Doesn't the headline of "Thompson's Politics Much Like McCain's" mirror the now infamous Giuliani quote:
Rudy Giuliani, NY Post, 1996
This writer is attempting to paint Thompson as a moderate to liberal Republican (versus a Conservative) which is just so way off and wrong it's deplorable.
“Fred Thompson...railed against an expanding federal government”
And somehow this is a negative? I want a politician who will keep government small.
No candidate is going to be 100% perfect AND electable. At least Fred appears to be a conservative....I have no idea what McCain is other than a backstabber.
Fred Thompson is sane.
EXACTLY
IMHO, the LSM has been very busy behind the scenes digging for every little piece of dirt they can find on Fred. By now I suspect they've got quite a pile of stories ready to go.
When Fred finally does announce, the LSM will let him have it, both barrels, full choke.
But, IMHO, Fred will weather the storm. Americans are gonna like his style.
Above all else we must come together behind someone, even if they have major flaws, because we and our causes cannot survive defeat. This group of Democrats, if empowered, will change the rules and the judges such that our views will not be allowed the light of day for a generation. They are already working harder on criminalizing our speech as 'hate crimes' than they are on the mechanics of normal government. None of the current GOP wannabes, even at their Rhinoest would act to make a subsequent victory by a better conservative impossible, although I sadly must admit some could make such harder. If this Left wins the only ways our ideals of Life, Limited Government, Gun rights, Family values, etc. will be heard again would be after a disastrous meltdown by the left or by exercising the full original intent of the Second Impediment. The Jihadists might win before we could recover either way so we cannot afford failure. At worst we must at least maintain the current, far from perfect, status quo.
Although we stand within a knife's edge of failure we must also remember we are also close to major victories. Judge Stevens can't hold on forever, nor, probably, can Judge Ginsberg. Even if the left filibusters all replacements we'd probably win the court via simple attrition. Gore's temper tantrum and Bush's suicidal "New Tone" kept him from purging the left's leftovers. All our candidates see the consequences of that and none will repeat that mistake. We might have trouble getting some folks confirmed, but we won't have problems firing people. At worst we might have to make do with a smaller government. I can live with that. And if our eventual candidate turns out to be not just "good enough" but actually "good" he just might lead us to a workable majority in both houses of Congress and enough of a mandate to significantly advance our causes. We aren't the only ones within a knife's edge of failure. Within their warped world view, the left was correct to call some of our candidates in Thursday's debate "scary."
Just watched Bernard Goldberg on C-Span observe that he had listened to a speech by Thompson and disagreed with a lot of what he said, but felt that at least Thompson believed in what he was saying and that this is what many are looking for in a candidate this time around - “I didn’t go along with some of what he said but I came away liking him as a person” - not bad.......
And also in the news, “The Washington Post is synonomous with the New York Times”.
—This writer is attempting to paint Thompson as a moderate to liberal Republican (versus a Conservative) which is just so way off and wrong it’s deplorable.—
Par for the course for the ComPost. The drive-by media are starting to soil their shorts.
“MSM doing Thompson a favor” ping.
I’m a Rudy supporter, as I find him as the strongest candidate right now who has a set to deal with these islamic nutjobs who are hell bent on destroying us. However, If Fred Thompson jumps in the race, I’m going to be very torn as to who I will vote for. (Rudy or Thompson)
The fallacy of the article:
Guilt by association.
Fred ping...for later.
Until I learn more about Thompson I will hold judgment. It bothers me that he is such a strong supporter of McCrazy, and was a cosponsor of McCain Feingold.
McCain Finegold, Grandstanding on the “Torture Amendment”. Gang of 14, Immigration Reform and flip flopping relentlessly on Iraq. Sorry McCain sounds, and acts, NOTHING at all like FT
McCain said Thompson was instrumental in getting McCain-Feingold passed. That’s a bad thing. That’s not some sort of “hit”, Thompson supported a piece of crap 1st ammendment slashing law. He needs to seriously explain why he did that and why he’s gotten smart enough to never do anything like that again, otherwise he’s just McCain without the insanity.
http://race42008.com/2007/05/06/thompson-politically-similar-to-mccain/
Thompson politically similar to McCain
So says WaPo:
“Fred Thompson fervently backed the Iraq war, railed against an expanding federal government, took stands that occasionally annoyed his party and rarely spoke about his views on social issues during his tenure as a senator from Tennessee or in his writings and speeches since leaving office.
In short, the man some in the GOP are touting as a dream candidate has often sounded like the presidential hopeful many of them seem ready to dismiss: Sen. John McCain (Ariz.).
With some in the party clamoring for an alternative to their current field of presidential contenders and Thompson’s allies hinting strongly that he will run, 400 conservatives flocked to Newport Beach, Calif., on Friday night to hear the actor-turned-politician-turned-actor address the annual dinner of the Lincoln Club of Orange County, a group that credits itself with pushing Ronald Reagan to run for governor of California in the 1960s. Thompson delivered a vision of cutting taxes, reducing the size of government, overhauling Social Security and staying in Iraq until “there is some semblance of stability.”
He also called for “reform-minded, change-minded leaders,” a profile that McCain — whom Thompson described as “a man of the highest integrity and courage” in 1999 when he co-chaired the Arizonan’s presidential run — has worked hard to lay claim to over the past decade. Thompson was one of only four GOP senators to back McCain’s bid in 2000, and a former aide to the Tennessean said McCain “was far and away his best friend in the Senate.”
…
Thompson, while he was in Congress, earned a reputation as a maverick. “He’s not predictable,” said Tom Ingram, who was a top adviser in Thompson’s 1994 campaign and now serves as chief of staff for Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.). Conservatives may be drawn to Thompson’s lonely effort in the Senate to reduce the role of the federal government. He opposed bills providing funding for local police departments to buy bulletproof vests and was the only vote in the Senate against a 1997 bill that would have shielded volunteers from liability suits; he argued that both were instances of the federal government reaching into areas that should be restricted to states.
In a recent column on the National Review’s Web site, he bragged about occasionally losing 99 to 1 on votes because of his federalist views.”
Read the whole thing. One of the reasons I’ve been less bearish than some about Thompson’s chances in the general is that ever since I studied his record, I’ve felt that he’s far more of a Phil Gramm/John McCain Republican than a Bush Republican. We know how popular McCain is in states like Michigan; perhaps Fred would do well in those same purple states given his comparable positions.
by DaveG @ 10:27 am.