Posted on 04/02/2007 7:17:51 AM PDT by chad_in_georgia
In just three weeks, Fred Thompson has improbably transformed the contest for the Republican presidential nomination. It is not merely that he has come from nowhere to double digits in national polls. He is the talk of GOP political circles, because he is filling the conservative void in the Republican field. Republican activists have complained for months that none of the big-three contenders -- Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney -- fits the model of a conservative leader for a conservative party. The party faithful have been waiting for another Ronald Reagan. But in the past year, nobody mentioned Thompson as the messiah until he appeared March 11 on ''Fox News Sunday with Chris Wallace.''
His statement to Wallace that he was ''giving some thought'' to a presidential run generated a reaction that surprised Thompson. In the first Gallup Poll that listed Thompson (March 23-25), he scored 12 percent -- amazing for someone out of public life for more than four years. More important than the polling data is his backing within the political community. Buyer's remorse is expressed by several House members who had endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Romney.
Thompson's popularity reflects weakness among announced Republican candidates, as reflected in the Gallup survey. Sen. McCain, no longer an insurgent but still not accepted by conservatives, is stuck in the 20-25 percent range. Former New York City Mayor Giuliani has dropped precipitously from 44 percent to 31 percent, amid attacks on his ideology and personal life. Most startling, despite a well-financed, well-organized campaign, Romney has fallen to 3 percent.
Sophisticated social conservative activists tell me they cannot vote for Giuliani under any conditions and have no rapport with McCain or Romney. They are coming to see Thompson as the only conservative who can be nominated. Their appreciation of him stems not from his eight years as a U.S. senator from Tennessee but his actor's role as district attorney of Manhattan on ''Law and Order.''
Thompson's political origin as a protege of Sen. Howard Baker, leader of the Tennessee GOP's more liberal wing, prompted hard-line Senate conservatives to consider him a little too liberal. Actually, his lifetime Senate voting record as measured by the American Conservative Union was 86 percent. It would have been close to 100 percent except for his repeated votes supporting McCain's campaign finance reform. None of the big-three Republicans has been so consistently conservative as Thompson on tax policy, national security and abortion.
The principal complaint about Thompson concerns his work ethic. The rap is that he does not burn the midnight oil -- the identical criticism of Reagan, before and during his presidency. That carping may betray resentment that Thompson has emerged as a full-blown candidate without backbreaking campaign travel and tedious fund-raising. Thompson's critics assert that, bored with his lucrative career as an actor, he has enjoyed his 15 minutes of fame created by a chance TV interview and will not really run. But he privately assures friends that this is for real. His performance on ''Fox News Sunday'' was no accident. He went on the program for the purpose of unveiling his possible candidacy.
Thompson did not leave public policy when he left the Senate. He has served on the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission. He hardly knew Scooter Libby but felt he was getting a raw deal, appeared in his courtroom and helped raise money for his defense fund.
Friends bet Thompson will run. He clearly wants to try, and his wife, Jeri, is all for it. Seeking the best timing, he wants to avoid the pitfalls encountered by Democrat Barack Obama, who may have damaged himself by starting his campaign too quickly.
I met Thompson in 1974 as Howard Baker's 31-year-old minority counsel on the Watergate investigation. I considered him co, careful and conservative. He still is, and that is how he would run for president, which appears in the offing.
Conservatives are frustrated and hungry for real, aggressive leadership. We didn't get it from Bush or the then-GOP Congress. If that means we are going to be more emotional than usual, so be it, because we feel this is our last chance to pursue conservative ideals and principles.
"I won't have a tantrum, I'm not that stupid. Even if your buddy Julie Rudiani gets the nod, I'll stick a clamp on my nose, close my eyes, and vote for him against Hitlery or the Magic Negro".
Geez, I have been saying this for the past two weeks, and all I get is grief from Pissant and his/her posse. I will even vote for McCain if he gets the nod. If someone cannot tell the difference between Hillary and any Rep in the field, they lack the poweres of discernment.
(BTW, Obama will continue to fade, and there is no one else close to Hillary. She will be crowned and the media will anoint her the first female and second Black President).
Let's hope that Fred turns out to have what it takes. From my sampling of Free Republic talk, he is probably the guy that has the fewest negatives and the most positives for this group.
>>I bet you cant name three bills (even with Google) that Thompson got through the
>>Senate, NONE of you can within the next 2 minutes unless your search engines are
>>warmed up already.
As of last night, Fred Thompson was the number three person being searched on Google, they’re warmed up (grin) Which means this is bigger the FR.
LOL. That the old man knows how to score in his day and age?
Quit playa-hating!
"Their appreciation of him stems not from his eight years as a U.S. senator from Tennessee but his actor's role as district attorney of Manhattan on ''Law and Order.''
It is also what I believe to be the reason for all the excitement. Not his political achievements but his "celebrity" status. Compared favorably to Reagan's success, Reagan also an actor. [We can debate some other time if Reagan would have won running against someone other then that miserable bastard, Jimmy Carter, in 1980].
I propose that there is no similarity. Reagan was a star. Thompson is a face you may or may not recognize whose name most people wouldn't know if their life depended on knowing.
No, the role Thompson plays, he never gets the girl.
As a six year Senator of little accomplishment, Thompson would hardly generate excitement carrying him to the Presidency.
As a supporting actor, only, he is also no star like Schwarzenegger, he would hardly generate any excitement carrying him to the Presidency.
People seem to believe that it is the sum of both that is the magic formula.
I believe it may seem that way to desperate believers, but will be unsuccessful in a serious nationwide race.
If I am to be asked "what I'm afraid of", it is not Thompson elected. He would probably be fine. I have my preference and then preferences in order, but I'm not afraid of anyone running becoming President- even McCain.
What I fear is a Democrat Congress with a Democrat President.
I don't believe Thompson gets the girl on screen or 270 Electoral votes in real life. At least not in 2008. After a successful VP real life role, maybe.
Easy Doggie, most people are just happy to have another acceptable conservative in the race.
Yesterday, April Fools, today, Opposite Day.
Sorry, typo, I know he was a Senator for eight years. and then he quit.
No, the term limit excuse won't work. A term and a third is no one's idea of term limits. He quit for something more pleasant, more easy and more lucrative.
And who can blame him. But he still quit.
Hillary should never have gotten in this early. I always believed that she was stupid to get in so soon and wear out the welcome of the Clinton Brand. Obama has the potential to stay fresh, but even he will look stale come the turn of the new year. Familiarity breeds contempt. Even McCain is beating her in the national polls, although it would be interesting to see Dales' state by state map when those start coming out. Rudy kills her. Obama appears to run better, a fact which is not lost on some Democratic activists.
Except Kos, who has dumped all over Obambi over his refusal to buy into Kos' Feingoldism on the war.
This will surprise people, but by January all the excitement will be in the Republican race. I disagree with Dog. If Fred thought that JMC was a man for whom it was worth being a stalking horse, he is probably thinking differently now. McCain's is a dying candidacy. I'm not a Freddie guy-Thompson's putitave candidacy strikes me as "flavor of the month" stuff, but politics is a weird business. Thompson could be the Reagan with feet of Clay. I believe that the big Pioneer Money may be committed to Romney or Rudy, with some beknighted souls giving money to JMC or Brownback and Duncan Hunter (Dog is right about Hunter-he's going to Clydesville with Sam Brownback...).
The comparisons with Reagan do injustice to RR. Reagan had a multi-decade record of writings, speeches, and deep intellectual commitment to the cause of anti-communism. Thompson was a skilled and talented attorney and a Senator of some note, but Reagan he is not. So let's put that to rest right now.
The consultant I work for is betting on Rudy, of course, as am I. Things have changed enough in the Republican Party: the rank and file want someone who will, without hesitation, exterminate the enemy. They want no truck with a Hillary Presidency. Strangely enough, Republicans aren't as fearful of Obambi as they are of Hillary, primarily because Obama doesn't carry the entire Clinton apparatus with him and has reached out to conservatives in the past. This despite his record as being to the Left of Hillary on most issues. Nonetheless, the lack of seriousness among Dems over this conflict is what gets our goat, and is what makes Rudy relevant to the game.
John Edwards should suspend by the fall, btw. Everything that Pukin' Dog has written about him is true, only on steroids. He did better than expected in Q1, but the Dem ticket is sort of set in stone now (Hillary/Obambi, Obambi/Hillary) and there's no room at the inn for an unprincipled Ambulance Chaser. He couldn't even pull in NC for John Kerry. Dems haven't forgotten that.
The Republican field isn't quite done, imho. That's what makes our race the one to watch. The Dems will bore everyone as Congress starts to disgust Middle America over the war. Lots of flux out there; the good news is that the Dems have worn out their welcome.
The Blue Team has made a huge, bad bet: the War Doesn't Matter. That's their central thesis. It underpins everything they do. Hillary is about a "Return to Normalcy" (the Nineties). Barack wants to "Turn the Page". Unfortunately, they bought into the Reality Based Community's ignorance of the capabilities of Ahmadhi-Nejad and his lads. The entire Democratic game plan was built on a lie that the Iranians are about to blow up.
Which is why it pays to be patient in this game. The Dems made a bad bet about the nature of our enemies. By this time next year, they'll have wished they hadn't.
Be Seeing You,
Chris
Don't forget that he appears to be a big supporter of socialized medicine...
So Fred's getting bashed for getting the girls in real life, and not getting them on screed?
Y'all just odd.
screen
Very good!
I don't think comparing acting careers is particularly helpful, but I am struck by this characterization of President Reagan's career. My understanding is that he at one time had been a bankable star, but eventually his career "dried up." Those were the words I remember Nancy Reagan using in a biography of President Reagan. He ended up doing vaudeville type work in Las Vegas (maybe the Frontier Club?). When Nancy Reagan spoke of it in this biography (I think the A&E one), she actually teared up, even years later. Then, if I recall, GE came along to offer President Reagan the GE Theater job, and he gradually moved from the corporate world (by way of GE Theater) to the political one.
President Reagan's transition seems a much more natural one than anything Fred Thompson has done or is doing, but I got the impression one of the things that indirectly led President Reagan into politics was the dwindling of his film career (which also has been cited as a factor in his divorce from Jane Wyman).
"Tommy couldn't get elected as dog-catcher in his home town. Just another @sshole on an ego trip"
Correct!
Fre could raise 100 million in 30 days without any big money people to help.
Fred that is : )
These FDT-bashers can't seem to separate reality from fantasy...
Heeheehee
He quit because his daughter died. So much for it being something "more pleasant."
Any more groundless attacks you wish to make on Fred?
Seem Romney's poll numbers ever since Fred started making rumbles about entering the race?
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