Fred Thompson Waterloo, IA Event (after-action report, plus Freeper NY Times interview)

First-hand account | December 19, 2007 | xjcsa

[xjcsa]

I attended the Fred Thompson campaign event in Waterloo, IA this past evening (Tuesday, December 18), and thought I should give my view of the event.

First, the room was packed. It wasn't a huge room (capacity of maybe 150) but it was full; they had to bring in extra chairs and some people still ended up standing. There were, of course, a lot of journalists there as well.

There wasn't any wasting of time at the beginning. One of the county Republican co-chairs gave him a brief but rousing introduction, and Fred and Jeri walked right out, both of them looking great. Jeri sat in the front row.

Fred was on fire tonight. I had seen him about a month ago across town, and at that event it seemed like he was still getting the feel for these things. He was OK, but not any better than OK. Tonight he was on his game, and did a GREAT job, covering a lot of ground.

He even took questions after his speech, unlike the earlier event I had been to. And this is where he really looked his best. He answered with a depth of understanding that I don't often see on issues from Social Security to Iran to Guantanamo Bay, and I couldn't disagree with a word he said. One guy in the front row asked (rather simplistically), "What about habeus corpus?" Fred asked if he was talking about Guantanamo Bay, and the man said yes. Fred replied that the prisoners there aren't American citizens and that they don't have the same rights we do, and that we need to keep them there to avoid giving them rights such as discovery that are available on American soil. Perfect answer.

His final question was from a (Kucinich-supporting?) moonbat seated in the front row. Her question was more of a rant; she was complaining about gas prices being high, CEO's making too much money, poor people not being handed enough things, etc. Fred handled the question expertly - he started by noting that she had "covered a lot of ground" with her question and mentioned that some of those things are "the dynamics of a free society". The moonbat lady just sat there unhappily shaking her head; she was *not* pleased with his answer.

Between the habeus corpus question and the moonbat question, Fred impressed me with his willingness to reject the liberal, politically correct premise of a question (although to be fair, I think the habeus corpus guy was actually on our side). He simply did a great job, with great energy, and on the style side he's even doing a better job of hiding the throat-clearing that had been something of an irritant to me before.

So.

Once the event was over, I was asked by a reporter from the New York Times whether I'd be willing to answer a few questions. I agreed (I know...), and we talked for awhile. I told her that I went into the event as a Romney supporter (which is true), but that I'm giving Fred a very close look, and that after tonight I'm moving rather rapidly toward the Thompson camp, for all the reasons I gave above. I told her what I liked about Romney, and about why I'm moving toward Thompson at the moment. I got the feeling she found my quotes useful, but we'll see if they actually use any of it (and yes, I managed to restrain myself from advising her that her employer was guilty of treason; she was too nice for that).

[xjcsa]

Enjoy; I'm happy to answer any questions, although I'm heading to bed for now.

[TheMole]

Thank you for taking the time to write and post. I’m still undecided, but am always interested to read this kind of citizen reportage. This race is still remarkably wide open IMO (and that goes for both parties).

[alaskamomma]

Thank you for reporting this..

I was undecided but had been leaning towards Thomposon and Hunter...

But.. my mind is made up.

Thompson/Hunter..

[alaskamomma]

Thank you for reporting this..

I was undecided but had been leaning towards Thomposon and Hunter...

But.. my mind is made up.

Thompson/Hunter..

[alaskamomma]

Thank you for reporting this..

I was undecided but had been leaning towards Thomposon and Hunter...

But.. my mind is made up.

Thompson/Hunter..

[alaskamomma]

Oh shoot.
I guess I really wanted to get my thoughts out there..sorry for the double post..

[Just mythoughts]

I still like Duncan Hunter the most, and hope that I get the opportunity to vote for him. Thus far Mr. Thompson is my second choice. Never felt a draw to Romney, and I like him less every day he restates what he did or said yester-years...

[Prophet in the wilderness]

I am not a man of eluqent or big words, so, I have to say, Thank you for the insight.
I hope maybe ? in a very small way ? that I was instrumental in perhaps ( and with other elements ) convince, and persuade you to come to Fred's side ?
All I have to say is, Fred is the ONLY one I trust sitting at the President's desk in the White house in 2009 and appointing Supreme Court Justices to uphold the US constitution.

[xjcsa]

No problem. I tend to be a pretty independent thinker, so your role was probably not major, but you and other Freepers have definitely kept Fred front and center around here, and that can’t hurt (except when some are a bit too aggressive attacking Romney, whom I still like a great deal).

Back when Thompson was first looking at running I was as excited as anyone else about him, but after his less-than-impressive start I had made the decision to stick with Romney. But the Fred Thompson I saw here tonight and last week at the debate was finally the Fred Thompson I was hoping for last summer. I hope he keeps it up.

[xjcsa]

Side note: I ran into my grandparents at the event tonight (didn’t know they were going). They came in as Huckabee supporters and left as Thompson supporters.

[freeangel]

saving

[freeangel]

Actually, I wouldn’t be worried about talking to the NYT. If one is not a Huckster supporter, then they wouldn’t quote you. The msm push is to get him in as the canididate to lose against the dems.

[samtheman]

Fred. Movin’ on up.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

In April, just before Fred was even talking about making a run the the President, I was supporting Duncan Hunter.
I like Duncan, and I agree with his views and policies.
However ? when I saw that Fred was thinking of running for President, I knew we had a winner there.
I know, I know, to some, Fred's performance at the beginning when he entered was a great disappointment and his waiting until September got many people weary.
I admit, I got weary and a little disappointed.
However ?
I never wavered in my support for Fred.
Fred is the only one I trust to be sitting at the President's desk in the White House in 2009.
I trust Fred to appoint Supreme Court Justice to the bench who will up hold the rule of law ( and not make law on the bench .
I trust Fred to appoint judges who will up hold the US constitution ( but, won't put things in the US constitution that are not there ).
I trust Fred to stand tall and be the one to face world leaders like Putin ... and if need be ( like Reagan , NYET to GORBY ) say no to Putin.
I trust Fred that he won't allow the other countries to push the USA around, or apologize for America ( that is the current political correct thing to do now ).
I trust Fred to build and keep our military strong and respect our troops.
I trust Fred to build up our CIA, NSA, and all the other intelligent agencies to were they need to be.
I trust Fred to look out for the well being for all the US citizens, because Fred is not in it for himself, or some kind of ego trip and he does not lust for the job, but, he has the burden to serve us.
I trust Fred because he knows the problems that we face and is not afraid to say it.
Fred not only wants to give our children a good chance to succeeded, he is looking beyond this generation, to our children's, children generation.
Fred is also not afraid to put the MSM in it's place ( and he can do that single handedly all by himself ).
Whom ever you do chose, that is your right, and even in that, that is one of the things Fred wants to protect.
Above all, Fred sees the greatness in America, and wants to preserve that.
Fred is the only candidate in this election who was drafted by the people, and for the people, and by GOD, we hope one day again, we will have a government for the people.


The only clear conservative choice for 2008 is Fred Thompson..... I like to see a THOMPSON/HUNTER ticket in 2008.
I hope you have a safe and MERRY CHRISTMAS folks.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

Ohh .. that is GREAT NEWS,,,,, keep it up.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

All I can say is, in spite of his early performance, I never waver in my support for Fred.
On a side note ?
All of us have our favorites, and yes, some get very dogmatic, and zealous, I hope you can give them some grace.... because ? we ( at least most ) all do it, support our guy in the race and we want to defend them.

Is it safe to say this ( is the ACLU looking ? .. lol ) MERRY CHRISTMAS to you all.

[Prospero]

Fred's been my candidate since before the beginning. Yes, I know. But the alchemy that turns candidates into gold is complicated, and the polls too hobbled by answering machines, unreported sample sizes and withheld agenda and mysterious as to who paid for them.

I've decided to roll dies one more time and lay some "widows mite" of a contribution on him before Iowa sits down and makes its choice.

Huckabee's record repells me, and his apparent use of Christianity not as something not to be ashamed of but as a method of writing out a message in symbols, a shorthand to sned a message to we wrongly thought to be relatively few and foolish enough to stop at a persons confession of faith, pray for wisdom in our closets, so our Heavenly Father, who sees in secret, will reward us with the same, are doctrinally adverse to those who say rather than walk the walk. His record, his actions supposedly based upon his faith, so a reckless immaturity toward the deadly serious work of being America's president.

I don't deny Huckabee's faith, just his wisdom.

After all the shouting, Fred is finally beginning to look like the One Eyed Man. But there's a debate. You've heard it said "in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King"? Well, it is perhaps equaly true that in the land of the blind, the one eyed man is often crucified.

Enough polls, Iowa. Think hard and seriously about this decision, and we who much choose from a smaller field later will ponder your choice most carefully.

Certainly, the Iowa Caucuses reflect the decisions of a group most exposed to the candidates. Whether or not you choose whom I would choose were I you, I will respect it. And may you be the rock upon which Hillary's Ship of Fools founders.

[Prophet in the wilderness]

" And may you be the rock upon which Hillary's Ship of Fools founders."
lol ... love that line.
Merry Christmas.

[Fishtalk]

Well whoever’s in charge of Fred’s campaign really dropped the ball in Delaware.

First....Fred will NOT be on the primary ballot in Delaware this coming Feb. 5. His campaign didn’t get the petition in on time. I am very bitter about having as my only choices Repub candidates I don’t like.

Second, the state GOP had a big fundraising even this past 12/3/07. Fred’s people showed up at 9 pm, the event was about over, and they missed everything.

I realize Delaware’s a small state but hey, Joe Biden? Mike Castle?

We’ve got big politicos here with a whole bunch of influence. Delaware is NOT a solid blue state.

Who does Fred have working for him...a bunch of idiots?

This is really going to hurt him.

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Fred asked if he was talking about Guantanamo Bay, and the man said yes. Fred replied that the prisoners there aren't American citizens and that they don't have the same rights we do, and that we need to keep them there to avoid giving them rights such as discovery that are available on American soil. Perfect answer.

Perfect answer. This guy get it. This is in sharp contrast to Huck who says he will close Gitmo "because the world wants us to."

Huck is unfit to govern the US. He doesn't even know the basics that it is the function of government to protect citizens, their rights and their property while Fred says he'll do "whatever it takes" to protect us.