothin but love........
You’re nuts. Go watch Fred on Cavuto yesterday and tell me he doesn’t seem to want it.
Fred's not been campaigning in NH, and doesn't need it. NH is about as good a predictor of who the nominee is as IA - which is to say, not very good at all. SC, MI, and FL are where it's at.
Any type of article is only SOMEONE’S OPINION! Polls have been wrong for as long as they’ve been using them. It’s not up to this clown to brush Fred off. It’s up to the voters to decide.
A bit premature, I think. Nothing so far in this race has mattered much. It’s still way too early.
My hunch is that the SC primary will be the first thing that matters. It’ll be interesting to see how Thompson does there.
You know that is very funny statement. Unfortunately, you say it seriously.
Selena Zito is a well known RootyBooster who doesn’t like Fred. She is also a FReeper from time to time. You and her should get along just fine.
Two Fred hating Jackasses!
No I did not know the author is a freeper.
Hello Salena.
So, the near-term question for Fred Thompson isn’t if he drops out of the race but when.
So is the author of this piece the one who started the rumor that fred is dropping out????
They better shovel fast, Fred’s a big guy...
“Its a little early for burying Fred. But he needs to get out and endorse Hunter.”
Nah, its about time Romney, Huckster, McLame, and the Guido, get out and endorse Thompson.
How bout that.
I agree, what a load of negative baloney about Fred. I am from SC and just joined Fred08 this morning. I also like Romney and will decide later who I like the best. Hopefully SC will once again be the stopper for McCain and this time Huckabee too. I could support Huck as a VP candidate but do not want him making fiscal and tax policy as the Prez.
Fred is only getting started.
I thought maybe this was Scrappleface for a moment.
Chalk this article up to wishful thinking.
No, that was probably Pissant.
She wrote this recently. A little odd for a Rudy booster, no?
Rudy’s incredible shrinking campaign
http://www.pittsburghlive.com/x/pittsburghtrib/opinion/columnists/zito/s_542951.html
Fred is not campaigning in NH and does not care. Fred is working SC in hopes of giving him a boost going into super Tuesday. What happens in NH will not impact Fred since he has already conceded it to the liberal/moderate wing. Fred marbles are in SC.
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