Posted on 12/04/2007 3:55:13 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
SPARTANBURG, SC (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson says Americans need to choose a president next year that will get the country back on the right track.
The former Tennessee senator told an overflow crowd of about 100 people at a Spartanburg restaurant that the nation needs a true conservative as president to help lessen the influence of liberals in Congress.
Thompson also emphasized his Southern roots and says he is an example of the true American story.
Thompson also talked about his bedrock conservative values and said he is unique among Republican candidates in that his stance on key issues hasn't changed. That was clearly a jab at Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.
Thompson plans later stops in Greer and Greenville.
FREDHEAD BUMP
All conservatives will; it is the RINOS and “moderates” that will be the death of us all.
So after x years Repub president x years holding both House and Senate the country is now on the wrong track
Nice Fred. Keep em coming.
But think about the message it’s so easy to counter.
Fred basically states that the Republicans put the country on the wrong track and only the Republicans can put it right if you just give us another chance.
As a campaign slogan it is worse than weak.
How’s about stress the positive, great economy, winning in Iraq (despite the Dems)
Playing up the “fact” that the Republicans have somehow failed is not a winner.
I have no trouble with Fred running against spineless RINOs.
That makes no sense he should be running against the Dems. Destroying your own solves nothing.
“Fred is right, the country is heading in the wrong direction!”
I also think Fred is right. The problem is we have had just too many Republicans who are acting too much like DEMS!
happened to catch a clip of him on some Sunday morning show (at a coffee shop, in and out), with a still of Terri Schiavo as a backdrop. That got my attention; I was glad he made sure the subject wasn't forgotten, but he didn't sound as strong as I'd have liked about it -- he hedged, it seemed, when questioned by the talking head.
Truth is an early casualty in a political race. There are many Republicans who prefer a moderate candidate. So be it. Why aren't the moderates running as moderates? They should be what they are and stand on their records. If they don't, and instead pretend to be something they are not or have not been before, then they should be prepared for another candidate to point it out.
All I’m saying is that by dwelling on the percieved negatives of your own party does not win elections.
It may win primaries, which come first. And in this case, it happens to be the truth, in my opinion. I think someone can run as an individual, if he makes himself distinct enough.
The first step is to win the primaries. To focus the base, rally the party.
Frankly the current crop of republicans DO have a lot to answer for. Their lack of direction, lack of cohesion and inability to act like a majority party cost the country in many ways and cost them the 06 election.
“All conservatives will; it is the RINOS and “moderates” that will be the death of us all.”
It amazes me how many people are so quite to say someone is a RINO. Seems like every time someone descover’s someone with a different view than their’s, they are labeled a RINO.
Also, the terms consevative, moderate, & liberal have no single point of reference that all can agree on to guide how to define them. So, they have essentially become meaningless. A conservative republican today is not what would be a conservative republican 35 years ago. It is, contary to what Rush says, a constantly changing term.
Grab 10 voting republicans at random, and they will give you 10 different definitions of what makes one conservative.
“The problem is we have had just too many Republicans who are acting too much like DEMS!”
God forbid that I even remotely appear to defend Dems, but Ronald Reagan was a democrat for many years. He said that “he didn’t leave the democrat party, it left him.”
Americans want "change". They would not be happy with today's Republican Party even if Fred Thompson claimed it was the greatest thing since the invention of sliced Cheez-Wiz. Is it better to tell them that electing Republicans will get them more of the same, or better to tell them that if they vote for him the problems will be fixed?
RINOism is toxic. That is not to imply that every Republican must fight 100% for conservatism all the time. There is, however, a difference between a Republican who will refrain from fighting for conservative issues that would upset his constituents, and one who overly attacks conservative causes.
The problem with RINOs isn't just that they don't vote our way, but that they cause people to blame Republicans for liberal policies. Democrats attack Bush for spending like a drunken sailor, and they've got a point. That isn't to say they wouldn't spend like drunken sailors if they had a chance, but in many people's eyes they've presented themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility. If nobody comes in to challenge the Republicans' spendthrift ways, the Democrats are going to win on that issue.
BTW, it looks like the Iowa Electronic Market is far more keen on Huckabee than Thompson at the moment; Huckabee shares will split off Republican-Rest-of-Field tomorrow at noon CST. Frankly, I think Fred Thompson has a better shot of winning since I think Huckabee's surge is from people who haven't seen much of him. Time will tell.
To my mind, a "moderate conservative" is one who would like to see the country move further to the right than what he himself could push for, and who will try to be as much conservative as his constituents will tolerate. A RINO is a politician who wants the country to move leftward, and is only as conservative as his constituents demand.
Just in case you haven’t seen this wonderful ad, showing three Republican candidates, Rush, and one real conservative candidate! GO FRED!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VP8dBeywqQM
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