[nathanbedford]

John:

Yes he is mentioned these things but they must be integrated into a holistic and synergistic program that is mutually supportive and brings people to the inevitable conclusion that the Republic is at stake and these things are urgent. A random grab bag of issues, no matter how conservative, will not seize the moment. If the Republican candidate does not seize the moment, the media will and the Democrats will win.

That message must be delivered with conviction and energy. So far, Fred Thompson has demonstrated conviction but many observers, at least in the chattering class, are yawning. So, voters must walk away with a conviction that Thompson's message is right and that Thompson is the right messenger, that is, he is the only man who sees the problem and the solution and has the energy to solve it.

Surely you cannot contend that he has done that so far.

Fred's my pick and, therefore, the criticism was meant to be constructive.

[John Valentine]

Surely you cannot contend that he has done that so far.

That is PRECISELY what I contend he has done so far. He is the only caandidate to have seen the problem, ARTICULATED IT, and posited a potential path forward.

A HARD path, by the way; there are no easy ones left.

But, give the man at least a bit of a break- he only announced two days ago.

He'll be polling ahead of Giuliani within ten days, and by the end of November Fred will be on top in both Iowa and New Hampshire. And it will be despite his refusal to pander, and despite the "chattering class".

And despite his taking on an issue that beat Bush.

By the way, IMHO, the only reason Bush failed in his attempt to fix Social Security is that he completely failed to put the issue into its true context. i.e. Bush failed to construct a compelling narrative to close the deal. Thompson won't make that mistake, and Democrats will be forced into submission by the voters back home.

[SuziQ]

So far, Fred Thompson has demonstrated conviction but many observers, at least in the chattering class, are yawning.

That's because the 'chattering classes' think they are way more sophisticated than we drooling peons. If someone doesn't genuflect to them, that person is dissed.

That's why I don't pay attention to the pundits, at all.