Posted on 12/29/2007 11:17:17 PM PST by ellery
WASHINGTON, Iowa — George Gerot admits he was "kind of waffling" on choosing a candidate to back in the Jan. 3 Iowa caucuses, but after hearing Fred Thompson Saturday afternoon, Gerot made up his mind.
"I've seen some of the others and heard a lot of TV commentators say he didn't have the fire in his belly," Gerot said. "But some of them have too much fire in their bellies. They're too willing to say whatever it is they think people want to hear. People aren't falling for that."
Gerot, of Riverside, isn't alone in coming to a decision on which Republican to back at Thursday night's caucuses that will begin the 2008 presidential nomination process. An Associated Press/Yahoo poll found that 4 out of 10 Republicans had changed their mind in the last month and almost two-thirds said they might change their mind again before the caucuses.
Heather Lindberg, of Washington, won't be one of them. She had made up her mind to back Thompson, an attorney and television actor, before hearing him Saturday. She wasn't disappointed.
"He reassured me I had made the right decision," she said
Surveying the crowd of 100-plus people who packed the Coffee Corner in downtown Washington, Iowa, Thompson, a former U.S. senator from Tennessee, joked that it might have been the first time he ever said he was happy to be in Washington. He also noted that Democrat John Edwards was campaigning down the street at the Washington Public Library.
"I hope he learns something while he's over there," Thompson said, and then launched into a 25-minute explanation of who he is and where he's been. He talked about the "notions" that have united the nation throughout its history "We live in the greatest country in the history of the world and it is every generation's obligation to keep it that way," Thompson said. American has been great because of "notions" that have united the nation, he said. Notions like "our basic rights coming not from government, but God." The U.S. "is not just a great nation, but a good nation" that has shed more blood for other nations than any other country, he said.
"We don't go looking for a fight," he said, and the best way to avoid one is to be stronger militarily than potential adversaries."
He believes the federal government shouldn't spend money it doesn't have and shouldn't be borrowing against the nation's children and grandchildren. And he agrees with the notion that the people, not an unelected federal judiciary "who make it up as they go," should set social policy.
Based on those conservative principles, Thompson said that as president he would aim to simplify the tax code, save Social Security from going broke, rebuild the military, which, he said, has been weakened by Democrats, so it is prepared for 21st Century conflicts and address illegal immigration by securing the borders, telling employers they must obey the law and telling so-called sanctuary cities to obey the law or lose federal funds.
However, Iowans won't be selecting a set of plans when they caucus Jan. 3, Thompson said. They'll be selecting "someone who could be the leader of the free world at a time when we need leadership like we haven't in a long, long time."
He talked about the current unrest in Pakistan and meeting Perev Musharraf. The assassination of Benazir Bhutto "is another indication of the mind-set of our enemy," Thompson said.
Caucusgoers, Thompson said, should ask themselves" "At the end of the day, when your worst enemy is sitting down at the table, who do you want on the other side representing you?"
When Iowans answer that question, he said, they will have answered who they want to be their next president.
"I submit myself for that job," Thompson said
At this point, I would accept a ticket with both of them on it, and may the better man be at the top.
bump
Fred is moving up fast.
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