Why Fred Thompson?

Townhall ^ | 31 MAY 2007 | Robert D. Novak

[radar101]

Fred Thompson sat at the end of a long table in The Monocle restaurant on Capitol Hill Tuesday night for dinner with some 20 fellow conservatives, mostly journalists. He sent two signals. First, he sounded like a man who has decided to run for president. Second, his candidacy will be something different from other Republicans, in both substance and style.

This was one of the irregular sessions of the Saturday Evening Club, which is not a club and never meets on Saturday. The name was purloined from H.L. Mencken's Baltimore discussion club by R. Emmett Tyrrell Jr., editor-in-chief of The American Spectator. Tyrrell arranges and presides over these events, always featuring a guest newsmaker -- usually a Republican presidential hopeful over the past two years. Former Sen. Thompson was the most intriguing of them because he has become a leading prospect for president even though he has not announced his candidacy and has no real campaign.

Thompson's performance Tuesday night, with his remarks off the record, helped show why many Republican insiders are ready to support him. Thompson is winning straw polls at Republican conferences and running well in polls mainly because of dissatisfaction, for varying reasons, with the three leading GOP candidates -- Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney. But Thompson at the dinner table confirmed the widespread perception inside the party of his potential to be an extraordinary candidate.

Thompson disappointed in his first speech as a prospective candidate, addressing the Lincoln Club of Orange County, Calif., on May 4. Discarding a speech he had written himself, Thompson ad-libbed from handwritten notes, a performance that placed him in the usual run of Republican after-dinner speakers. This was not the second coming of Reagan that Californians envisioned. Was all the excitement about Thompson merely engendered by his television role as the formidable Manhattan district attorney on "Law and Order"?

He stuck to his prepared cards for his second speech, at a Republican state party function in Stamford, Conn., last week, and it was a considerable improvement. It sounded more like an off-the-record conversation he had with me in Orange County, Calif., before his speech there, and his Saturday Evening Club conversation.

The Connecticut Republicans, down to one seat in Congress after 2006 election losses, cheered when Thompson told them: "I think the biggest problem we have today is what I believe is the disconnect between Washington, D.C., and the people of the United States. People are looking around at the pork barrel spending and the petty politics, the backbiting. The fighting over all things, large or small, is creating a cynicism among our people." That cynicism, Thompson contends, mandates a different kind of campaign for 2008.

Thompson implied at Stamford that Republicans, along with Democrats, are responsible for making Americans cynical. While so far not spelling this out publicly, he deplores ethical abuses, profligate spending and incompetent management of the Iraq war. He becomes incandescent when considering abysmal CIA and Justice Department performance under the Bush administration. He is enraged by Justice's actions in decisions leading to Scooter Libby's prison sentence.

In his Senate voting record and his public utterances, Thompson is more conservative than Giuliani, McCain or Romney. He takes a hard line on the war against terror (referring in Connecticut to the danger of "suicidal maniacs" crossing open borders) and worries about immigration policy creating a permanent American underclass. His one deviation from the conservative line has been support for the McCain-Feingold campaign reform, much of which he now considers overtaken by current fundraising practices and perhaps irrelevant. Overall, his tone, in a soft Tennessee drawl, is less harsh than that of other Republican candidates -- a real-life version of the avuncular fictional D.A. he plays on TV.

Beyond ideology, Thompson envisions a 21st-century campaign, utilizing the Internet more and spending less money than his opponents. When speaking to a friendly audience or ruminating off the record, the 6-foot-7 actor-politician does not look or sound like the GOP's announced candidates for president. His challenge will be to convey that impression when he appears with opponents on the same stage in the immediate future.

Robert Novak is a syndicated columnist and editor of the Evans-Novak Political Report

[ItsTheMediaStupid]

He takes a hard line on the war against terror (referring in Connecticut to the danger of "suicidal maniacs" crossing open borders) and worries about immigration policy creating a permanent American underclass.

He has the same supporters as Bush, so this is likely to be an out and out lie.

[Dreagon]

Why Fred Thompson? Because I know I speak for an uncomfortably large number of conservatives when I say that he is about the only candidate with a real shot at the nomination that I would bother to get out and vote for in Nov.

[Michael A. Velli]

That cynicism, Thompson contends, mandates a different kind of campaign for 2008.

Oh geez, here we go with the "new tone" again.

[kellynla]

“Why Fred Thompson?”

Because “In his Senate voting record and his public utterances, Thompson is more conservative than Giuliani, McCain or Romney.”

[backhoe]

Fred is the only one I give enough of a damn about to vote for. And walk the streets for. Make of this what you will. I'm not going to argue with people around here, but until he popped up, I had decided to stay home election day 2008.

Yes, all the others were that bad in my sight.

Here's a sampling of Fred- enough for everyone to make up their own minds:

▲ Click to see where he stands on the issues. ▲

 

Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference

 

Fred’s position statements on ABC Radio:

http://abcradio.com/Blog.asp?id=15663&m=5&y=2007

 

How Fred Thompson’s Senate Record Stacks Up

 

Here's the table that  shows the ratings that Thompson earned from various interest groups.

Fred Thompson's Ratings

Conservative Organizations:

• American Conservative Union: ~88
• Americans for Tax Reform: 90
• National Taxpayers Union: 84 (rated 7th best)
• National Right to Life: 77 (scored reduced due to vote for CFR)
• Eagle Forum: 75
• Conservative Index: 80
• Christian Coalition: ~85
• Family Research Council: 100
• Citizens Against Government Waste: 90
• Military Officers Association of America: 100
• NRA: "Staunch supporter of the Second Amendment"

Liberal Organizations:

• Planned Parenthood rating: 0
• NARAL Pro-Choice America rating: 0
• ACLU: 14
• NAACP: ~18
• LULAC: ~20
• Human Rights Campaign: 14
• NEA: ~10 (received a 0 in 2000)
• NOW: 0
• Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence: 13
• AFL-CIO: 0
• SEIU: 0
• American Federation of Teachers: 0

Sources: Project Vote Smart and Various Internet Sources
A tilde represents an average made of scores available.
This is a work in progress. Your mileage may vary.

 

hattip:Spiff

[sweet_diane]

My mom accused me of liking Thompson because of a character he plays on TV, so I'm making a statement in this national forum. I do not watch L & O and never have... and anyway, I would never base a vote on something so trivial!

I like what I've read of him, yet I continue to look for negatives.

[samtheman]

To me, the last one is the most important:

American Federation of Teachers: 0

They are destroying education in America. We need to take back our schools.

[ElectricStrawberry]

Why Fred?

...because he's one of the only 2 Republican candidates that had a hand in stealing your 1st Amendment rights.

[Taichi]

What on earth makes you think he has the same supporters as Bush?

Bush has clearly demonstrated he is no conservative and that he is out of touch with the people of this country. The immigration bill and his inability to comprehend the peoples mood is a great example.

Fred Thompson on the other hand has shown he is very much in tune with the mindset of America. Not that we need a President who obeys the polls, but we do need a president that is aware of the country’s mood.

[VRWCmember]

He has the same supporters as Bush, so this is likely to be an out and out lie.

I have heard him speak on the subject with Mark Levin, and it is NOT an out and out lie. It is an accurate assessment of the position he has taken on "immigration reform".

[Little Ray]

‘Cause he ain’t Rudy Guiliani or John McInsane.

[Aria]

To me, the last one is the most important: American Federation of Teachers: 0 They are destroying education in America. We need to take back our schools

AMEN to that! Especially in Boulder - as seen on O'Reilly...

[backhoe]

To me, the last one is the most important:

American Federation of Teachers: 0

They are destroying education in America. We need to take back our schools.

You've got that right- a table of a man's opponents can reveal more than a list of his friends does-- it looks like he's annoying most of the groups I regard a kooks and charlatans.

[Beagle8U]

The “Three Stooges” that are now the MSM Republican leaders are in a panic over Fred getting in. They know they are toast.

The Romney campaign is already sending out hit-piece mailers on Fred Thompson.

That doesn’t surprise me as much as the other part of the same email from the Romney camp.

ROMNEY IS ATTACKING THE CHRISTIAN FAITH!!!

I couldn’t believe he is that stupid but he is!

He is even saying that Former President Reagan was pro-choice and ( for whatever reason??) seems to take a jab at dog owners!

Here is an excerpt from the email I got today from Romney’s campaign.....

“While all the leading candidates have changed position on a range of issues, Romney has made a clear change on only one issue. While he has always been personally pro-life and vetoed bills opposed by those who are pro-life, he is, like Ronald Reagan, a convert to the pro-life position when it comes to public policy.

If Romney’s Mormon beliefs make him gullible, Christians and Jews must be equally gullible. After all, they believe that men parted the Red Sea and walked on water, that Jesus paid taxes with coins from a fish’s mouth, that a drop of oil burned for eight days, and that Mary gave birth to Jesus as a virgin.

Interestingly, polls show that those most likely to say they would not vote for a Mormon as president are most likely to describe themselves as liberals, who profess to be tolerant.

As for the claim that Romney is too perfect, that’s another misconception: Romney doesn’t have a dog.”

If I was better with my puter skills I would start a vanity thread about this because I think it deserves its own thread.

Romney is finished when this gets out!

[Reagan Man]

Why Fred Thompson?

He's a high profile politico with gravitas, and he has shown strong support among conservatives. There has got to be a serious challenge to the liberal-moderate-centrist politics of Giuliani, McCain and Romney. Fred seems to fit the bill.

[xcamel]

You have to go over to this thread:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1842219/posts
to see how over-the-top the 'mit-bots' are getting.

Yeah, that's me - "Mr Potty Mouth"

[STONEWALLS]

I like his views but he’s just too gloomy looking to catch on IMHO.....an older candidate needs to project a sunny disposition like Reagan did...

[rogue yam]

...the 6-foot-7 actor-politician...

The man grows ever larger before our eyes! By the time he reaches the White House he'll be ten feet tall!

[xcamel]

Big difference between "gloomy" and "serious".

Real conservatives are looking for a serious candidate, with a spine, and a no-nonsense manor. Someone who will laugh in the face of the moon-bats, dismiss the ninnies, and get down to the serious work of dragging this nation back to some semblance of sanity.