Posted on 02/08/2008 6:53:23 PM PST by NoGrayZone
Fred Thompson, the one-time Republican presidential candidate, endorsed Sen. John McCain Friday, calling on the party to "close ranks" behind the presumed nominee
(Excerpt) Read more at blog.washingtonpost.com ...
http://www.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/stories/1999/08/18/president.2000/thompson.mccain/
McCain picks up Thompson endorsement
August 18, 1999
Web posted at: 1:38 p.m. EDT (1738 GMT)
KANSAS CITY, Missouri (CNN) — Sen. John McCain’s bid for the Republican 2000 presidential nomination got a boost Wednesday when he was endorsed by fellow Sen. Fred Thompson, who joined McCain’s campaign as national co-chairman.
“When it comes to personal courage and integrity and the courage to do what he thinks is right, regardless of whether or not it’s particularly popular at the moment, John McCain has shown characteristics of leadership like no one else I’ve ever seen,” Thompson said at a press conference.
Thompson, a Tennessee Republican, and McCain are both independent minded senators who have bucked their party, most notably on the issue of campaign finance reform. McCain has repeatedly sponsored a campaign finance reform bill with Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wisconsin) to ban the so-called “soft money” donated to political parties and Thompson has endorsed his efforts.
When it comes to reform of the way Washington does business, John McCain is the leader,” Thompson said.
McCain is a three-term GOP senator from Arizona. He was a Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam war who spent nearly six years as a prisoner of war.
Thompson headed a Senate investigation into President Bill Clinton’s campaign fund-raising practices and was once mentioned as a possible presidential candidate himself.
In preparing for the Senate campaign finance hearings, Thompson irritated several Republicans when he expressed a desire to investigate congressional campaigns, possibly putting certain GOP congressmen at risk for fund-raising wrongdoing. In the end, the Senate approved an extended investigation.
Thompson had endorsed his campaign of his fellow Tennessean, Lamar Alexander, who dropped out of the GOP race after his poor showing in the Iowa straw poll. Alexander said his showing hurt his ability to raise money. Thompson said he had told McCain that he would help him if Alexander left the race, and they both said they regretted Alexander’s decision to drop out.
“I regretted the circumstances because it seemed to be about money rather than ideas,” McCain said.
At the press conference and in an earlier speech before the Veterans of Foreign Wars national convention, McCain criticized the Clinton Administration for its foreign policy, saying it lacked coherence.
“This administration has conducted a feckless, photo-op foreign policy which is always surprised, which always reacts and reacts on an ad-hoc basis,” he said.
Thompson said that during the war in Kosovo, McCain became the only credible voice in Washington on the subject. Once the U.S. began bombing, McCain was forthright that the U.S. must win the war at all costs once it committed.
“During this last encounter, John McCain became the leading voice on this issue in Washington, D.C., including the White House,” Thompson said, adding “the fact of the matter is that he took a strong position early on because he was able to analyze it and he had the courage to go forward with it, and he turned out to be right, which always helps.”
McCain did not spare his fellow members of Congress, saying that pork-barrel spending continues to dominate the appropriations process, especially defense spending, which is the largest appropriations bill.
“Congress looks at the defense appropriations bill the way Willie Sutton used to look at banks,” he said, referring to the bank robber who said he robbed banks because “that’s where the money is.”
In his VFW speech, he pounded Congress for not closing unneeded military bases and military depots while armed service personnel qualify for food stamps and veterans’ needs go unfunded. “I’m ashamed that Congress finds billions for pork-barrel subsidies but fails to find money for veterans’ health care,” McCain said.
He also said that both Congress and the Clinton Administration have failed to fund defense spending properly and military readiness has suffered.
“For nearly a decade now, government has failed to meet its most important responsibility — to provide for the common defense,” he said in his speech to the VFW.
Questioned about gun control, McCain said existing laws should be enforced, noting that the Clinton Administration has been “derelict” in doing that. But he also said that he supported the recent gun control legislation passed by the Senate and he also said that in light of the recent spate of shootings, new proposals by the Clinton Administration should be looked at by Congress and not dismissed out of hand.
Well, I’m trying to taper off (on the nasty thoughts), if you’ll forgive the pun.
fyi, The ap piece with this tidbit was not running on very many sites.. it was not easy to find..
I didn’t read the entire article initially , a common thing for me. Someone else picked it out and here we are.
Thanks for running a Breaking thread out on it, I asked the mod to either put it there or in front page..
It is not because of politicians that we have survived this long as a nation, it is in spite of them. Let us not lose sight of that simple fact.
In the end, even the enemies within do us a favor from time to time without realizing it perhaps, by jolting a lot of folks from their deep slumber.
Ummmm, I’m one of those thingies you just said. Still doesn’t change my mind about mclame!
While campaigning in Wichita this afternoon with KS senator and former presidential candidate Sam Brownback, John McCain announced that he had recently received the support of another former candidate.
“I also spoke again yesterday to my friend Fred Thompson who assured me he is ready to do whatever it takes to help me win the election in November,” McCain said. “I’m very proud to have the friendship and support of Fred Thompson as well.”
http://hotlineblog.nationaljournal.com/archives/2008/02/mac_says_thomps.html
At this time I am not supporting McCain, but one thing is certain: any candidate we might want to support in 2012 will have endorsed McCain in 2008, unless as is extremely unlikely a successful third party is started this year.
14@ million democrats turned out for the primary 8@ million republicans.. for good reason.. Mclaim was shoved down our throats but most did not swallow.. The ones that did(swallow) are closing ranks.. most/many spat out mclaim and will do so for the election.. The story of what George Bush did to the party and the country has not been told YET... He fractured the party on purpose with aforethought..
“We’re now in the phase of damage control. Pinch yourselves, put your wee hankies down and roll up your damn sleeves.”
Bears repeating.
Himself? Kidding, last I heard he was still going after mclame.
I am sick. My country is gone. I am ready to kill my sister for supporting the Mc Queeg....
I literally cannnot take any more
If you knew me, you would know how apropos that sentence was. Especially the sarcasm part. LOL
You’re all being childish. Fred didn’t endorse McCain to be chosen as his VP! Geez, everyone! He’s an honorable statesman, and he believes in party unity (unlike all the rest of the GOP). McCain is far less of a nightmare for this country (any way you look at it) than Osama or Hillary. Get a grip and everybody grow UP!
Fred is a true leader. He would never be or do what McCain has done — he is his own man. But he is going to conduct himself in a respectful manner, now that the tide has turned, and revealed what we are stuck with. He’s not going to talk smack about WHOEVER our nominee is — even if it would have been Huckleberry Jam or Mr. Mormon.
1999!!!!!!!!!!!!
My concern is this: just as Blacks are the "battered-wives" of the Left, who will pull that lever for the DNC no matter how they're sold out, we conservatives are rapidly evolving into that very same animal for the GOP.
Remember this?
"Of COURSE they'll vote Republican, where ELSE are they going to go?"
If Jesus Christ came down from Heaven to endorse McCain I might vote for him but even then it would be hard. Does anyone know where all the McCain voters are coming from? I have no idea. It almost feels like a set up. How does a candidate win when he is so widely disliked by so many?
“This should drive all the Fredheads batty”
___________________________________________
As a 100% FredHead (I took a week off work to support his campaign in Iowa as a volunteer) I can say that it didn’t drive me “batty” in the least.
Fred did not betray the cause. The conservative cause will not be enhanced by letting Hillary or Obama win in November.
Prima Donas and children throw a tandrum when they don’t get everything they want. We can’t afford to do that. The WOT and SCOTUS are just two of many important reasons why we should make sure that the Dimmocrats don’t win the Presidency.
What Fred did makes sense, and from what I know about him, he did it because he believes that it was the right thing to do for the country he loves so dearly.
LOL.....Oh heck, I’m just going to go back to burying libs under my house.
The stink is tough to hide, but this hobby beats the political system we now have.
I owe someone $5.
Darn.
I didn’t think Fred would do it.
:o(
“Get a grip and everybody grow UP!”
I give a simple opinion, you insult me and tell me to grow up?
Wow. Mighty christian of you.
It would be great if McCain still couldn't get enough delegates to win the nomination!
There is NO ONE that can endorse McCain that will convince me to vote for him.
This battered wife is going to a shelter, and then finding a NEW home!
At some point we have to say, ENOUGH!
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