Posted on 01/20/2008 1:08:35 PM PST by Josh Painter
What will Fred do? That's the big question around the Fredosphere on this day following the South Carolina GOP primary.
Many are calling for him to stay in the race. After all, Fred's third place finish beat out Mitt Romney, who had invested considerable time and millions of dollars in SC. Rudy's not getting out, and Fred has finished higher than America's Mayor in five of the six primaries that Republicans have contested so far.
Some have even mapped out strategies for him - skip Florida and concentrate on the Southern states that will figure so prominently in Super Tuesday. Hold out for a brokered convention.
Still others are saying that as the only conservative left in the race, Thompson must stay in to represent conservative principles. Pardon my skepticism, but the Republican Party doesn't seem to be concerned much with conservative principles this election cycle.
In fact, the Republican party has been consistently giving moderates the gold mine and conservatives the shaft ever since the day Ronald Reagan packed his bags and left the White House to return to his beloved California ranch.
Im my opinion, the GOP has turned its back on conservatives too many times, and now it's time for conservatives to turn their backs to it. This was done on a relatively small scale in 2006, and the Democrats took both houses of Congress away from the Republicans. That was a warning shot fired across the bow of the U.S.S. RNC, and it went largely unheeded. Perhaps they need a less subtle message.
I don't know if conservatives will ever be able to regain control of the Republican party again without it having to be taken apart and put back together, but I somewhat doubt it. Maybe with the Clintons back in the White House the Grand Old Party will learn once again to embrace the conservative principles which made it a winner in the Reagan years - maybe not.
Some would like to see Sen. Thompson remain in the race to keep Mike Huckabee from getting the nomination. Although Fred has performed a valuable service to his country by pointing out that The Huckster isn't exactly what he appears to be, now the race is moving on to more states where the other guy from Hope can't depend on identity politics to keep pulling in big vote totals.
So, what will Fred thompson do? The only thing we can be sure of right now is that he will do what he thinks is right. He cannot carry the conservative burden for a party that won't even give him water. He didn't get in the race to stop any one particular rival candidate. Sen. Thompson got in the race because he was concerned about the kind of country that his children and grandchildren would have to grow up in. He was concerned that none of the GOP canidates were talking about federalism or entitlements or some of the other issues that were on his mind.
But things have changed. The other Republican candidates have adopted many of Fred's issues and made them part of their own campaigns. This is a good thing if they do more than just pay lip service to these issues and the first principles which are their foundation. I'm certain that one thing that is weighing heavily on Fred's decision is just how much can he depend on these big-government Republicans to hold true to Fred's own principles after which one of them is given the nomination. Perhaps his friend John McCain can convince him. Perhaps even Mitt Romney, who doesn't have a history of being consistent on the issues, can persuade FDT that he has seen the light and will faithfully be guided by it. It's up to them to make the sale to Fred.
Whatever Fred decides to do, I'm supporting him. If he stays in, I'll continue to blog for him, defend him and talk him up. If he decides to return to the good life, surrounded by the family he so adores, how could I blame him? He worked hard for that good life, and the Lord knows he deserves to be able to enjoy it. He certainly received shabby treatment from the party that he's tried so hard to save from itself.
So I don't know what Fred will do. But I do know what I will do. I'm a conservative, not a Republican. I gave that particular political party up when it took a sharp left turn and left me behind in 2006. So I'll go to the polls, vote in the GOP primary (my state allows it) and in the general election, and if his name isn't on the ballot either time, I'll write it in for president. I'll also write in Duncan Hunter's name for vice president for good measure. Then I'll sleep well that night knowing that I voted my convictions.
- JP
The RNC keeps hounding us all for donations. No matter how many times I keep telling them that until the border fence is up, Campean and Ramos out of prison, and our own immigration laws actually ENFORCED, they won’t get a dollar, SOMEBODY must still be sending them checks.
I vote Republican only because there is still some desperate HOPE of obtaining a true conservative. But I must say, it hasn’t gone too well with either “See you at the bill signing” Jorge or Ahnold.
Just because someone has an R by his name doesn’t mean he lives and breathes conservative principles.
“When the going gets tough...the tough get going.
I will fight kicking and screaming all the way to the general election. Its time conservatives all across the country stopped saying oh ok..he will do. I will NEVER vote for Huck or McCain.”
Me either! And Fred is the man who can STILL WIN! I hope all who support Fred will keep helping any way they can. Phone calling is fun and I have only had one grumpy and one hang up. All the rest great folks! Calling does make a difference and folks are thanking me for information about Fred. I will keep doing everything I can to help Fred here in Florida. GO FRED!
Conservatism is more important.
I know we do not want Hillary, but every time we vote for the Lesser of Two Evils, we are water wearing down the rock of conservatism.
We need to take a stand.
I’d rather Romney or Guiliani over Obama or Hillary.
The republicans need another Reagan, but we don’t have one this year.
ping
It isn’t with much happiness that I agree with you. This is a terrible reality to face, but I agree it is the reality we face.
it might be possible that Romney would take on Juliani for a running mate. Or Huckster, to secure the South (fat chance)and then there*s McKain who could provide him with military advice. i guess im just blowin hot air.
Eventually the Huckster will be seen as the phony he is. It's only a matter of time.
The grassroots hates McCain and with good reason.
Romney still comes across like a luxury car salesman.
With McCain winning SC, it was a blow to Fred but it did split the race even further.
I believe Ronald Reagans came in a package that folks can’t see when he comes in another.
Professional presentations of Reaganism were great, but down home knowledge can be just as effective IMO.
There is another Reagan on the stage. We fail to see it at our own risk.
Keep goin Fred.
In general the “hanging with while he’s still hanging on” philosophy risks McCain getting Florida. Stopping McCain in Florida is the most important goal, and that won’t happen voting for a candidate who:
1) Cannot win because he has no ability to compete in major media markets in the big states Feb 5
2) Is splitting the anti McCain vote, much too dangerously in Florida
3) Cannot do anything in a brokered convention because in 850 million dollar races the big donors will not tolerate elevating a 50 delegate candidate over a 1000 delegate candidate. And 50 delegates doesn’t buy a VP slot over a 500 delegate candidate. If his glowing principles are to be the reason to be VP, he gets that with or without 50 delegates. So . . . there’s no upside to risking McCain in Florida
In the final analysis it is all about last year. The enormous earthquake of conservative rage at McCain’s Amnesty Bill was the single most profound act of the right wing anger since the 2000 attempt by Gore to steal Florida.
To act now in any way that REWARDS McCain for his treachery last year — for his literal sneering in the face of conservatism — renders that entire event last year nothing more than mere petulance. The shouts were that “he will pay”. ANY act taken now to allow him to escape punishment defiles the dignity of last year’s victory.
And so, the choice is clear. It is not one of voting FOR Romney which is a concept the Thompson folks won’t want to fully embrace. It is, rather, one of honoring last year’s effort and punishing the perpetrator.
Expect the unexpected when it comes to his strategy. Unlike everyone running around here on FR coming up with “The Grand Plan” after each state primary or every press release, the campaigns are playing the long arc all the way through convention. It is one race comprised of many small ones, and the players each have issues, weaknesses and strengths.
One thing I can tell you for certain, Fred and his team know McCain and his issues very well, they know it is only a matter of time before he implodes and the better he does and the more he is ignored by his rivals the more likely that will come about.
Everyone in the RNC knows Huck’s support is a mile wide and an inch deep. Lots of votes but very little money.
In this race the key will be time, and we are not out of it yet.
One: The players know McCain is a time bomb. Let him run wild, the better he does the quicker it will come to an end.
Two: Those “big donors” you say wont back Thompson, a large number of them are the guys who brought him in earlier this year. They can’t make the voters act right, but if it gets in their hands, well that is another ball game.
Shill for Romney, who knows we may have to settle for him, but don't try and sound like it's strategy that drives your work.
It's not that we fail to see it, amigo. It's that the American people (FReepers notwithstanding) largely aren't interested in another Reagan. Reagan was a political and social anomaly. Expecting that lightning to strike twice, when the U.S. has changed considerably in nature since 1980, is unrealistic.
The reason so many FReepers find it mind boggling that Duncan Hunter and Fred Thompson aren't catching fire is that they don't get how marginal these guys really are in current U.S. culture. We're not going to get our first tier choices, and trying to push them vainly on an electorate that doesn't want them will get us third place results. That's reality.
That angers me that Rush is sitting it out... Does he want Hillary as President? Rush I know your success is not determined by who wins elections, but for the love of God, all that matters is Conservatism, that’s the bottom line, and the only candidate still officially in the race that is a true Conservative is Thompson.. He’s also the only one that Mike Savage is not attacking endlessly (just noticed that the other day).
Stop playing neutral Rush, or so help me God you will lose many listeners, myself included...
The GOP is not our party, it courts moderates, center-right progressives and sheeple.
That is probably true. Word of mouth could help, as could conservative conversation (internet and radio). Fred's the real deal, gold in a sea of pyrite, and people are looking beyond the flash more and more.
But even if he can't win outright, if he stays in, he keeps the debates focused on what is good for this country. And he plays a huge part at a brokered convention.
WE. NEED. FRED. IN.
As Fred likes to say, it's not about him.
I disagree. We had our Nevada caucuses, yesterday. I talked with a number of Republican voters. All of them believe that their preferred candidate is a conservative, based on what the candidate has been saying in the campaign. They simply aren't smart enough (or don't have enough initiative) to compare what their candidate has done to what he is currectly saying, to estimate the liklihood that they are being lied to.
Then we are witnessing the death of our nation.
Your advice, and justification, would have applied equally well to Abe Lincoln, yet he was nominated and won the election.
If you really are/were a Fred supporter, you should try to learn something about how the nominating process works, and study some history, to learn how it has worked in the past.
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