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.
Bump. Welcome to Free Republic.
lol!
He went to Hollywood before running for Senate in 1994.
[wiki]Thompson would go on to appear as racist demagogue "Dr. Knox Pooley" in a story arc of the TV series Wiseguy (1988), and has also been in subsequent feature films, including No Way Out (1987), The Hunt for Red October (1990), Cape Fear (1991), and In the Line of Fire (1993). A 1994 New York Times profile described his authoritarian character roles as such:"The glowering, hulking Mr. Thompson has played a White House chief of staff, a director of the Central Intelligence Agency, a highly placed F.B.I. agent, a rear admiral, even a senator. When Hollywood directors need someone who can personify governmental power, they often turn to him."[8]
Your point being?...
Shows some character. Why aren't there other Republicans joining this cause.
They believe the bs from the MSM and are afraid of appearing crooked, which is funny because thier lack of support for thier party and poll driven actions (or lack of) makes them seem not only crooked but completely phoney as well.
Yeah, you may be right about Freddie, but what of VALUE can McCain give him?
McCain's campaign is dead, dead and DYING.
Thompson has to see that. Why is Fred doing this? It can't just be friendship, unless Fred is auditioning for a VP slot somewhere, and if what you say about him is true, then it's Depleted Uranium city.
Head honcho at the outfit hasn't told me anything suspicious about Freddie, but we haven't spoken much about him since the boomlet started. We're keeping our distance until it blows over. "Bum of the Month", that sort of thing...
Be Seeing You,
Chris
It aint that Thompson is so exceptional, it is only that they dont like the options currently before them.
Don't you see that as a problem, not for any particular candidate but for the GOP as a whole?
I find this funny and ironic when you take into account that people are exercising MUCH MORE wishful thinking and completely ignoring reality whenthey speak of Rudy, McCain, and Romney as conservatives. Unless of course they don't want to see govt. growth curtailed, taxes lowered, the protections of political free speech and self defense/gun wonership respected. The only real difference between those 3 and the other side is the letter that appears after thier name in the papers. R instead of D, they might as well have voted for Joe Lieberman back in the day, he's pretty much the same as the "big three"
The reason you don't hear the negatives on Thompson and Hunter, is that nobody is really afraid of them, despite the message they are sending out. The Dems are afraid of one person in the GOP, and that is who I support.
You might want to do a little more reading. His political career spans 4 decades. Mitt Romney has exactly 4 years of political experience. (He was a venture capitalist before winning in MA in 2002. He did not seek re-election in 2006.)
Thompson would hardly generate excitement carrying him to the Presidency
He already IS generating excitement. You might want to check out the current FR poll where his numbers top the next 5 contenders combined.
"With Hillary as the Democratic nominee, the GOP would vote for freakin Nelson Rockerfeller to keep her out." In his present condition?
He has his share of earlier accomplishments.
Mr. Butterfield, are you aware of the installation of any listening devices in the Oval Office of the President?
While he wouldn't be my first choice, from the experience perspective, eight years of relatively benign Senate service is 2 to 6 more years of benign Senate service of his general election opponents. If he can win the nomination, a very big if, I doubt experience will be an issue. No one has it.
A catching prosecutor's question occurs every day.
What percentage of Americans know- or would ever care- that that particular unknown asked that question. A question, by the way, that sunk a Republican President- which begs, why is he the great Republican hope?
No where have I stated that Thompson may not be a great President. He might, so might you for that matter.
Why does he stand out to some? What makes him different then dozens of other Republicans? It is what Novak states, his TV and movie "fame". I think it is a mirage.
I am writing only about his chances to be elected, IMO. I don't see his chances of getting the nomination as remote as you do. Last man standing- with core supporters- while the heavyweights exhaust themselves on each other is a real possibility.
I just don't see him getting 270 electoral votes where is counts.
They will have a tantrum, and let Hillary become President, just to stick it to the Republican party.
And how would her administration differ from a Rudy or McCain administration?
A woman watching the polls to figure out what her decisions should be vs. a man watching the polls to figure out what his decisions should be.
Unless the polls say americans want more conservatism, smaller govt. and thier constitutional rights protected from govt. infringement.
Didn't think I needed one, in the heat of the discussion a couple of other posters asked about his record. I found what I could and offered it. Surely it isn't out of line to bring facts if I'm not spamming walls 'O' text?
Do you have ANY IDEA about Thompson's sexual issues?
What are you a jilted one night stand he didn't call back or something? How did you become the holder of this "insider" knowledge us stupid star struck FReepers aren't privy to?
Rutards
LOL that's one I haven't seen yet.
By the way, on getting the nomination, if it is not obvious now, it will be ever so obvious in retrospect, everything is different in 2008.
With super super Tuesday, with huge States holding early primaries, everything we think we know about a candidate winning the nomination is moot. I don't believe Iowa serves any useful purpose and South Carolina is rendered much less significant. New Hampshire only helps if there is a win by someone very unexpected.
I am supporting Romney as the one most likely to win, and the one the MSM fears most.
was probably the first FReeper to ANNOUNCE who I was supporting, and the only reason I don't tell you in this thread, is that your not knowing, yet feeling free to just assign motives to me, is illustrative of exactly what I am saying.
Romney is going to be the next President.
am sure a search of FR will show you maybe oh, HUNDREDS of posts where I stated my candidate
Very correct, it took me about 5 minutes.
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