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.
I read the record was for greatest number of votes ever. Maybe it's both?
MOST untrue.
No, what you are witnessing is conservatism versus liberal Rockefeller Republicans.
He quit for something more pleasant, more easy and more lucrative.
And who can blame him. But he still quit....
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Dalton_Thompson
~snip~
Although he announced in the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks his intention to seek re-election, upon further reflection, which seems to have been prompted in large part by the sudden death of his daughter (Elizabeth "Betsy" Thompson Panici) on January 30, 2002 from accidental drug overdose[10][12], he decided not to pursue this course.
~snip~
I don't have a link or an exact quote at the moment- but Thompson said- shortly after his daughter's death that he didn't have the heart for running again at that time.
I can see how you are a serious student of political science where you characterize anything I wrote as an attack.
But to your point, your laughable point, his daughter dies, so he gave up on a political office and in mourning returned to Hollywood.
Ok, if you say so.
"Don't forget that he appears to be a big supporter of socialized medicine..."
That is working a little less than wonderful also.
Laughable? You're the one he said he left the Senate for something more pleasant. You couldn't be bothered to mention he left because his daughter died. You're just another shameless Rudy-booster. Fred is whumping your guy around without entering the race, so you attack him - even to the point where you downplay the impact OF HIS OWN DAUGHTER'S DEATH.
I don't see how some of you can even look yourselves in the mirror.
Your comments are off-base, at least for me. I've never seen Thompson act -- somehow I've missed everything he's been in. I don't think he's a white knight -- I merely think he's the best candidate, based on research.
Your criticism illustrates why the system is stacked against fiscal conservatives. Thompson didn't push through a lot of new laws, because for the most part he supports decreasing the size of government rather than increasing it. What he did do is aggressively and consistently fight waste in government. He also championed federalism, and worked to limit unConstitutional federal incursions into states' rights.
So, I support him because of these issues. I also believe he's electable, because he appeals to both fiscal and social conservatives.
do you question why rudy dropped out of the NY senate race?
He left the Senate for HOLLYWOOD!!!!!!!!
It's where all mourners go to mourn.
I think most people would agree that Hollywood is more pleasant then the Senate. Other then you.
You, jumping from one wishful candidate to another, want to deny reality with a trigger temper unleashed on anyone who doesn't share your delusions.
If Thompson gets elected, good.
Great point, xsmommy. So Rudy gets defended for dropping out of the NY Senate race for his cancer, but Fred gets ripped for not running for re-election after the death of his daughter.
He left the Senate for HOLLYWOOD!!!!!!!!
There ain't a person in the world, except for deranged Rudy boosters desperate for ANYTHING to attack Fred with, who would even try to make an issue here.
It likely was both. I think to get more support than Fred did in his home state would be impossible.
He pulled the conservatives, the basic Republican voters, and all but the most rabid barking moonbats in the Dem party.
The people that know him like him.
I think you're off. FT's most Reagan-esque quality is that he can bypass the fat-asses in congress and take the message to the American people. There is no other candidate that I know of that can do that, left or right. This, in effect, limits the two main impediments to implementing a conservative agenda - the media and congress. I believe that his stewardship of Roberts and Scooter are very principled and as positive predictors that he will run (and as a conservative) as anything we've seen yet.
It is exciting, but hardly a Messiah situation.
Hunter? hahahahahahahaha. Please, be realistic
3 percent. 3 PERCENT for Romney after Fred just mentioned entering. Fred knocked Mitt out of contention in a couple of weeks (and Mitt's boneheaded gaffe in Miami didn't help him either). Damn shame about all those donors who contributed all that cash to a sinking ship.
And you have the stones to lecture anyone else about their candidate's electability? BWAHAHAHA!
As for stewardship, does Arlen Specter's saving Clarence Thomas make HIM a great Conservative too?
You folks will have to do better.
BWAHAHA! Check the polling numbers on Fred versus Mitt and get back to us.
What problem do you have with a Fred Thompson/ Duncan Hunter ticket?
I think its a very realistic and winning ticket.
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