Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Quick Reference
Fred Thompson FAQ: THE Fred Thompson Web Resource
Posted on 06/22/2007 3:30:57 AM PDT by Kaslin
Even though the 2008 presidential campaign is in full swing, I have not heard a lot of talk about who the most likely vice presidential candidates will be. So far that talk has been largely limited to discussion of the second (and third) tier presidential hopefuls who have been getting exposure through the debates. I expect my favorite though, Michael Steele, will be getting plenty of VP buzz as the election nears.
Since February of this year, Steele has served as chairman of GOPAC. Among other things he was an attorney, founder of a business and legal consulting firm, and Chairman of the Maryland Republican Party before serving as Lieutenant Governor of Maryland beginning in January 2003. In 2006, he was the Republican nominee for United States Senate in Maryland.
I have been a big Steele fan for several years now. On election night 2006 I knew Republicans would be taking some big losses, but was hopeful that Steele would win the Maryland Senate race. Steele’s loss in that race was the toughest of the night for me. The fact that he was competitive in an overwhelmingly Democratic state was impressive, which made the loss in some ways even harder. Although he did not win the race, Steele ran an excellent campaign, which included some amazing ads. His performance in the debates was impressive, as well. During the course of that campaign Steele showed himself to be a star on the national stage.
The Republican candidates for President and Vice President in 2008 need to be excellent communicators. One of the biggest failings of the Bush presidency has been the inability to effectively communicate. Michael Steele is one of the best communicators the Republican party has today. Not only did I see that in his innovative television advertisements and campaign appearances, but in a speech I watched him give in North Carolina recently.
In April I attended the Civitas Institute's Conservative Leadership Conference and heard some excellent speakers, including presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani. No one, however, was any more impressive than Michael Steele. In the speech he talked about the opportunity he found in the Republican party. He was funny and energetic and got a wildly enthusiastic response.
Steele came from a family of Democrats, but was attracted to the Republican party. He once said "I grew up in an FDR-JFK-LBJ household and I was a Democrat for maybe 15 minutes. The first election that I could vote in was 1976. I was impressed by the peanut farmer from Georgia, but even more impressed by Ronald Reagan. He had the same values as my mother. It just clicked with me." That makes him more qualified than most to explain to others what the party can offer them.
Most impressive to me was the optimistic way Steele described conservatism. He also used humor to good advantage, telling a joke that illustrated his belief that the Republican party offers opportunity, while the Democrats offer only hope. He gave an amusing illustration with the joke about a conservative and a liberal walking down the street and coming upon a homeless man. He said the conservative handed him his business card and invited him to come to his office to talk about a job, then he handed him twenty dollars. The liberal, not wanting to be outdone, pointed the man to the nearest welfare office and then handed him fifty dollars -- from the conservative's pocket.
If I had any doubt, that speech convinced me that Steele is as excellent a communicator in person as he is on television. Scott Elliott of Election Projection.com watched the speech with me and later wrote that Steele would be an excellent president. I won’t say Steele is “articulate” because evidently you are not allowed to use that word to describe a black person without being branded a racist, but he is an incredibly powerful speaker. I guess I forgot to mention earlier that he also happens to be a black Republican.
Dick Morris believes Hillary Clinton has a good chance of winning the presidency even though her poll numbers can’t seem to break the 50 percent mark and she has high negatives among likely voters. Morris says that traditional polls don’t matter as much in her case because the fact that she is a woman means that many of those who do not usually bother to vote will turn out to vote for the first woman president.
I expect the same will be the case when it comes to a black candidate for president or vice president. Steele increased the percentage of black voters pulling the Republican lever in Maryland in 2006. I have no doubt he would do the same nationwide. What I love about Steele though is that he does not run as an “identity politics” candidate.
During his Senate run, Steele was asked if being African-American, Republican, Catholic, and pro-life put him into a box. He answered, “It puts me in the mainstream of America, baby. What you just laid out is one way to describe Michael Steele. The other way to describe him is he's a brother who cares about the working man and woman. As an African-American, I think it's time that we respect the fact that there is a wide range of opinion and diversity of thought.”
In response to a question about whether or not conservatism has appeal in the black community, he said, “Everyone will tell you, at least off the record, that the majority of African-Americans are conservative. They’re God-fearing, church-going conservatives when it comes to a host of issues. I get sick and tired of seeing people trying to pejoratively put us in a box and say we all think and feel and believe the same thing, the same way. Black leadership is very different from everyday black folks — trust me.”
One last point for those who are still not convinced that Steele would be an amazing addition to a presidential ticket -- he is young and tall and good looking. Those things probably shouldn’t matter, but we all know they do.
Michael Steele is a proud conservative Republican who not only knows why he believes what he does, but he knows how to explain it to others in such a way that it makes sense. If that is not what is needed in the Republican party today, I don’t know what is. Lorie Byrd is a Townhall.com columnist and blogs at Wizbang and at LorieByrd.com.
This is an excellent suggestion for the GOP nominee!
Thompson/Steele 2008
Fred vs Hillary in the Presidential Debates
Michael vs Barak in the VP Debates
—ditto-
Rudy and Steele would be great, but I wouldn’t be surprized to see Rudy and Fred, as I think that’s what the plan is
Rudy will NOT be the GOP nominee.
Interesting. I hadn’t even thought about Steele. I’m not sure he’s very well known outside his region, but it certainly sounds as if he should be.
Thompson/Steele ‘08 has the definite ring of a winner!
I could easily live with that.
I expect he won't. I imagine the VP slot will go to one of the minor presidential candidates, Brownback or Huckabee.
Not a chance. Fred Thompson doesn't want to be Vice-President, he want's to be president. At his age if he spends 8 years as Veep then he will have no chance to win the office in his own right.
Why ? What elected office has he won ? What constituency does he represent ?
I dont want to see Rudy anywhere near the Presidency.
I believe Michael Steele would make a great VP.
His problem in winning the Senate was that the democrats used their plantation negroes in Prince Georges and Baltimore to place their man Cardin in office. They advertised that Steele wasnt “Black” enough, and many blacks listened.
IMO if Steele had stayed Lt. Governor we would have re-elected Ehrlich. Too bad,but its Monday morning quarterbacking, too late to do anything about it. Perhaps his loss in the Senate race will lead to his win as VP.
When Hillary picks Richardson for her VP, Steel could help pick off many black votes angry Obama wasn't given the nod. Although I am more partial to picking the best VP candidate possible ala Cheney, Steel would be pretty good.
I agree!!
I agree with you 100%. The Lt. Governor in Maryland is a do nothing office. How laughable it would be to pick someone like Steele when there are more qualified conservative blacks such as JC Watts. That said, I hope Thompson picks Duncan Hunter for VP if he is the GOP Presidential candidate. The folks that push Steele are the same ones that think my Governor Mark Sanford is a swell guy that would make a great president when in reality he is about as sharp as a sack of wet kittens.
Excellent suggestion.
Your tag says it all:
(The Democratic Party will not exist in a few years....we are watching history unfold before us.)
Hollow.Empty.Dead.
At this time it is hard to tell.
A Thompson/Steele ticket would be enough to draw mw back into politics, which the current crop of Republicans - state, national, and,local - has convinced me to abandon.
Obama will not be the VP for Clinton . . . IF she’s the nominee. He adds nothing she needs to the ticket.
But Thompson/Steele sounds pretty good, assuming Hunter doesn’t make it.
I could go for a Thompson/Steele ticket
What makes you think Obama would want the Vice-President slot? If the ticket wins then it's 8 years before he can run on his own, and if history is any indicator sitting vice-presidents very seldom advance to the presidency. If the ticket loses then he's second banana on a losing team, and history is even harder on them. Better to regretfully decline Clinton's offer of the second spot, stay in the Senate, campaign his ass off for her, and build up credits for 2012 or 2016.
Although I am more partial to picking the best VP candidate possible ala Cheney, Steel would be pretty good.
I agree with you that Steele is not an appropriate choice. Who do you think would be the best VP candidate available?
Works for me!
Forget Rudy. Just because he showed great leadership during 9/11 is no reason to vote for him.
Very interesting! Especially if Obama winds up on Dem ticket.
“...I wouldn’t be surprized to see Rudy and Fred...”
Surely you jest...an outside chance for a Fred/Rudy ticket, maybe. Rudy will not head the ticket...
I could see Rudy in the administration though
I am betting on Mark Sanford for veep.
That's not going to happen. Unless Hillary does the kind of sinking that we've only seen with McCain, both she and Obama are going to go into the Rat convention with some delegates. His financial base will keep him viable through the primary season, and he will surely pick up delegates in states that have high proportions of black voters in their Democrat base.
Hillary will 'steal' the nomination from Obama. She's bought and paid for (or can at least intimidate with FBI file information) enough of the superdelegates, who are elected Rat officials who are guaranteed a seat on the convention floor. Black American voters are going to be outraged when this happens.
We can fight Hillary's successful 'steal' with our 'Steele', who will garner votes from African-Americans eager to stick it to Hillary. She doesn't have Bubba's 'blackness' rubbing off on her. I'm certain by the time of her coronation in the Rat Party, she will have said a LOT of things that will diss black voters.
Yes, Michael wasn't black enough for them, so they voted for a white guy instead. Logical.
Who is Mark Sanford?
“When Hillary picks Richardson for her VP, Steel could help pick off many black votes angry Obama wasn’t given the nod.”
I think you are talking about a small percentage of Black votes, and much of that group will stay home. What Steele provides is a reason for White “moderates” to feel good about voting for a Black man. That’s solely the reason Obama got elected. Even here in Illinois, he was a non-entity until the general election.
Look at the polling among Democrats. Hillary has the women's vote locked up (65%). Obama has the black vote locked up (65%).
Clinton/Obama, together on a ticket, would be a near insurmountable obstacle for any Republican to overcome.
Don't forget that Obama and Clinton are both radical leftists. He could go on to run for President in 2016, tapping even more into white guilt.
Steele nearly won statewide for the Senate. He represents conservatives in a way many of the current front-runners do not.
YES!!
JC Watts is a good man, but from what I hear, had Clinton-like “can’t keep it in his pants” problems (while married) and that could come back to bite us in the butt.
If Clinton is the nominee, she will have the black vote locked up without Obama. Also, both are from northern States. She needs a VP from the south.
Thompson will lose a great deal of support if he chooses McCain for the VP slot.
Here is a radical idea: Thompson/Rice 2008
Gov of SC. I think he is the most appealing R governor.
Here’s a sane idea. Keep Thompson where he is, a grandad being dad.
If Rudy is on the top of the ticket I'm not voting for it. Period.
When you say “Thompson,” please use first names. Tommy Thompson is the only Thompson who is in the race, and he should be the president. In a May Des Moines Register poll, he received support of 7%, which is more than Fred Thompson received.
Two of the last three republican presidents were governors. Once, within the past 110 years, our country elected a republican former U.S. senator to be president, and that was Nixon. While Tommy Thompson was the governor of Wisconsin, he proved that he’s pro-tax cuts, pro-welfare cuts, pro-life, pro-capital punishment, pro-gun rights, and anti-gay marriage. He’s against the immigration bill and wants to deport more illegal aliens.
I would welcome Mr. Steele as VP anytime, and even President, if he gets that far. I like him.
“Vice President Steele?”
Um....almost, but NO.
Throw out the tacit support for the blatantly racist Affirmative Action program and then we’ll talk.
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