Reviews Are in on Thompson's Debate Performance

Campaigns & Elections ^ | October 21, 2007 | Karen Hanretty

[2ndDivisionVet]

"Helped Themselves a Lot Tonight: Fred Thompson"

- National Review

"We had been waiting for any speech, any debate appearance, any event with Thompson to be a 'wow, that was fantastic.' Well, tonight was that moment we've been waiting for."

- National Review

"Fred Thompson delivers the first blow..."

- ABC News Political Radar

"Fred going on offense."

- Politico

"Thompson revved up."

- Time

"Kudos to Fred Thompson for coming out swinging tonight."

- Townhall

"He [Fred] ought to get serious points for guts."

- National Review

"'If a man can do all that and be lazy, I recommend it to everybody,' Thompson said to loud applause. Nice comeback."

- Politico

"That was a really, really strong response from Thompson" [Reference to final question]

- NBC

"Fred Thompson did quite well. Once again, he ended strong."

- Townhall

"Thompson's ability to slug it out with Giuliani, coupled with overall improvement in the quality of his answers, makes him one of tonight's winners."

- Powerline

"But if this debate is remembered at all, it will probably be because Fred Thompson, arguably a sleeping giant, seemed to wake up."

- Powerline

[krb]

seemed to wake up.

"seemed" to wake up is hardly a ringing endorsement of his performance.

[George W. Bush]

LOL.

But his hair looks good in that pic. And his tie/shirt/cufflinks/suit look terrific. Mitt also has well-proportioned hands.

He's a very smart guy. And we could do a lot worse than to stand him up in debates and a general election campaign against Hitlery.

I'm not saying he's our best pick. But he merits serious consideration along with the others who aren't named Rudolph.

[ears_to_hear]

I agree, he has bags under his eyes and looks old.

That did not bother me as much as his half A*** answer on representing an abortions clinic ....It was a firm “thing” and he did a “few things” and made a “few calls” and “forgot “ all about it.

That says to me that unless it is about election he has no standards on it .

[George W. Bush]

Fred messed his hair up off stage just before the start of the debate.

AHA!!! The ugly truth about Fred The Bully emerges! LOL.

[ears_to_hear]

I would NEVER vote for a Mormon that thinks he will be a god someday, and that acts like a god here .

He is too smooth and arrogant add that to his cult...he is a no go for me

[George W. Bush]

I agree, he has bags under his eyes and looks old.

He dieted heavily just before he announced, must have lost anyway 30 pounds.

His skin should tighten up a bit and he'll look a bit better in a month. And being a Hollywood guy, he could resort to various tricks to improve his looks.

Hey, if Republicans just want the pretty one, Mitt's available. And he's not a terrible pick either.

[Beagle8U]

I’m sure you can piture Big Fred doing that to alot of the kids in school.

[phillyfanatic]

And he did not WIN the debate. Mike and Rudy did. Fred is just finding himself and in less than 70 days, he better find himself or get shut out. Mike and Rudy looked strongest while the rest, except for John were just hanging on. Old John looked old but patriotic and actually witty. Rudy and Mike were not only witty but concise and strong.That counts with all voters , perhaps even the Purists in the Party.

[George W. Bush]

I would NEVER vote for a Mormon that thinks he will be a god someday, and that acts like a god here.

I don't think Mitt is zealous. A man of practical religion, mostly involved because it sets limits on behavior and helps him raise his kids, offers traditional wisdom on family life.

I know it makes some folks sad but I just don't see the Mittster as a Supermormon type. But not a Jack Mormon type like Reid either.

I'm surprised you think he "acts like a god" or "arrogant". I don't get that vibe off him.

[ravingnutter]

Oh really now...well maybe you should check this post out from his website:

It is easy.. our meetup has some tools that are pretty cheap. We use ipipi, you can send several thousand messages for about $100 and the best part is because it doesn't use phone numbers, it bypasses poll secuirty.

I won't go into more here, you can find info on the secure area the meetup sites (if it was posted for your meetup group) so you can use this.

Ron Paul Forum

So obviously, you don't know what you are talking about.

[trisham]

He's a very smart guy. And we could do a lot worse than to stand him up in debates and a general election campaign against Hitlery.

I'm not saying he's our best pick. But he merits serious consideration along with the others who aren't named Rudolph.

******************

I don't dislike Mitt. I voted for him, after all. He had a tough time here in MA. That being said, I prefer Fred and hope he will be our nominee.

Fred for president: not as good-looking as Mitt, but taller! :)

[George W. Bush]

I’m sure you can piture Big Fred doing that to alot of the kids in school.

No, nothing in his demeanor that suggests the bully to me. Fred's a very decent guy, aspires to a polite society on the old Southern model. Not a thing wrong with it.

[bray]

Don’t you have some coffee to get for HilaryCare or $0R0$ rather than running down Our Candidates?? Get Lost you Fraud.

Why in the world you would pick the name of someone you despise is a bit over the top.

Pray for W and Our Troops

[George W. Bush]

Fred for president: not as good-looking as Mitt, but taller! :)

I like both in many ways. They have different strengths. I do like the way Mitt has conducted his business career. His accomplishments as governor were limited given he had an 85% Dim legislature. He should have gone home and run in Michigan instead.

I'm mostly afraid Fred and Mitt could divide us just enough for Rudi to slip between them and grab the nomination.

[ears_to_hear]

" worthy Mormon...all of that is to be a god..

Sorry I am a Christian and can not vote for him even IF I liked him

[ears_to_hear]

Cut off ??

He wears the magic underwear and is a “temple worthy Mormon...all of that is to be a god..

[Constitutions Grandchild]

Fred has ALWAYS been my pick of the liter. His voting record is sound on issues. He explained his stance on tort reform to my satisfaction believing it should be a state’s rights situation on medical tort reform (although I can understand that universal standards would be helpful).

His ability to serve in the Senate with a pro-life voting record, his serving as U.N. Security Counsel adviser, and his statesmanship in guiding Roberts through the waters of confirmation are all major issues in my mind.

There’s one last thing that I know all of you will dismiss as being a silly woman or a lightweight opinion but I must say it. Fred has that “presence” I’ve talked about a man having on other threads - Reagan had it, too. He could make our enemies understand that they could come this far, no farther, and nobody was obtuse enough to not get it. He could also make our friends and supporters know they had a true-blue friend who wouldn't leave them in the brink. Rudy, Mitt, Ron, Huckabee don’t have “IT”. Hunter does. McCain and Tancredo have the appearance of hotheads, and that’s not what we need. Cooler heads must prevail and no saps are allowed. Talk all you want about it being a veneer issue, but it’s damned important — paramount.

[trisham]

I'm mostly afraid Fred and Mitt could divide us just enough for Rudi to slip between them and grab the nomination

*****************

That would be dreadful. I'm all for a vigorous pre-primary debate, but we must not lose sight of the fact that we will have to come together for the election, something that will not happen if Giuliani is the nominee.

[George W. Bush]

There's no way to know whether FNC actually accepted any spam votes from ipipi.com. They indicated in the last poll that they tracked every phone and that they had to be individual phones the SMS came from.

No reason to believe they counted these ipipi.com messages. Why don't you write a note to FNC and just ask them if they're excluding SMS from ipipi.com and other online SMS services?

[Beagle8U]

I wasn’t saying he was a real bully, just that he could easily do that to the other guys on his team as a joke.

I read an article a few months ago that described him on the basketball court as the “Bill Lambeer”.

Not the highest scorer but he kept the other team’s bullies in line.