foxnews.com also says that D’Amato is dropping his endorsement and moving over to McCain (against Giuliani, no shocker there).
Face it folks. Fred lost to Ron Paul in NH and MI and, I think, Nevada. He managed to squeak by Ron Paul in SC (where freepers thought he was going to win with his “surge”) and in Iowa. I don’t recall what happened in Wyoming. Fred is a joke as a campaigner. He won’t even make it to the top of the also-rans. Ron Paul has outraised him and out campaigned him and will last in the race longer. (I’m just observing here....I’m NOT for Paul).
But here’s the point.
Conservatism in the GOP doesn’t die with any particular candidate. Fred, as it turns out, was an incredibly poor vehicle to attach anything to. But that doesn’t mean that we are done. We will live to fight another campaign cycle and hopefully we will find somebody good next time, or, ideally, several good guys and let the best man win. Being right on the issues is not enough. You have to be able and willing to campaign. And Fred was NOT the man in that regard.
Fox just read a statement from Fred that he has quit.
Yes. The idea of Fred was a lot more appealing than the reality. The whole reason behind the idea of Fred was that he was supposed to be this incredibly charming spokesman for conservatism and without that, he's just another conservative ideologue in wide field.
“Conservatism in the GOP doesn’t die with any particular candidate. Fred, as it turns out, was an incredibly poor vehicle to attach anything to. But that doesn’t mean that we are done. We will live to fight another campaign cycle and hopefully we will find somebody good next time, or, ideally, several good guys and let the best man win. Being right on the issues is not enough. You have to be able and willing to campaign. And Fred was NOT the man in that regard.”
That needed to be posted again.
Very true. The “Fred Express” ended up having all the excitement of a pump car. A sad day for Conservatives.
Works fine (only) assuming Hitlery or Obama screw up by pushing their socialist agenda too quickly (first term), outrun their RINO cohorts, and scare the electorate straight.
If "we" elect another empty promise candidate (out a field with nothing else but liberals claiming otherwise, and Ron Paul) the party will simply continue down it's current "we're almost just like them" death spiral.
Keep asking yourself which bodes the worst.
The facts are that many people hung their own expectations on Fred. There were people here who so wanted another RR, another conservative ideologue to carry their banner that went looking for a candidate any candidate who could fit the bill. When no one showed up they molded Fred into that candidate. I believe he was much more conservative in the minds of his supporter than he was in his own mind. If you look at his senatorial votes they were not that conservative. He was conservative on some and moderate to liberal on many others. His immigration votes are particularly enlightening. They are all over the board. His defense of Trial lawyers, his vote for the Daschle GW bill and his involvement in the campaign finance reform fiasco (McCain-Feingold-Thompson)should be more than enough to make someone questions his conservative bona fides.
I think Fred played a good no nonsense conservative on TV and in the movies, and does great as a conservative spokesman in ABC commentaries, but the votes never matched the image. As for those who were impressed by the fact he openly said he didn’t care whether he was president or not(his first campaign interview on Fox), why would you want to choose someone who doesn’t care that much about the job your hiring for? I think the lack of fire during the campaign showed how little he wanted the job. I think he will be a much happier man looking after his mother, and spending quality time with his family. Hopefully he will resume his commentaries on ABC and become a spokesman for conservative ideals something he is much more qualified for.
You are probably right, but sure I am not the only one who is sorely disappointed. Besides, he already has my vote as I hurried to mail my absentee ballot. There was local pressure to get them in, because whenever they count those ballots, they wanted them NOW. This was for 2/5/08 in CA.
Other local issues involved.