FRED THOMPSON TO THE RESCUE? (Bob Lonsberry)

boblonsberry.com ^ | 06/01/07 | Bob Lonsberry

[shortstop]

Run, Fred, run.

Please, for the sake of the country and the party, run. Throw your hat in the ring and start fighting for the nomination and the presidency.

As a Republican, yesterday was a red-letter day. Why? Because a genuine Republican was finally in the hunt.

The cat is about out of the bag and it seems likely that soon former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson will announce his desire to seek the Republican nomination to be president of the United States.

Glory hallelujah.

At last there is someone a conservative can vote for. At last, someone a Republican can vote for. At last, someone who stands for something other than guile and ambition. At last, someone who actually believes what the party is supposed to stand for.

Here’s the background.

There are three GOP frontrunners. All are wonderful men, two of them are legitimate national heroes. But all have fatal flaws.

Let’s list them.

John McCain is a patriot from a patriot family. His father and grandfather – both of whom rose to the rank of four-star admiral – stood together on the deck of the USS Missouri in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese surrendered. John McCain was the third successive generation of his family to graduate from the Naval Academy at Annapolis.

And he capped his fearless service to this country as a longtime prisoner of the brutal North Vietnamese.

John McCain is an American hero.

But he’s also a both-sides-of-the-street Republican who tends to mock conservatives more than he represents them. And, when Teddy Kennedy stood up to offer amnesty to every illegal alien in the country, John McCain was standing right there beside him.

That is the last straw. We’ve already had one Republican president who refused to defend the borders, we will not tolerate another one.

So McCain is out.

Rudy Giuliani is an outstanding man. His work cleaning up New York City, and then responding with inspiring leadership abilities in the wake of September 11, make him an outstanding candidate for president.

Unfortunately, he’d make a better Democratic candidate because his personal philosophies are far more consistent with the values of that party than the Republican Party.

Rudy is a liberal, plain and simple. And that just doesn’t fit with the philosophy and purpose of the Republican Party.

Which brings us to Mitt Romney. Less impressive as a leader, more impressive as an organizer. Mitt Romney’s strength is that he has created a superbly constructed and richly financed campaign. It is a tremendous asset and strength which might propel him into the nomination.

But he wasn’t a war hero, and the most notable aspect of his elective career – other than essentially socializing Massachusetts medicine – was failing to stop gay marriage from coming to his state.

Mitt Romney and I are the same religion – though he’s a whole lot better at living it than I am – and, frankly, that draws me to him. But I am nervous about the sincerity of his political beliefs and no amount of fellow-believer benevolence can overcome that.

My beef is that Mitt Romney seems to have been a certified liberal until he was 58 years old. Then he seems to have begun a public preparation for the presidency, including a miraculous and convenient conversion to conservatism. He has, over the last two years, reversed himself on almost all the big issues of the day. I just can’t get my mind around how a man of his age could so resoundingly change his world view.

Also, I think sometimes he doesn’t tell the truth. His account of his experience as a firearms supporter – claiming to have been a hunter all his life – seems to have been shown to be a fabrication.

So, Mitt Romney is not the guy for me.

Fred Thompson, however, he walks on water.

No, he’s not perfect. No, he’s not the second coming of Ronald Reagan.

But he is an unusually bright, gifted and experienced leader whose entire public life has been dedicated to being a genuine card-carrying conservative. He doesn’t believe in global warming, he doesn’t believe in open borders, he doesn’t believe in gun control.

He’s everything Hillary Clinton is not. Heck, he’s everything George W. Bush is not.

The Republican Party is on the verge of becoming pointless. It has so cynically sold out its core beliefs and supporters that it is now nothing more than a cheap copy of the Democratic Party.

George W. Bush has given us record deficits, a massive new welfare program, the attempted federalization of education, unrestricted illegal immigration, the right war fought the wrong way and now he’s a convert to global warming. Republicans gave him the White House and he gave them the shaft.

And they’re hankering for a little bit of the old-time religion, a genuine conservatism that is about something bigger than just winning the next election. In fact, real Republicans – like, presumably, real Democrats – see winning elections as a means, not an end. And while Republicans over most of the last 10 years have been good at winning elections, they have proven woefully inadequate at making those wins count for anything when it comes to advancing conservative policies that will help and strengthen America.

Which is where Fred Thompson comes in.

He is the last chance real Republicans have of getting a candidate on the ballot.

Which is why I hope he runs.

Which is why I hope he wins.

[shortstop]

Run, Fred, run.

He’s everything Hillary Clinton is not. Heck, he’s everything George W. Bush is not.

[JHBowden]

Better Fred than red.

Hell, that sounds like a new tagline!

[backhoe]

Excuse the cut and paste-- I recently cobbled this together:

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. Gawd-awful...

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

FredÂ’s position statements on ABC Radio:

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

How Fred ThompsonÂ’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.

table hattip:Spiff

[tiger-one]

NO
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/2007/05/31/is-fred-thompson-a-small-government-conservative/

[xcamel]

[Huck]

It has so cynically sold out its core beliefs

How foolish can people be??? Cynicism IS the core belief of political parties. They haven't "sold out" anything. They're behaving predictably.

[AFPhys]

“The Republican ... [going along to get along with] ... the Democratic Party [liberals, and] ... George W. Bush has given us record deficits, a massive new welfare program, the attempted federalization of education, unrestricted illegal immigration, the right war fought the wrong way and now he’s a convert to global warming. Republicans gave him the White House and he gave them the shaft.”
-—<>-—<>-—<>-—<>-—<>-—

I believe it is not fair to place this solely on President Bush. IF he had been a different man, he could have prevented much of this, but he really doesn’t believe much in using the veto, or in bad-mouthing his political opponents.

To be fair, most of the blame for this lies on the UNSWERVING DEDICATION of the Senate Democrats to creeping socialism for the United States. That huge block of lockstep votes is a formidible obstacle now to any real conservative concepts in Congress. All they need to get is a few RINO Republicans on any particular issue, and they have a cloture-vote majority... see the recent immigration votes for a recent example.

Moreover, it is a grave error not to include “Campaign Finance ‘Reform’” in this list.

[shortstop]

Your emphatic NO does not match the accompanying article from Cato. NO what?

[Huck]

but he really doesn’t believe much in using the veto, or in bad-mouthing his political opponents.

You can't brush this off. You're basically saying he's unwilling to do his job. He's deferred and punted every step of the way. I understand it. He's not competent, and so for him deferring to others has been a good survival strategy.

To be fair, most of the blame for this lies on the UNSWERVING DEDICATION of the Senate Democrats to creeping socialism for the United States.

Blaming socialism on socialists is fine. That's like blaming crime on the criminals. But we're not debating the existence of socialism (crime.) We're debating the effectiveness of GWB and the GOP to combat it. Of course the criminal is responsible for the crime, but if you've got keystone kops falling all over each other, you've got an enforcement issue as well. It's not enough to say, 'dont blame the moron cop, he didn't rob the bank."

Moreover, it is a grave error not to include “Campaign Finance ‘Reform’” in this list.

I agree. Another fine example of GWB shirking his responsibilities.

[starbase]

I like that slightly-pissed-off look on his face. We need that now. I read one place he would position himself as a candidate that "is an adult, with a firm grip on the rudder", or something like that.

After nearly 20 years of boy Clinton, privileged Bush, and his read-my-lips self serving father, an adult is EXACTLY what we are in desperate need of in the Oval Office today. (and a slightly pissed off adult, would be perfect)

[ghostrider]

I'm not going to argue with people around here, but until he popped up, I had decided to stay home election day 2008.

Hear! Hear! McCain is a third generation military elite. Third generation elites are often not representative of your average American. Rudy is definitely liberal. Romney? Well, he was elected in Massachusetts - enough said. Fred may be the man most able to salvage the tattered wreckage of our sovereign nation. Time will tell.

[jellybean]

And they’re hankering for a little bit of the old-time religion, a genuine conservatism that is about something bigger than just winning the next election. In fact, real Republicans – like, presumably, real Democrats – see winning elections as a means, not an end. And while Republicans over most of the last 10 years have been good at winning elections, they have proven woefully inadequate at making those wins count for anything when it comes to advancing conservative policies that will help and strengthen America.

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

Draft Fred Thompson

If you'd like to join the FRedExpress let me know.

CAUTION: This is a very high volume ping list. You may receive between 5 and 10 pings a day. If you'd rather not receive so many pings, let me know and I'll only ping you once a week.

Please use the keyword 'fredthompson' to index articles relating to Fred.

[xcamel]

the “I should feel sorry for you, you deranged little liberal twit, but you’re not worth the time” look

[P8riot]

The Republican Party is on the verge of becoming pointless. It has so cynically sold out its core beliefs and supporters that it is now nothing more than a cheap copy of the Democratic Party.

AMEN!

[Texas Federalist]

Fred is the only man who can bring all factions of this party together.

[backhoe]

I like that slightly-pissed-off look on his face. We need that now. I read one place he would position himself as a candidate that "is an adult, with a firm grip on the rudder", or something like that. After nearly 20 years of boy Clinton, privileged Bush, and his read-my-lips self serving father, an adult is EXACTLY what we are in desperate need of in the Oval Office today. (and a slightly pissed off adult, would be perfect)

A big "Amen!" to that.

[Silly]

[Atlas Sneezed]

“My beef is that Mitt Romney seems to have been a certified liberal until he was 58 years old. Then he seems to have begun a public preparation for the presidency, including a miraculous and convenient conversion to conservatism. He has, over the last two years, reversed himself on almost all the big issues of the day. I just can’t get my mind around how a man of his age could so resoundingly change his world view.”

---

To those who think Fred is “too old”, they should keep in mind that he is only 8 years older than Mitt was when he was still a certified liberal.

[floriduh voter]

Florida’s starting a Freepers for Fred Ping List.

[Lazamataz]

GALOSHES