Posted on 06/13/2007 7:01:34 AM PDT by SeafoodGumbo
Former Sen. Fred Thompson R-Tenn.,– the yet-to-be-announced 11th Republican contender — just finished taping “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” in Burbank, California.
Unlike another actor/politician type, Thompson did not officially announce his candidacy, but he did acknowledge that the presidential waters are “warm.” Leno asked him, “Do you want the job of president of the United States,” and Thompson replied, “I want to do some things that only a president can do, so the answer is yes.”
Thompson was Leno’s first guest — he held “The Tonight Show” spotlight for two segments, roughly 13 minutes.
Thompson spent most of his first segment “introducing” himself and sharing his personal history: a shout-out to his hometown, Lawrenceburg, TN, his stint as minority council during the Watergate investigations and his acting career. Of his film career, Thompson acknowledged that “there were few, that I’d say, that were not necessarily my finest hour.” The best he could come up with was an appearance on “Sex and the City,” where he was shown on a television screen within the show.
Flat.
That was great. Thanks for posting it.
Flat? How can you say that? He was totally charming and enjoyable.
Saw it.
Pubs always look “flat” after watching dims shrill (Hill) it out in their debates.
;^)
Toby Keith had a better performance....what was all the hype about? Didn’t even announce another website....
I’m thinking more dignified and composed when I see a Republican relative to a Democrat. And Fred passes as that easily. But honestly, there’s not much to get enthused about their if you’re not already enthused about the man.
I saw his speech before the Lincoln Club, which was much, much better. I just didn’t see much here outside of his joke about returning to the realism of Hollywood and his compliments towards Joe Lieberman. Pretty decent job on Iran. The rest? Eh, entirely forgetable.
Let me guess - you support one of the presumed “top three”. So do you support one of the two that Fred has already passed in most republican polls before even announcing his candidacy? Or do you support the media-proclaimed front-runner who would have an equal chance of winning the democrat nomination as the GOP nomination?
Mitt fan, eh?
You are right. This was an outstanding performance (given the venue).
Fred is also right. The other ten candidates, some of whom are good men, for sure, are demeaned as is the office, when they stand in front of the class, er, journalist, and raise their hands and do the bidding of the likes of Chris Matthews.
Fred isn’t going to do that. And that’s awesome.
For me it's refreshing to see a pol not put on excitable airs trying to fake enthusiasm. Fred's just being his calm, assured self -- he doesn't do fake-smile phoniness.
Fred is so good at being who he is, that there is nothing fake about him.
(Just for the record, I like Romney - a lot. But I like Fred, best of all. Romney will make a fine VP for this talented man! And once again, the GOP will own Hollywood and Wall STreet! Well, maybe not own, but, we’ll get our fair shaire with that ticket!)
Wall Street is fairly consistently Republican.
Thinking of Corzine, Rubin and all the cowards who want to pay off Spitzer here. And there is a pretty big push behind Obama now. So, yes, it’s more GOP than Hollyweird, but, it’s a helluva lot more generous to D’s than it should be. We need to shut that down.
I’m not sure who I’d most prefer as Fred’s veep, but I’d love to see John Bolton become his Secretary of State.
>>Let me guess - you support one of the presumed “top three”.<<<
I fail to see how that has any relevance to do with a thing that I said. Truth be known, I support Romney or Thompson, leaning strongly Romney and have been for a while.
If you think that kind of a showing is electable, go right ahead. Frankly, I prefer ideas put forth by Duncan Hunter than those I’ve heard from Thompson, though honestly, I’ve seen Hunter with more energy than Thompson showed there.
Like I said, I’ve seen Thompson do better. At the Lincoln Club, for instance. But I have yet to be overwhelmed by anything he has accomplished or said. And until a candidate makes his views known on this immigration issue, they’re dead in the water in my eyes.
That’s be a nice thumb in the eye to the other side, for sure.
Alas, it won’t happen unless we take 60+ in the Senate, which is not going to happen. There’s a lot of talk about Hunter as DOD, and that perhaps could actually happen, as I think Hunter is respected on the Hill (though it would likely be a bloodbath).
Now, if FRED gets in and replaces the idiot that currently leads our party down the path of destruction, we might actually have a shot at winning a few seats in the Senate back....
Take a close look at Romney, though. The only thing that any conservative can say against him is that he is not a true conservative, judging from his previous MA campaigns. Maybe, but maybe not. In any event, no one can deny that he is a man of extraordinary ability and clean as a whistle. He leads today in NH, IA and in fundraising. Unlike many candidates, the more people hear him, they more they like him. He is doing a fine job. And eight years as Fred’s VP will shore up any doubts that conservatives will have, making him our nominee in the future.....
Now there is a suggestion that I could support.
Flat? I find Rudy and McCain doing their double speak disgusting.
My 16 YO daughter is a reliable test of an uninvolved person’s perspective on Fred.
She thought he was nice, normal, calm, laid out his resume, and was not a normal politician. She was especially impressed with his knowledge and answer on how to handle Iran.
That’s a pretty good introduction to Fred for most people.
In my opinion he was not very focused on issues, and not very passionate. But I think we could be in a post-passionate time. Normal would be nice for a change.
His suit looked a bit tight on him. He might want to pop the lower button next time.
Fred sounded clueless on Iran....like he didn’t know what to do. The Iranians have been smuggling weapons/IEDs to Iraq that kill our soldiers...and he’d let it continue.
Fred Thompson has appeared on Mark Levin's radio show a few times within the last couple of weeks and spoke mainly about the immigration reform bill. He criticized the bill for mostly the same reasons that it has been roundly criticized here. He opposes amnesty, supports strict border enforcement, supports deporting illegal aliens and penalizing companies that hire illegals.
As for his appearance last night, he was engaging, answered every question -- some diplomatically, but still directly answered rather than dodged -- and he injected some humorous gibes at the Washington DC culture at the same time. It was comparable to, or better than, appearances by any other candidate on the late night talk shows. The audience reaction seemed more enthusiastic for Fred than the audience has been for other candidates that I have seen on these shows with the POSSIBLE exception of Rudy's hometown appearance on Letterman.
He is not clueless on Iran. Its silly to even think that a candidate would play his hand on a difficult and complex issue like Iran on Leno.
I my opinion you sound clueless on what wisdom is.
I thought Fred would actively support revolution in Iran.
“Fred sounded clueless on Iran....like he didn’t know what to do. The Iranians have been smuggling weapons/IEDs to Iraq that kill our soldiers...and he’d let it continue.”
If you know me (a combat arms vet with the majority of his family in Israel), you know I take Iran seriously.
Fred was just being coy and reasonable. He knows what he has to do -— and giving revolution a chance (and some help) is reasonable -— for now.
Thompson isn’t clueless on Iran. He wants to support an internal regime change, while at the same time making preparations for a military strike together with Israel. You should look up the remarks he made on Iran. He is serious on Iran.
No Romney VP or P. Hunter, Brownback, or Huckabee would all be fine choices. Oh, or how about J.C. Watts. What is he doing these days?
On fox recently, Fred was asked if he would support a pre-emptive strike on Iran if it looked like they were going to get a nuke. And he had a One word answer “YES”, no dancing around, no muddying the waters, just “YES”. Clearly from what he said on Leno, he would like to see if regime change is possible first (something Bush has failed to do), before destroying the country. But, he clearly is ready to bomb Iran if it comes down to it.
I love the way Leno ended up looking like a puppy begging for a dog biscuit, as he kept trying to get Fred to announce his run for president, it made Fred look in control and gave him added gravitas.
Youtube pulled the video. Anyone else have a link?
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