Posted on 7/7/2007, 5:43:05 PM by bnelson44
Tonight I had the pleasure of meeting Fred and Jeri Thompson for the very first time. They were in Atlanta for a fundraiser for his Presidential campaign.
The event was co-chaired by Tom Bell and my good friend Steve Croy of Savannah and held at the Bell residence in Atlanta. My old boss Guy Millner and his wife Ginny were in attendance, as well as former Senator Mack Mattingly, another good friend and one of the early spearheads of the Draft Thompson movement. Several of my friends from the Georgians for Fred draft campaign were there tonight, including Mark Rountree, Gabriel Sterling and Tommy Sandoval.
A number of my legislative colleagues were also there to show their support, including Senators Chip Rogers, Cecil Staton, Bill Hamrick, Jack Murphy, Don Thomas and Eric Johnson. The Lieutenant Governor made an appearance, as did Insurance Commissioner John Oxendine.
Thompson gave a well received speech, talking mostly about tax reform and national security. He took questions from the audience, including one about when he would announce his candidacy. He asked us to “keep our powder dry” for another several weeks and said he looked forward to coming back to Georgia soon.
Thompson said the experts had told him that he would need to raise $100 million during 2007, but that since the year was half over and he was already number one or two in every poll, he felt he had saved at least $50 million. It was a joke, but probably about right. Bell told the crowd that the event tonight had raised over $400,000.
I had a chance to visit briefly with Jeri Thompson. She is very personable and would make a splendid First Lady.
I also saw my friend Joel McElhannon. He is wrapping up his work as general consultant for Jim Whitehead next Tuesday. He said he could not tell me what he was doing next but did mention that he would temporarily be relocating to Nashville.
My powder is dry Fred!
Can someone tell me what executive experience Thompson has that would persuade me to vote for him?
Got a better GOP choice who could actually win?
I am not happy with the candidates we have put up so far, but of those, Romney has the best track record. He has already shown more willingness to stand up against Democrats than any of the last three Republican nominees.
Exactly the same Abe Lincoln had. :-)
Hoodat must be for that quirky Mormon
Smart man!
More than Lincoln.
Oh, no, not that Precious Willard boosterism crap. Enough already. His executive experience amounted into a big “F.”
Shall I pull out the facts of his nailing the coffin lid shut on the MA GOP again ? And no, Hoss, any GOP will not win. That was the kind of thinking we had in 1992 and 1996, and look where it got us.
I see no evidence that that statement is true. In fact I see a lot of evidence that it is not.
This country won’t elect a Mormon Republican into the White House. Not at this time. The Libertarians and the Left are way too prejudiced for that to happen.
Do I need to be a cabinet member in some previous administration to get your vote?
If I remember correctly, Harry Truman didn't have any great amount of executive experience before he became President, either. As long as Fred puts the right folks in place in his administration, in Cabinet positions, and on the Supreme Court, as the opportunity presents itself, he'll be doing OK.
Last year, a Gallup poll indicated that 66 percent of Americans are not “ready” for a Mormon president, and an L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll found that 37 percent of voters said they would not cast their ballot for a Mormon presidential candidate.
http://www.suntimes.com/news/falsani/350549,CST-NWS-fals20.article
I’m sure more conservatives are not ready for a RINO president, one more roadblock to Romney
True, of course. I was just pointing out that if we always had a Gubernatorial prerequisite of our Presidents, Lincoln would never have become President. Neither would’ve George Washington, John Adams, James Madison, John Quincy Adams... well, you get the picture. ;-)
maybe you would prefer Hitlery...her only exp was as a lawyer for a sleezy law firm before the STUPID voters made her a Senator.....
I doubt that you could be persuaded if Fred Thompson had been CEO of a Fortune 500 company for the past five years. Your purpose in posing such a question is not to seek an answer, but to sow doubt. You already have a favorite candidate in mind.
The real answer is that executive experience is not a good predictor of success as President. And if you look at the present crop of candidates you find that most of the pretenders (or should I say contenders) are notabely short on executive experience, save one ex-governor and one ex-mayor.
On the Democrat side, I think the lack of experince is almost overwhelming.
I’d rather have a clear thinker, articulate and level-headed, and committed to restoring the Federal system as far as it is now possible to do so, than to have a liberal ex-big city mayor.
How do you like the sound of ‘President Kusinich’?
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