[John Valentine]

Is Thompson a GOP foil to keep conservative candidates from picking up steam?

I read this and I re-read it and frankly, I can't find a germ of sense in it anywhere.

It assumes:

1. Fred Thompson would let himself be used as a 'foil'-

2. There is a 'GOP' conspiracy against its own slate of candidates-

3. That the 'GOP' is capable of setting such a conspiracy into motion-

4. That there is a MOTIVE within the 'GOP' to set such a conspiracy into motion-

5. That the Thompson candidacy works against 'conservative' candidates, in view of the fact that Fred is out there every day espousing conservative principles sunrise-sunset and beyond-

Fred Thompson doesn't owe the other candidates any duty to run a campaign as dumb and ineffective as theirs have often been. He owes himself and those of us who hope for his victory to run his campaignd in the most effectve way he can. So far, I have no problem with a single strategy or tactic he has used.

I fully expect that come November 2008 Fred Thompson will be elected our next President by a comfortable margin. At that point, I hope all this 'foil' talk will be shipped.

[Nextrush]

I’ve never counted Howard Baker, for whom Mr. Thompson first worked (Watergate committee), as a bona fide member of the “conservative movement.”

Thompson also worked on other projects for the Tennessee GOP establishment with Lamar Alexander, again not a member of the “conservative movement.”

I analyze this honestly and don’t see Thompson being as conservative as a Newt Gingrich for instance.

Fred was making millions in DC as a lobbyist, then came back to Tennessee in 1994 campaigning in a pickup truck to create an image.

Its honest analysis from this Jesse Helms, Ronald Reagan, Phyllis Schlafly, Ann Coulter type of conservative.

I’d vote for Fred if he were the nominee and am still considering him as a choice among half a dozen or so candidates.

But when I consider him I have to think about it honestly and truthfully without any hype and image making to push me towards him or any other candidate.

A lot of time is spent here on FR with propaganda posts promoting the various candidates as “conservative.”

“Conservative” should be a verb instead of a noun.

[rob777]

It also assumes that, absent Fred Thompson’s campaign, one of the other candidates currently not in the top tier would pick up momentum. I do not buy that idea, the reason why Fred’s campaign picked up steam is that a large number of conservative activists were not satisfied with the field as it stood. It sounds like blaming Fred for the failure of other candidates to inspire support form conservative activists.