Bad News For Those Insisting And Hoping That Fred Won't Run

Race 4 2008 ^ | March 24, 2007 | Republius

[SheLion]

He would get my vote, hands down!  I am just waiting for him to throw in his cap!!!

[massadvj]

Perhaps, he is sucking up the oxygen so that McCain becomes the most credible alternative to Rudy

This is also a distinct possibility. By November, the public will make this a two man race. To Republican insiders, it already is.

[Ghost of Philip Marlowe]

Good reference site.
And good dossier for Thompson.

Thanks for the link.

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

You're wrong...simply dead wrong.

[jellybean]

Me Me Me...add me..please

I don't know. What do you think, Howlin? Should we add him?

Okay...the votes are counted. You're in!

[rob777]

"I think Fred's already running."


So do I.

[showme_the_Glory]

ABR. anyone but Rudie.

[Graymatter]

Voting is a strategic act. Most people will take what they can get. Most Republicans realize Giuliani is the best we are going to be able to do in the current environment.

Voting is also a means of changing the current environment, and if I am given no choice except between most liberal and next-most-liberal, between two advocates of abortion and gun control and whatever-gays-demand; who think Ginsburg was an excellent choice for SCOTUS, and whose policies are mostly the same as Clinton's policies...why on earth should I vote?

Rudy Giuliani would lose the election all by himself, not even needing the devastation the MSM is prepared to rain down on him. The liberal media want him because they know they can ruin him. People who won't vote for liberal policies, won't vote for him; people who do, will vote for the Democrat.

Undecided? Try turning on the tv next summer without hearing about the circus train that is Rudy's baggage.

I'm surprised that anyone puts any stock in polls, especially this early, almost 600 days before the election.

The only good thing about a Giuliani candidacy is that he'd lose so badly, we might learn a lesson and raise up a crop of conservatives from the ashes.

[upcountry miss]

Years ago, I stopped supporting Dems because I believed Reps platform was mainly strong on pro life and pro right to bear arms issues. I'm sure there are many more like me. How does Rudy convince us to stay with the party. I am strongly for Rudy's toughness on crime but not his liberal views.

[rob777]

Look, I may have misspoke there. I just remember seeing that in another thread and threw it in there as a taunt. I don't have any first hand knowledge about it one way or another. I shouldn't have done it, and I apologize because I know these things are very important to folks like you.

The reason Thompson isn't going to run has nothing to do with policy and everything to do with politics. That is my main point, and I shouldn't have strayed from it.




I commend you for your honesty. Your theory sounds more plausible than other "stalking horse" theories I have seen posted. I still am not convinced yet that such is the case.

There are other solid reasons why he would delay an announcement. See Richard Kimball's post #29:

"He's got the Paul Harvey gig right now, with roughly 18 million listeners every day. When he announces, he has to give that up. I'm looking for a June or July announcement. That will give him time to raise money, but also let him keep his show for a while, and continue to build up credibility with the Harvey listeners, who are older and tend to vote in high numbers."

In addition, when he announces he suddenly becomes a media target. As another poster already said, it looks like he is already running. Finally, generating all that excitement and support only to throw it to someone who has not been able to generate such excitement would anger his supporters and possibly damage is popularity as an actor/talk show host. That would be a real DUMB move and I do not think he is that dumb.

[magoo70804]

Run and choose Duncan Hunter as v.p.

[veronica]

The part I copied and pasted. :)

[rob777]

"I personally doubt he is running a smoke screen for Guliani or anyone else."



I agree, even if he does not run all the attention and excitement he is generating could be funneled into another endeavor of his own. Why throw it away by jumping on the bandwagon of someone less able to generate such excitement.

[LibKill]

The part I copied and pasted. :)

Well, alrighty then! :-)

[Pistolshot]

I am pretty sure FDT will get in the race, probably in April. Why? The field of candidates we have now may command some of the GOP voters, but there is a multitude of us out here waiting for some one we can get behind,not take Rudy as our only hope because 'he can beat Hillary'. A lot of these FDT threads always bring out the nay-sayerBot fans. Why? They are afraid, even more than the Defeatocrats are of FDT.
Thompson represents what most of us undecideds are looking for. Not the next Reagan, we will never see the like of him again. But Thompson does represent those of us who are tired of RINO politicians, flip-flopping on a number of views or blatant pandering for votes type candidates.

No politician is perfect, but given the choices we have now, Rudy, John, Mitt, Duncan, and yes, even Ron Paul, I for one, would rather stand on priciple and not commit to a RINO. AND THERE A LOT OF US WHO FEEL THE SAME WAY.
That was our undoing in the last election, we 'settled' for RINO's to be responsible, and we got what we deserved.

Now, for all you nay-sayers out there, answer a simple question if you could or can.
Some of the polls indicate Thompson would hold a significant lead over any of the candidates, Republican or Defeatocrat, WHEN he enters the race, will you still willingly support a half-conservative or a much better choice in Thompson?

Here are my problems with the candidates we have so far.

Rudy=Pro-choice, anti-gun, pro-gay. A leopard cannot change his spots, no matter who the make-up artist is.
McCain=He was done when McCain Feingold passed. (And before you accuse Thompson of flip-flopping here, you should look up his reasoning on why he supported CFR. He was naive, and even he admits it)
Mitt=Snake-oil salesman, panders for any vote he can get.
Ron Paul= Are you kidding? This guy can't play well in the sandbox with his own party, much less garner support from them.
Duncan=I like the guy, too bad no one else in the country knows who he is, good VP material.

Now, I usually don't gett his long-winded, it is my nature to keep responses short, to the point and not commit a lot of words to what I am thinking. Because I have so many other things going on at he same time I wander through FR I keep it pretty simple and straight-forward.

This election is one of survival, for gunowners, pro-lifers, immigration reform, anti-special interest laws, conducting the WoT in a fashion designed to win, and the next 2-3 choices on the Supreme Court. It is NOT about who can beat Hillary. Find a candidate that fits that bill, and it is not any of the ones we have now.

[babygene]

"There is nothing in this that suggests he will run, in fact it supports what I have been saying all along. Thompson is working for Giuliani."

Your theory is mindless...

[RatsDawg]

Ron Paul is also anti-war, thats why I can't stand him.

[Signalman]

Thompson better not wait too long. This thing is going to be decided by next February.

[Josh Painter]

massadvj wrote: "Thompson cannot win because Giuliani and McCain have already pretty much locked in the money, endorsements, campaign expertise, media time, etc."

No, they most assuredly have not locked in the money or the endorsements. According to the latest CBS/NYT poll, most Republican voters (57%) want more choices in the race for the '08 GOP presidential nomination. That 57% includes big-time donors as well as the folks who typically contribute $100 or less. As for endorsements, there have been very few of them for any of the Republican candidates so far in this campaign because it's so early. And nothing can stop a backer from "jumping ship" from one candidate's campaign to another. Just recently, we have seen Tennessee Congressman Jimmy Duncan leave the Mitt Romney campaign to become co-chair of the Draft Fred Thompson Committee.

And wrote: "Just think about who benefits from a long, drawn out Thompson pondering of the presidency. Look at the article. It's a tease. Wife wants him in but no decision for a long time.... sheesh. If he were really getting in, he'd be in by now because there is precious little time to raise the funds, put the staff together, develop the media and copy strategy, etc."

Again, that's just not the case. According to Jimmy Duncan, it is not too late because developments on TV and in the mass media "can move very, very quickly. There are big-money people all over the country and if they see some fast movement toward somebody, they will move fast themselves. It seems to me he'd have a fairly good chance because all of the others have problems of some sort or another." Also, as other candidates drop out of the race, Thompson can pick up their campaign staffers, donors and rank and file supporters. Former Sen. George Allen's staff, for example, has offered to join the Thompson campaign as an intact unit. Howard Baker would be wise not to give them any critical positions, considering what a bang-up job they did for Allen in the off-year elections, LOL!

And wrote: "I am very much on the inside of things in the Republican Party. There are virtually no overtures being made to campaign staff or fund-raisers from Thompson right now. If he were really running, phone calls would be made to potential staff and fundraisers to see who might be available, etc. Nothing like that is going on."

I'm not sure which Republican Party you're "very much on the inside of things for," but in the one I'm familiar with there's plenty of that going on behind the scenes right now. Nothing official, since an exploratory committee doe FDT hasn't even been formed yet. But informally, Thompson's big backers are being contacted by a number of potential staffers and fundraisers who are excited by all of the buzz that has been generated by the grassroots movement for Thompson. Note that Thompson's guys aren't having to recruit staff and donors. Rather, potential staffers and donors are contacting THEM.

And wrote: "So my conclusion is that Thompson is running for Veep or SCOTUS, but not president. You'll know I am wrong when he announces, which isn't going to happen. In the meantime, keep looking for more articles like this. They help Giuliani and give Thompson that much more leverage."

Your conclusions, having been built on erroneous assumptions, are just wrong. Fred isn't running for Veep, nor is he interested in joining the Supremes. It's the contenders for PRESIDENT that 57% of Republicans aren't happy with, remember. Nor does the Draft Fred Thompson excitement help Rudy, and in the not-too-distant future, it's going to hurt him. It mostly hurts the more conservative players (Brownback, Gingrich, Huckabee and Hunter) right now. But it's going to end up hurting the Rudy campaign - big time.

[John Valentine]

Now this REALLY is a laugh!

Last week Fred Thompson was working on McCain's behalf. This week he's working for Giuliani.

Folks indulging in these off-the-wall fantasies should apply Occam's Razor.

Maybe Fred Thompson is actually working for himself.

And, the notion that Fred Thompson can't win is just bizarre. He has huge positives, virtually no negatives, and has great face recognition. He will have a 20% lead over the next guy within two weeks of announcing and will win the general election with at least 40 states.