Archive for Fred Thompson

Fred gave an excellent speech tonight

Posted by: Jason | September 3rd, 2008 · 1:29 AM

Finally, some red meat. Fred Thompson gave an excellent speech tonight, a combination of both narrative storyline to reintroduce us into John McCain’s past, and scathing attack on Barack Obama liberalism.

Some choice moments:

This is the kind of character that civilizations from the beginning of history have sought in their leaders. Strength. Courage. Humility. Wisdom. Duty. Honor.
It’s pretty clear there are two questions we will never have to ask ourselves, ‘Who is this man?’ and ‘Can we trust this man with the presidency?’.

Some red meat moments:

To deal with these challenges the Democrats present a history-making nominee for president.

History-making in that he is the most liberal, most inexperienced nominee to ever run for president. Apparently they believe that he would match up well with the history-making, Democrat-controlled Congress. History-making because it’s the least accomplished and most unpopular Congress in our nation’s history.

Together, they would take on these urgent challenges with protectionism, higher taxes and an even bigger bureaucracy. And a Supreme Court that could be lost to liberalism for a generation. This is not reform. And it’s certainly not change.

It is basically the same old stuff they’ve been peddling for years. America needs a president who understands the nature of the world we live in. A president who feels no need to apologize for the United States of America.

And…

Now our opponents tell you not to worry about their tax increases. They tell you they are not going to tax your family.

No, they’re just going to tax “businesses”! So unless you buy something from a “business,” like groceries or clothes or gasoline … or unless you get a paycheck from a big or a small “business,” don’t worry … it’s not going to affect you.

They say they are not going to take any water out of your side of the bucket, just the “other” side of the bucket! That’s their idea of tax reform.

My friends, we need a leader who stands on principle. We need a president, and vice president, who will take the federal bureaucracy by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shaking. And we need a president who doesn’t think that the protection of the unborn or a newly born baby is above his pay grade. The man who will be that president is John McCain.

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Faded Dreams

Posted by: Jason | January 20th, 2008 · 9:26 AM

No… I’m certainly not picking on Fred today. This is no time for shots. This is a time however for FredHeads across the land to admit the truth, as I had months ago, that Senator Thompson as president was fools gold from the very beginning.

It was painful to watch Fred’s speech last night, having followed him for the better part of a year, only to witness what would be his last appearance before an inevitable withdrawal from the race to follow soon. He was gracious to his supporters, then cited many of the same points he’s stressed since September (”free people doing free things, a country that doesn’t tax and regulate us to death, small town boys for Lawrenceburg playin’ by the rules” and whatnot).

Fred Thompson is a good man, a true conservative that believes in local control of local things. I hope his presence is felt within the party for years to come as an outspoken voice for less government. But proven in this primary season is that being the “most conservative” isn’t necessarily the formula for being the “most electable”. Fred never brought much more to the table than that, along with mere visions of an old coalition among particular Americans. He couldn’t out-border security any of the others, nor was he more gun-friendly than Huckabee, nor more seasoned on national security than John McCain, nor as vibrant as Mitt Romney.

It would be unfair to blame Fred’s demise on his waiting game in the summer of ‘07 alone, as many a commentator have. Lest we remember, Fred Thompson was atop the polls until shortly after his official announcement in early September, echoed by praises from those of us agreeing that the primary season was just too darn long. No, the truth to Thompson’s failure lies in all of us, who saw in Fred something there was not, a great communicator in the mold of Ronald Reagan. Despite an uncanny skill for knowing statistics and information, and a uniqueness in being the only candidate who branched out to all-three major components of the Republican stool, Thompson was never quite able to deliver it to us in a packaged and simple message.

And as I’ve commended other candidates, I will commend Senator Thompson as well for the nobility in running for president to serve, not to gain recognition or power. He’s a good family man and we trust his fortunes will only improve despite a tough ending to his campaign (let’s not go out on a limb and say hard fought). But his candidacy indeed amounts to one of the greater disappointments in recent political history. Candidates of the future take notice: Americans, even low-government conservatives, want you to earn our vote. I leave you with Senator Fred Thompson’s final concession speech.

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Rudy Tanks

Posted by: Jason | January 9th, 2008 · 4:13 PM

(image: observer)

New Rasmussen numbers out today have Rudy Giuliani dead last in the Republican field nationally. Also, John McCain and Mitt Romney are neck and neck in the polls behind Mike Huckabee.

Huckabee: 22%
McCain: 19%
Romney: 19%
Thompson: 12%
Giuliani: 9%

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It’s McCain!

Posted by: Jason | · 10:36 AM

(image: washingtonpost)

Further along in my “anybody but Romney” quest for the Republican nomination, McCain thankfully wins the New Hampshire primary:

McCain: 37%
Romney: 32%
Huckabee: 11%
Giuliani: 9%
Paul: 8%
Thompson: 1%

A few thoughts…

Not quite the 9-point lashing Huckabee put on Romney in Iowa, but McCain’s victory was decisive enough hopefully for the pundits to begin questioning how Romney can win. How can a guy spend $8 million in both Iowa and New Hampshire and win neither? Yet again, proof positive that Mitt Romney is a weak candidate.

Mike Huckabee carries third place, slightly impressive considering his former 5th-6th place standing before the Iowa victory. He beats a northeastern Rudy Giuliani who actually campaigned 40 times in New Hampshire. Huckabee leaves the granite state in great condition, able to compete in Michigan, and up in every major South Carolina poll.

Fred Thompson is officially finished. I don’t care if he didn’t campaign here. You can’t take 1% of anything and expect to be taken seriously anymore. He’ll stake his claim in South Carolina, and I’d wager won’t go over the 12% mark, only to drop out afterwards.

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2 Republican debates this weekend

Posted by: Jason | January 5th, 2008 · 9:55 AM

(image: nationalgeographic)

Saturday-January, 5

7pm
Saint Anselm College-Manchester, NH
ABC and Facebook jointly host
Invites: John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson, Ron Paul (Duncan Hunter excluded)

Sunday-January, 6

TBA
New Hampshire Republican Party-Milford, NH
Fox News Channel
Invites: John McCain, Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson (Ron Paul/Duncan Hunter excluded).

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Come on ol’ buddy… it’s time.

Posted by: Jason | January 4th, 2008 · 10:00 AM

(image: observer)

Fred Thompson’s a great guy, but it’s time for him to go. I’ve watched all the media coverage this morning, and it seems his campaign actually thinks last night’s distant 3rd place showing in the Iowa caucus was one to celebrate. It wasn’t.

Let’s break this down. Thompson, the supposed “conservative alternative”, received just 13% of the Iowa vote, compared with the other conservative alternative, Mike Huckabee, who was honored with 1st place at 34% (that’s nearly 3 times the voters). Thompson’s 13% ranked a mere virtual tie with John McCain, also at 13%, who barely campaigned at all in Iowa (and supports cuts in ethanol subsidies).

It’s not that I fear Fred in the race, it’s that I truly care about him keeping his honor, and there’s nothing more pathetic than a guy hanging around too long. He should be focused on supporting one of the candidates who can win. There’s simply no possible way Thompson gets this nomination, I’m sorry to tell those Fred supporters. Fred is a combination of John McCain and Mike Huckabee, and I’m pretty sure those two are already getting their own support.

It comes down to this in the race: If you’re voting for social issues and economic populism, you’re voting Huckabee. If you’re voting strictly national security, you’re voting McCain. If you’re voting economic issues, you’re voting Giuliani. At one time, Fred Thompson presented the vision of a guy who united the base, who covered all these issues together, but that time has come and gone. He is now a forgone conclusion in this race, and any mention of Thompson’s name gives me visions of a tired old guy sleeping in a La-z-boy.

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Huh?

Posted by: Jason | December 31st, 2007 · 12:02 AM

(image: abcnews)

OK… Can anyone out there who once supported Fred Thompson please do the rest of the conservatives a favor and throw their support to a guy that might actually win the nomination, like Mike Huckabee or John McCain, in the hope that the two fakes, Rudy and Romney, won’t get it?

Here are some new comments fresh out of the Sioux City Journal today. Fred Thompson, when asked about running for president:

“I am not consumed by personal ambition. I will not be devastated if I don’t do it,” he said. “I’m not particularly interested in running for president.”

He goes even further into the abyss:

But he said others convinced him to run.

“I approached it from a standpoint … of kind of a marriage. You know if one side of the marriage has to be really talked into the marriage, you know it probably ain’t going to be a good deal for either one of them. But if you mutually think that this is a good thing — in this case you think it’s a good thing for the country — then you have an opportunity to do some wonderful things together,” he said.

Interpretation: Fred was just being Fred one day, laying around the house, half asleep with a bag of doritos on his chest as he sat in his lazy boy, when suddenly, his young and ambitious wife Jeri walks into the room, every so dashingly, politely telling him that he’s got a race to run if he ever wants a shot in the bedroom again.

This, my friends, is the only logical reasoning I can figure in my own mind as to why Fred Thompson ever ran for president.

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Standstill

Posted by: Jason | December 27th, 2007 · 5:40 PM

(image: abcnews)

Today’s Rasmussen numbers are showing a trend, that national support for Republican candidates is at a standstill. Since before the Christmas holiday, GOP poll rankings haven’t changed much, suggesting that non-Iowa residents may be waiting to see results from the Iowa contest to pick the man who looks like a winner.

Huckabee: 20%
Giuliani: 18%
McCain: 14%
Romney: 13%
Thompson: 11%

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Whole New Race?

Posted by: Jason | December 21st, 2007 · 12:22 PM

(image:abcnews)

Conventional wisdom has suggested a few inevitabilities about the coming election. Until recently, we believed that Rudy Giuliani, “America’s Mayor”, and his band of moderate groupies, would simply sweep the larger states through name recognition alone post-Florida. Likewise, that if any potential challenger had the slimmest of chances, he’d need to run a long shot sweep of the early states in order to gain enough momentum to unite the conservative base (currently split by Huckabee, Romney, and Thompson).

If trends continue, conventional wisdom may be knocked on its proverbial head. Rudy Giuliani is fading in the polls, nationally, as well as in traditional states he was sure to carry with ease. Giuliani’s big state strategy began in Florida, but most polls have seen his lead in the sunshine state now shrink between a 4-7 point advantage only. Rudy being capped at 29% and fading, one of the two leading conservative contenders may be poised to pass Giuliani, (Huckabee already has in one Rasmussen poll) as either Huckabee or Romney will surely begin to consolidate support through successes in earlier states like Iowa and South Carolina. Similar trends for Mayor Giuliani are showing up in Texas (where Huckabee is leading in one recent poll), Nevada (where Romney and Huckabee are gaining), Missouri, and Ohio.

What if this race changed into an entirely different story? What if all five candidates, mimicking the national polls through the public’s increased knowledge of their candidacies and stances now, were able to command a national competition that went state to state without fear of the Giuliani juggernaut waiting to gobble up a divided conservative base? The latest Rasmussen national poll has Giuliani down to 4th place at 13%, behind Huckabee (21%), Romney (15%), and John McCain (15%). Will the national trends effect other larger states such as California and others as they apparently have in Florida?

If so, we may see a reflection of these national polls on a state by state basis. If Giuliani isn’t conceived as the inevitable candidate any longer (his being “most electable” was the only reason many conservatives were supporting him), than he can only command his true believers, socially-moderate Rockefeller Republicans and war hawks that split McCain. Likewise, Mike Huckabee commands the majority support of evangelical Christian conservatives and traditional social conservatives alike, Mitt Romney splits traditional Republicans with swing voters that now view him as most electable (Rudy’s old electable mantle is starting to lean Romney), and John McCain with his moderates, independents, and war hawks. Fred Thompson hasn’t proven he can play with the big boys and will surely be out of the race after South Carolina (if not Iowa).

So who wins under this scenario? That answer lies in who commands the biggest entirety of a particular base. In this situation I believe a few things will happen. First, that Rudy Giuliani, who for months has enjoyed a cap at 25% support in the Republican Party (only because of electability reasons), will dip down to 20% or lower nationally. Moderates are only so powerful in the party during a primary. John McCain will split moderate and war hawk votes with Rudy, himself cappin