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Thompson backers hope red pickup also to hit campaign trail again
WKRN ^ | August 21, 2007, 7:01 pm | By ERIK SCHELZIG

Posted on 08/21/2007 5:10:38 PM PDT by xcamel

More than a dozen years after it was credited with helping turn around his first bid for public office, Fred Thompson's old pickup truck sits parked behind his mother's house in this Nashville suburb.

The red paint is faded and the tailgate hangs open, but supporters would like nothing more than to see the actor-politician leap back into the bed to make stump speeches in his bid for the White House.

The Republican has not yet announced his candidacy _ that's expected next month _ and there's been no word from Thompson's campaign about whether there will be any role for a red pickup truck. A spokeswoman for Thompson did not respond to messages seeking comment about the truck.

Early in the 1994 race, after struggling to connect with voters, Thompson decided to lease a used truck and drive around the state in what turned out to be a wildly successful effort to recast himself as a folksy man of the people.

His opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, derided the truck as a cynical prop to deflect attention from Thompson's inside-the-Beltway status. But Thompson was able to shake off Cooper's suggestion that he was actually a "Gucci-wearing, Lincoln-driving, Perrier-drinking, Grey Poupon-spreading millionaireWashington special interest lobbyist."

Thompson ended up capturing more than 60 percent of the vote.

Bill Lacy, hired this month to run Thompson's campaign, has a bit of personal history with the truck _ he opposed the proposal to make the pickup a focal point when he was an adviser on the 1994 campaign.

"Fred had the good sense to ignore my advice," Lacy said in an opinion piece in The Knoxville News Sentinel in June.

But Thompson so far has not appeared overly eager to climb back into the cab. At his first public event in Nashville after forming a "testing the waters" committee in June, Thompson shook off an attempt by supporters tohave him address the crowd from the back of a brand new red pickup truck they had brought to the event.

___

On the Net:

Fred Thompson: http://www.imwithfred.com


TOPICS: Extended News; Politics/Elections; US: Tennessee
KEYWORDS: 2008; election2008; electionpresident; elections; fredheads; fredthompson; gop; republicans; runfredrun
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1 posted on 08/21/2007 5:10:43 PM PDT by xcamel
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To: xcamel

If he comes this way I’ll loan him mine.


2 posted on 08/21/2007 5:17:44 PM PDT by norton
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To: xcamel

Screw the pickup. Either announce that you’re running or step aside. This coy act is extremely old and annoying. I was a Fred! guy, but I’m sick of this. This isn’t a game, Mr. Thompson. Run or get the hell out of the way.

He wanted people to beg him to run, and they begged. He wanted time to get a staff together, and he has. Do it, or go away.


3 posted on 08/21/2007 5:18:44 PM PDT by Laptop_Ron
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To: Laptop_Ron

someone run over your puppy when you were young?


4 posted on 08/21/2007 5:20:03 PM PDT by xcamel (FDT/2008 -- talk about it >> irc://irc.freenode.net/fredthompson)
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To: xcamel

LOL!!


5 posted on 08/21/2007 5:22:00 PM PDT by trisham (Zen is not easy. It takes effort to attain nothingness. And then what do you have? Bupkis.)
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To: xcamel

We don’t need gimmicks with prospect of the Beast B!tch and the Perv taking up residents at PA Avenue.

Fresh ideas are what the electorate needs. Fred can deliver without the prop’s.


6 posted on 08/21/2007 5:24:44 PM PDT by mmanager (Fred instead of Purebred, Crossbred and the Hothead)
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To: jellybean; Politicalmom

fred ping


7 posted on 08/21/2007 5:24:48 PM PDT by xcamel (FDT/2008 -- talk about it >> irc://irc.freenode.net/fredthompson)
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To: xcamel

Sounds that way, doesn’t it?
I’m upset because I was really excited about this guy. His persona was a no-nonsense straight-shooter. Now, here we are months later and he’s still playing games with his announcement to run. Doesn’t sound like he’s very serious about this. If he can’t seem to make a commitment one way or the other, why should I be committed to him?


8 posted on 08/21/2007 5:25:11 PM PDT by Laptop_Ron
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To: xcamel
GoFredGo>
9 posted on 08/21/2007 5:25:20 PM PDT by stockstrader (We need a conservative candidate who will UNITE the Party, not a liberal one to DIVIDE it!)
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To: xcamel

HTML-challenged here


10 posted on 08/21/2007 5:25:48 PM PDT by stockstrader (We need a conservative candidate who will UNITE the Party, not a liberal one to DIVIDE it!)
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To: mmanager

Fred in that red truck might be just as effective as Reagan’s “there they go again” line.


11 posted on 08/21/2007 5:26:41 PM PDT by xcamel (FDT/2008 -- talk about it >> irc://irc.freenode.net/fredthompson)
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To: Laptop_Ron
>>>>>I was a Fred! guy, but I’m sick of this.

Let me guess. You got so sick of FredT you switched to Rooty.

In politics patience is a virtue and campaigns are marathons and not sprints.

12 posted on 08/21/2007 5:28:02 PM PDT by Reagan Man (FUHGETTABOUTIT Rudy....... Conservatives don't vote for liberals!)
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To: Laptop_Ron

IIRC, he still has one showbiz contract that *has* to run out (September) before he can declare without screwing the people he used to work with.


13 posted on 08/21/2007 5:28:56 PM PDT by Spktyr (Overwhelmingly superior firepower and the willingness to use it is the only proven peace solution.)
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To: Laptop_Ron

I agree with you. An old red pickup that’s rusting and falling apart? What is this nostalgia playhouse? I don’t want some old geezer who’s trotted out for one last run around the track before he’s put out to pasture. The Republican party should be about the future. This guy is about the past and some absurd longing for a return to the golden era of Reagan. Let the Democrats nominate their retread. Republicans should pick a fresh face and an energetic candidate with the desire and the determination to win and some new ideas about how we’re going to compete in the 21st century. That ain’t Fred.


14 posted on 08/21/2007 5:29:35 PM PDT by WestSylvanian
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To: stockstrader

15 posted on 08/21/2007 5:30:15 PM PDT by stockstrader (We need a conservative candidate who will UNITE the Party, not a liberal one to DIVIDE it!)
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To: Reagan Man

No, I’m not a Rudy guy. His social liberalism drives me nuts. The guy I like doesn’t have a chance in hell of winning: Duncan Hunter. Romney is starting to look good out of the two electable republicans.


16 posted on 08/21/2007 5:31:20 PM PDT by Laptop_Ron
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To: Spktyr

Never heard that one. I’ll have to check it out.


17 posted on 08/21/2007 5:32:23 PM PDT by Laptop_Ron
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To: xcamel

Exactly! This is Series!!!


18 posted on 08/21/2007 5:32:25 PM PDT by mmanager (Fred instead of Purebred, Crossbred and the Hothead)
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To: Laptop_Ron
Let’s see - all the other candidates are currently suffering from “premature ejac...” and subsequent “lack of satisfaction” for the voters.

Fred also had contractual agreements that must be satisfied by law prior to announcing.

The Harpy’s “dissatisfaction” numbers are climbing every day.

so... you still think the “old fashioned way” was a bad plan?

19 posted on 08/21/2007 5:32:27 PM PDT by xcamel (FDT/2008 -- talk about it >> irc://irc.freenode.net/fredthompson)
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To: xcamel

Fred==Sand-Bager


20 posted on 08/21/2007 5:32:49 PM PDT by GitmoSailor (AZ Cold War Vet===Fairness Doctrine for TV First!!!!!.....I'Am With Fred)
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