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 Virginia’s 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 Leno’s show, bypassing the first New Hampshire debate the same evening.
“He was an attractive idea, an image, and the reality couldn’t match it,” Sabato says. “This may be the fate of anyone touted as the next Reagan. Reagan is no longer a man. He’s 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 York’s Stony Brook University.
“I don't think it’s 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 doesn’t 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.
It's a stacked deck, I'm telling you.
how's that for a mixed metaphor?
No, I think he’s doing it gratis. Sad, no?
I was thinking along the same lines. The man said he didn't want the job so why should I vote for him?
LOL. Was that any ruder than your comment to Saundra?
Fred blew away the pollsters in Iowa who predicted less than a 5% turnout. Considering the MSM has ignored Fred except for publishing articles like this (not that Townhall.com is MSM by any means).
Go Fred!!
***************
You're being too kind.
Huckabee will not get my vote and he will never win over the Reagan Democrats. That's very bad news for the GOP.
it aint over yet! ;-)
“Goodbye Fred”
Ya know, I didn’t even have to look at who posted this tripe. I knew it was you, without even looking.
It’s kind of too bad that Fred has not emerged. He should be further ahead of the game but he seems to be too late to the party. The other guy that is a disappointment is Hunter. He’s got no chance at all. Good ideas but no hope at all. Still some choose to pimp for him every chance they get.
>>>>>I don’t think it’s 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.” <<<<<<
That statement pretty well sums it up. Talk is cheap.
How so you. It must be draining to be you.
Oh by the way...how did your candidate do?
I notice that you haven’t posted anything to that effect.
Yawns...but you accomplished one thing..
you got some of that attention you so crave.
Yep Pissant we noticed you are still around. That should make you feel better.
Fred is blowing of NH (as he should have Iowa). South Carolina is the test for him. A weak showing there and he is finished, a strong showing and he should be able to maintain a viable campaign. Of course, he’ll need to add some staffers with political savvy.
If Duncan doesn’t take at least third, he’s pulling out and going to announce his endorsement of John McCain.
Well, unless people are willing to shovel alot more money into his campaign, he probably will be finished soon. I have sent him money 3 times now and am not even completely sold on him yet as a national candidate because of all the reasons we have all heard.
I urge all Freepers to send him a check today and pray like hell he can stay in this race, if for nothing else than to send the conservative message through more than just a few early primary states!!
There is nothing like backing up your conservative convictions with hard cold cash and while we are at it, let’s send some cash Duncan Hunter’s way too!
Just my two cents.
Links here to make it easy.
https://www.fred08.com/Contribute.aspx
https://contribute.gohunter08.com/contribute.asp
Is that big guy eating out of house and home yet?
Enjoy each moment to the fullest!!!!!!!!!!!!!
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