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DaJudge
July 17th, 2007, 09:58 AM
Fred Thompson Must be the Man to Beat

By JB Williams
Jul 13, 2007

For a well-known and previously well-liked southern gentlemen and
respected former U.S. senator, who is not yet officially in the race for the
White House, Fred Thompson sure is drawing a lot of unfriendly fire from
both sides of the political aisle. Clearly the man both sides see a need to
derail is Fred Thompson, which must mean, he is seen as the man to beat in
?08, at least in the minds of the other candidates.

Let me see if I can remember all the reasons why we?re not supposed to
support Fred Thompson for president? according to politicos across the
political spectrum.

* He?s too old (64) and he has cancer.
* He lacks political experience, or, he?s a Washington insider
* He?s been both bachelor and family man, twice
* He?s too conservative, or, not conservative enough
* He likes pretty women, though not the same way Bill Clinton does
* He?s too tough on abortion, but not tough enough for some
* He?s a national security hawk, or, maybe a globalist dove
* He?s a political nobody, or, a respected member of the Council on Foreign
Relations
* He was a Washington lobbyist, though by all accounts, an underpaid one
* He?s just a TV prosecutor, or, a real prosecutor who often plays himself on
TV
* He was a Watergate Nixon insider, or, he was a leading Watergate
prosecutor
* Nixon thought he was a dunce, until the dunce forced Nixon to resign the
Oval Office

Political pundits and campaign war rooms have carefully investigated
Thompson and so far, this is what they have come up with as their reasons
for which Thompson shouldn?t be the next president. Of course, politicos see
all things in stark contrast, left-wing versus right-wing only. Left-wing
pundits say he?s too far right and of course, right-wing pundits say he?s too
far left.

What pundits tend to forget is that more than 80 percent of Americans are
neither right-wing nor left-wing. These extreme partisan positions are
reserved for political pundits and the politicians they aim to promote, or
assassinate, as the case may be.

But most Americans see both politicians and their paid pundits as useless
wing-nuts, - which explains why both the Republican White House and the
Democrat congress are equally unpopular among average Americans today.
Both are no more than just right-wing and left-wing political junkies, busy
double-talking and back-stabbing on behalf of themselves, not the American
people.

Although Thompson has been drafted into the ?08 race by the disenchanted
(read disenfranchised) conservative base of the Republican Party, strong
signs are emerging that many Democrat voters are now favoring Thompson
as well. That?s why Howard Dean himself is worried enough about
Thompson to be personally engaged in his political assassination before he
even tosses his hat in the ring.

Partisan committee elite types don?t get that most Republicans are right of
social liberal Rudy Giuliani, but left of isolationist libertarian Ron Paul.
Likewise, most Democrats are somewhere right of pure socialist Hillary
Clinton, but left of - say - Democrat hawk Zell Miller.

This explains the temporary fascination with Barack Obama, who is trying
to walk a tightrope down the center of his party. His blank r?sum? is making
it tough for Hillary to attack because he hasn?t been around long enough to
complete more than the ID section of that r?sum?. Look for Al Gore to re-
emerge once voters figure out that there?s nothing in that fancy Gucci suit
from Illinois.

Bottom line - true right-wingers and hardened left-wingers are equally
disturbed by current campaign developments. That would be the 20 percent
of America that lives, eats, sleeps and breathes politics, 10% hardcore
leftists who want to dictate a socialist policy to the DNC and 10% extreme
right-wingers who want to dictate an isolationist policy to the RNC.

As for the rest of America, the 80 percent of voters who are fed up with both
partisan back-stabbing extremes that leaves their American agenda trapped
between two constantly warring political factions, they?re in search of
someone to lead the nation towards an American agenda, not just a partisan
agenda that keeps the country stuck in neutral in a perpetual power
struggle.

Thompson, a plain spoken decent man who has made a living in the private
sector through various respected professions, a man who has known success
and failure - victory and disappointment - love and loss - how to be alone and
how to run a family, might be just the ticket for Americans who can relate
more to him than any career politician currently stinking up Washington DC.

Thompson appears neither too left nor too right, neither left-wing nor right-
wing, but somewhere in between, depending upon which issue you care to
consider. He appears to be just like most Americans, more certain about his
love and respect for true American values and principles than any party
power agenda.

Since he continues to climb in the polls without running, it might be a while
before he decides to announce. So far, letting the others defeat themselves
seems a pretty good strategy from where I sit. A pretty cost efficient
strategy too?wholly un-Washington like, which is another reason the
pundits don?t like him much. He?s a bit of a wild card in their eyes?

Democrats and Republicans seem to agree on one thing right now, - those

pure partisan extremists who have been in Washington for eight years or
more need to find a new career and make room for anyone willing to
represent all Americans for a change.

Like him or not, Fred is just Fred. Fred is as American as apple pie and

Chevrolet. The American people will have to elect such a man. And the
Washington elite never will approve?especially the politicos at either
extreme.

89minitruck
July 17th, 2007, 10:54 AM
I've been watching him for awhile and he is the right guy.

If he runs, I'm voting for him.

Yota
July 17th, 2007, 12:02 PM
In reading Ronald Reagan's diaries I can see that he didn't even announce his candidacy for reelection until well into the election year. I forget the precise date but it was like March or maybe even April. That would be well past the first primaries these days. Now I know that reelection campaigns are different than ones in which there is no incumbent, but that's pretty late by today's standards.

Fred will have to announce his candidacy obviously before the primaries - and many primaries have been moved up to January of the election year as more states want to get the candidates' attention before the race is basically over. This really makes the presidential election process tiresome. I don't think people need this much time to figure out for whom they will cast their vote (in the primary).

I think Fred is playing this exactly right. He's not jumping on this silly bandwagon and he is positioning himself above, or at least outside, the fray. He's not having to participate in these literally pointless "debates" in which the candidates have to raise their hands to answer complex policy questions in 15 seconds. Those debates are just there for the candidates to zing each other. And zinger politics is not reasoned politics. So I think it's great that Thompson is electing to stay out of it. And it seems to be working well for him. And in interviews I've seen, he's made the very good point that if Americans really want him to be president, the money will find its way to him. If the people support him, he doesn't have to jump in a full two years before the general election and scrounge for money. Others obviously do.

Waifer2112
July 17th, 2007, 12:25 PM
I just wish we had a "president" now. The country could really use one.

Oscar
July 17th, 2007, 02:39 PM
I like his movies

DaJudge
July 17th, 2007, 02:55 PM
In reading Ronald Reagan's diaries I can see that he didn't even announce his candidacy for reelection until well into the election year. I forget the precise date but it was like March or maybe even April. That would be well past the first primaries these days. Now I know that reelection campaigns are different than ones in which there is no incumbent, but that's pretty late by today's standards.

Fred will have to announce his candidacy obviously before the primaries - and many primaries have been moved up to January of the election year as more states want to get the candidates' attention before the race is basically over. This really makes the presidential election process tiresome. I don't think people need this much time to figure out for whom they will cast their vote (in the primary).

I think Fred is playing this exactly right. He's not jumping on this silly bandwagon and he is positioning himself above, or at least outside, the fray. He's not having to participate in these literally pointless "debates" in which the candidates have to raise their hands to answer complex policy questions in 15 seconds. Those debates are just there for the candidates to zing each other. And zinger politics is not reasoned politics. So I think it's great that Thompson is electing to stay out of it. And it seems to be working well for him. And in interviews I've seen, he's made the very good point that if Americans really want him to be president, the money will find its way to him. If the people support him, he doesn't have to jump in a full two years before the general election and scrounge for money. Others obviously do.
I HATE cogent, well-reasoned replies as they belie the truth of the quote in my signature. :flipoff2:

"Too often we enjoy the comfort of opinion without the discomfort of thought."
...John F. Kennedy

Yota
July 17th, 2007, 02:59 PM
I just wish we had a "president" now. The country could really use one.

I agree! (subject to the following terms and conditions :D )

What I'm getting at is that we need a real charismatic leader who is driven by his convictions (and Bush certainly is) but is also able to really inspire this nation through his communication. Bush has inspired us a few times. So did Clinton and Bush 1. But man we haven't had a true leader with that rare combo of character, charisma, charm, conviction and a set of brass trucknutz since Ronald Dubya Reagan.

Thompson is as close an appoximation of Reagan conservative as we're likely to see in the current political climate. I mean Reagan got a lot of support from Democrats (because they had conservative Dems back then). But it will be a long time before a president gets out of Reagan's immense shadow (immense literally because he was so friggin' tall and figuratively).

SamFromCO
July 17th, 2007, 07:42 PM
....we need a real charismatic leader ....(and Bush certainly is)
While I agree with just about everything that you said here, this made me spit all over my monitor:spit: . Did you really mean to say that you think that President Bush is charismatic? I think that he has about as much charisma as a....well....a bush. Now Fred Thompson, there's a guy with charisma.
PS: Judge, I really like your new sig.

Yota
July 17th, 2007, 10:49 PM
While I agree with just about everything that you said here, this made me spit all over my monitor:spit: . Did you really mean to say that you think that President Bush is charismatic? I think that he has about as much charisma as a....well....a bush. Now Fred Thompson, there's a guy with charisma.
PS: Judge, I really like your new sig.

Howzabout not parsing my post. I meant it the way I wrote it.

What I'm getting at is that we need a real charismatic leader who is driven by his convictions (and Bush certainly is)...

The parenthetical phrase applies to the part you deleted. Bush is undoubtedly driven by his convictions.

:rolleyes:

al24
July 18th, 2007, 04:13 AM
Bush is undoubtedly driven by his convictions.

:rolleyes:

Didn't know he'd been indicted. :shrug:

SamFromCO
July 18th, 2007, 08:27 AM
Howzabout not parsing my post. I meant it the way I wrote it.
The parenthetical phrase applies to the part you deleted. Bush is undoubtedly driven by his convictions.:rolleyes:
That's why I asked. The way I read it was that you were saying that President Bush is a charismatic leader that is driven by his convictions.
I learned from our former President, William Jefferson Clinton, to always parse sentances.

Rex Ashton
July 18th, 2007, 09:02 AM
I like his moviesx2....When you see how he handled Cole and Rowdy in "Days of Thunder" with his Japanese inspection analogy, you know he's gonna be a Presidential contender...

Barf Bag
July 18th, 2007, 09:39 AM
If he could handle the white house like he handled the tower in die hard 2, he could be the guy

Yota
July 18th, 2007, 10:31 AM
Or the way he handled the Rooskis in The Hunt for Red October.