Posted on 01/21/2008 3:28:34 AM PST by bd476
"...As soon as Thompson entered the race, analysts began wondering aloud why he got in, saying that he didn't show the fire in the belly that's necessary to run successfully for president. The image of Thompson as a laid-back slowpoke became fodder for late-night television comedians.
Woodard said that Thompson finally appeared to hit his stride on the stump in the Palmetto State, speaking to overflow crowds in the past week.
"Here's what happens when you're a candidate -- you get better as you go along," he said. "The problem is Huckabee's got a three-month jump on him. Fred is a good, tough candidate. If he was like this in September, things might be different."
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
By and large, the Republican Party has lost it’s conservative roots. After the successes of Bill Clinton, the GOP leaders panicked and began doing the same thing Clinton did, triangulation.
They traded in their principles:
Strong Defense
Lower Taxes
SMALLER GOVERNMENT
Right To Life - No Abortion
Secure Borders
Limited Government Involvment
Right To Keep and Bear Arms
etc.....
For Populism and poll driven ideology.
What we have now are “conservatives” who favor:
Abortion rights
Bigger Government
2nd amendment limitations
Government funded health care
Illegal immigration
etc....
Conservatives lost their party.
Huckabee is a better communicator to the types of voters that we will need to defeat the democrats.
Thompson is good at preaching to the choir, but I’ve never seen him shine at speaking to the “common man”.
I’d more likely take my chances with Huckabee. Even in a VP capacity, Huckabee’s communication skills would be a valuable asset.
That goes a long way toward explaining why his numbers dropped after he announced. The media started denigrating him as soon as he got into the race, and their negativity became the 'conventional wisdom'. It didn't matter that he's been campaigning steadily. Some folks got it into their minds that he didn't want it, because that's what the news anchor told them, so they decided to vote for someone else. Even some conservatives bought that 'I don't want to be President' lie, because they didn't take the time to actually listen to what Fred said, they took the word of the 'nattering nabobs of negativity' as Ollie North calls the pundits.
Not even close; we respect him and think he'd be the best of the existing bunch of candidates as President. If you don't like all the threads about Fred, just ignore them, so you don't have to be so annoyed by us. ;o)
Didn't those same polls say the same thing about Rudy last year? I don't adjust my life, or my beliefs, to what the lastest polls say, especially since they are only designed to reflect what the news has been hammering the previous week.
Wow, you sure have a burr under your saddle about Rush. You’ve been spamming threads all day with your “Rush Rays” comments.
If you support Huckabee, then why not state which policies of his you want to see implemented, instead of just denigrating Fred's supporters?
I think Fred isn't tying himself to anyone's brand of tax reform. He's said he wants to streamline the process, and get rid of some of the onerous regulations. I'm glad he's not claiming any one way as best, until he spends the time studying the matter.
Huckabee can claim to support the Fair Tax plan all he wants, but it doesn't mean he'd have the political clout to get it done, even if he ever became President. The same goes with his idea of constitutional amendments to protect the unborn, and marriage. Sounds good to the Christian voter, but it ain't gonna happen in the real world of American politics, so actual practical alternatives need to be considered, as Fred has been saying.
The problem with that strategy is that Hitlery and a cooperative Dem Congress could saddle us with spending programs — like nationalized healthcare — and crippling marginal tax rates that the country might never recover from. The Dems have almost succeeded already in untaxing a majority of voters at the expense of the productive areas of the economy. We are teetering on a precipice, and any populist will push us over the edge and into a deep hole. It could literally be the end of the country if Atlas Shrugs.
FairTax
Frankly, that's why I LIKE Fred better. He's not been lusting after the Presidency most of his adult life. He's looking at the job as an opportunity to move this country away from liberalism and an entitlement society, not as a source of personal aggrandisement.
Public matching funds are only for the nominees of each party for the General Election. They don’t come into play in the primaries.
I just won't.
If the GOP wants to lose big time and send the country down a path that is not Conservative, it can do it without me.
I am tired of being lied to, tired of giving money to candidates and then seeing them stab me in the back, and tired of voting for politicians with a clothes pin in my nose.
I agree. Too bad the race is essentially over for any real Conservative candidate.
Perhaps the only hope is for a brokered convention, but I don't see that happening.
Could be SC like NH has changed over the years, and is not as conservative as it used to be. Of course the constant negativity in the press about Fred probably led some to think their vote would be wasted by voting for him. Too bad, because they advanced the moderate wing of the party by their reticence.
Not "fairly" enough.
He supported gun confiscation in Massachusettes, the "assault" weapons ban, and was terrible on the abortion issue.
Moreover, I have not been impressed with his lack of integrity on the campaign trail.
I won't support him.
Have you seen any of the other candidates in any other role than 'preaching to the choir'? They're all holding gatherings of those who have come to see them specifically. Fred's no different from any of the others in that regard.
According to Fred Thompson’s own plan, if I make $99,000 this year (after my allowable deductions), my tax is $9,900, netting me $89,100.
If I make $101,000 (after making the same deductions, my tax is $25,250, netting me $75,750.
Sorry, that doesn’t sound very good to me.
Fred said he would sign the FairTax bill, but then said he was against it. He lost any chance of my support (in the primary) with that flip alone.
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