Posted on 11/27/2007 12:26:29 AM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Fred Thompson's presidential campaign has been unorthodox since Day 1, and his decision to grab the "third rail" of American politics with both hands is a clear indication that he really is a different kind of candidate.
Since agreeing to run, after a mild draft effort by conservatives looking to fill the void in the race for a candidate who shared their views and values, Thompson has pursued what can only be considered a nontraditional path.
He has eschewed the traditional 24/7 campaign run by his competitors and expected by the Washington-based mainstream news media, which has labeled him poorly prepared, lazy and lackluster.
Yet he runs second in many national polls of GOP voters and leads in parts of the South. Although in recent weeks his numbers have dropped.
Now, the former Tennessee senator turned actor is making reform of Social Security and Medicare — the kind of issues presidential candidates typically avoid like the plague — a major campaign topic as he seeks the Republican nomination.
Although some might consider his course courageous, the conventional wisdom, at least inside the Beltway, is that this is akin to committing political suicide. It will put a big, bright target on his back.
Some of his own congressional supporters are distancing themselves from his ideas. They are aware that since the national retirement program was enacted by Franklin D. Roosevelt 75 years ago, Democrats have successfully used any GOP attempt to change it to bash Republicans as taking food out of the mouths of the elderly.
And, it's likely that Thompson's GOP opponents will try to do the same this time, too. That's because when Thompson says "reform," he means making changes in the financing of those popular programs to ensure long-term fiscal solvency.(continued)
(Excerpt) Read more at dailypress.com ...
I think Thompson is in this to win. He has his own plan and he’s following it.
I don’t think he is lazy or unprepared at all. He strikes me as a crafty old chess player who is making moves in his own time, in his own way, but is precisely where he expects to be right now.
Whether it’s all going to work or not is another story.
GO Fred GO!
Which just goes to show that the punditry inside the Beltway isn't wise, after all.
this is why Fred deserves our support
I would look at this as spend vs vote percentage. Fred has a VERY good ratio while Rudy has a poor ratio. Fred is “mostly” second (sometimes first, sometimes third) and has a spend rate of what Rudy does.
Fred also knows that many folks are tired of the contentious election cycle and want a break from politics. So he is going to take it slow and build up from there. Seems like a wise choice for me.
Fred is doing fine. This is the age of YouTube. Look at what Ron Paul has done. Old media just can not wrap it’s head around the Internet yet.
I admire his stand on reforming social security. I think young people should demand it. I hope he gets support from the 25 to 45 croud. Fred has the backbone to address a problem. Quite a contrast to Hillary. I’m sure what Fred has said after he speaks.
Really? I caught Fred on Fox News Sunday and I was left with the impression that he's just another mealy-mouthed, inside the beltway politician. The man spoke for nearly 15 minutes, almost uninterrupted, and didn't say squat. He spoke in broad generalities when responding to specific questions and for the most part did not connect his thoughts very well at all. I was very, very disappointed with what I heard. (and I'm a Conservative Tennessean)
If somehow he manages to win the nomination and he does this sort of tap dance in a head to head debate with her Thyness and her political machine, he will be cut to pieces.....
I missed his interview with Chris Wallace so I can’t address that,but there is no way Hillary can cut him to pieces. I have seen several of his speeches this year and he sure impresses me. Hillary will not take a stand on anything contraversial.
Fred bump!
Fred put Wallace in his place. It was pretty funny.
It’s just these inside the beltway politicians, and MSM, that tried to cram Illegal alien amnesty down our throats, and we know how that turned out. I don’t think the inside the beltway conventional wisdom has any relationship with reality, and since most of the criticism of Fred is coming from these people, I think its fair to say that they don’t know what they are talking about.
FDT was on hannity today and hit it out of the park.Even hannity was impressed.
Courage — exactly.
The only chance to achieve social security and tax reform is to focus hard on those issues during the campaign. That provides serious leverage once in office because the electee can credibly claim a mandate and use it to push through congress.
Great job, Sen. Thompson.
Yes! All this nattering about Thompson by pundits and inside-the-beltway types harks back to the immigration debacle, and the Harriet Miers debacle before that. The arrogant predictions of the GOP powers-that-be turned out to be 100% wrong in both of those situations. This primary may be another example of how disconnected with the grassroots the GOP bigs are.
I like his policies, but I don’t think he has the campaigning ability and charisma we Americans have come to expect from our leaders. Heck, Bush comes across as a great campaigner next to this guy.
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