Thompson Rising?
January 13th, 2008 at 05:35am Mark Noonan
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. — John and Ann Berenberk dutifully watched the umpteenth Republican presidential debate on television on Thursday night and had an epiphany. It was about the candidate they had previously referred to as the tall, silent one. Fred D. Thompson.
The last of the candidates to enter the race, Mr. Thompson, 65, a former Tennessee senator, has so far seemed to distinguish himself mainly by a laconic style that has made him almost invisible beside the others on the stage in past debates, the Berenberks said.
“But then last night — we hadn’t even been thinking about him — all of a sudden it was clear he was the one,” said Mr. Berenberk, a retired teacher. “The bluntness, the forcefulness. He was really impressive.”
Whether this was a new Fred Thompson, or just a sign of mirage-inducing campaign fatigue among voters, many people attending Mr. Thompson’s campaign rallies here on the day after the debate reported having similar revelations.
We’ll soon know if this is real, or just an impression. My dad will be voting for Thompson in the Nevada caucuses, so there’s something to the man (dad was a Democrat for 60 years before switching to the GOP for the express purpose of voting for Thompson). A very interesting election year, to be sure…
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Republicans
13 Comments
1. neocon | January 13th, 2008 at 9:16 am
I was very happy the see Freds performance in Thursdays debate. However, there is one unavoidable issue confronting our country that is equally as important as the GWOT; the economy. We need a business person in the oval office in 2008 that has the experience to put our economy back on solid footing. To deal with China and India, the declining dollar, the pork barrel spending and the runaway entitlement programs.
Mitt Romney is the man. I encourage everyone to vote for Mitt.
I like either:
Romney/Thompson or Romney/Giulani
2. Capitalist Infidel | January 13th, 2008 at 9:26 am
I sure hope this is true. I can’t vote for McHuckabee and I’d really rather not vote for Romney.
3. LNC | January 13th, 2008 at 11:03 am
I’m with you, neocon… I’ve hoped for a Romney/Thompson ticket for quite awhile, although up until now, I thought the Thompson part was sadly unlikely.
4. Doug | January 13th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Thompson really doens’t have a chance. Also the exit polling from IA and NH show that single issue anti-immigration voters are worth 12% of the vote and if they go to Thompson then they are coming from Romney. Hence as long as Thompson is viable, Romney isn’t.
As for as the GWOT, there’s no question that the moderates in Rudy and McCain are at least equals with Romney and Fred.
As for deficit problems, of course McCain is in a class by himself, that is if you want the deficit reduced, some of us conservatives aren’t of that opinion.
On taxes, it looks like Rudy and Fred are out in front with Romney’s rhetoric there but nothing to show for it. Huckabee’s proposal might be a good start, but I’d have to go with Rudy on this as he has Steve Forbes behind him.
Social issues, not counting immigration, fall heavily towards Huckabee first then Fred and McCain, Romney is behind them a bit and Rudy way back.
Then you have immigration, where the polling shows a full 50% of Republican voters want an approach similar to McCain/Bush and 50% want a more hard-line approach. Of those, it appears 23% of the total Republican vote are voting specifically on the immigration issue, with a little more than half falling towards the Romney/Fred hardline stance, and the rest towards the others.
Fred Thompson’s surge will be directly related to a hardline on immigration. The effects of the attacks on Huckabee’s fiscal policies will be short lived because Huckabee has done an excellent job of explaining himself, as a result social conservatives who are fiscal conservatives won’t necessarily move from Huckabee just yet.
As for me, the war on terror is the single most important issue along with electibility, that pretty much cuts it down to Rudy, McCain or Fred. I like Rudy’s tax plan better than McCain’s deficit hawk qualities, but I really believe if Rudy’s the nominee then Bloomberg gets in it so the democrat wins.
5. Retired Spook | January 13th, 2008 at 11:23 am
Hey, LNC, long time so see.
I think Thompson’s late entry into the race hurt him more than it helped him. There is no perfect candidate. but when was the last time that either party had 5 decent candidates? Each GOP candidate brings more strengths to the table than weaknesses. One the Dem side, I don’t see ANY strengths (at least not in terms of strengths that a President should possess. I’m talking things like proven management ability, ability to reach across the aisle to get things done, foreign policy experience. Not of the 3 Dems even has any legislative record that they can brag about. Obama is articulate and uplifting to listen to until you start to analyze what he said. Sooner or later the total lack of substance on the Dem side has got to show through, in spite of the fact the the MSM will do everything possible to obscure it.
6. IronMyShirts!!! | January 13th, 2008 at 11:49 am
I can live with your choices, neocon, and let me be the first to flip-flop on my earlier, and premature, semi-support of McCain and Chucklebee. I had heard them on C-Span and Hannity, respectively, and was impressed with their ability to justify their “conservatism.” Now, I realize that there’s not a dime’s worth of difference in how the GOP and Donkaroaches run in primaries. There’s only three candidates I trust: Rudy, Mitt, and Fred. If either McCain or Chucklebee wins the nomination, I’ll have a hard time tearing myself away from “The King of Queens” reruns to go out and vote…
7. plainjane | January 13th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Mark,
Your dad passes over Reagan, Nixon, Ford and two Bushes for a Fred?
8. Mark Noonan | January 13th, 2008 at 2:06 pm
plain,
Dad voted for Reagan - but the thing is here that he’s switched to the GOP so he can vote in the Nevada caususes for Thompson.
9. Jonathan | January 13th, 2008 at 3:44 pm
Mark,
Again we have our disagreements but today, we are proud San Diego Chargers fans!
Philip Rivers knocks off the great Peyton Manning for a chance to play the juggernaut know as the New England Patriots next Sunday for a trip to Glendale, Arizona.
10. Michael | January 13th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
Mitt’s my favorite choice for pres and for VP maybe Giulani. I really dislike Rudy but he attracts segments that Romney doesn’t. Being a pro-lifer makes Rudy a hard choice.
11. Buddy | January 13th, 2008 at 7:01 pm
I look at the divisiveness in the US more than any other issue and the only person for either party who has a history of being able to work across party lines in McCain.
It would be hard for any Democrat running aginst him to criticize his record, other than appeasing to the left anti-Iraq Dems, but there aren’t enough of them to win an election.
As always the election will won by the party and the person that Americans believe will stop the waste in Washington and after the Democrats porkbarrelling the last 12 months, it will be hard for a Demcrat to use that position this time around.
McCain 2008 .. now who for vice president??
12. Rich | January 13th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
I really don’t understand the McCain hatred here. He’s been staunchly pro life and pro military and is against pork-barrel spending. He was wrong on immigration and has listened to the people and promised to enforce the border before messing with the current laws, which is a hell of a lot more than Bush has done. McCain is a war hero who sticks to his guns, right or wrong. People respect that. Romney is a complete dork and comes off like a used car salesman. Fred is the proverbial wet blanket. Sorry but I don’t want Hillery or Obama, so I think that Mccain is our best bet.
13. Fred Thompson » Tho&hellip | January 15th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
[...] Road to 2008 :: Presidential Election 2008 :: Hillary Clinton :: Barack Obama :: Democratic Party ::… wrote an interesting post today on Thompson Rising?Here’s a quick excerptFred D. Thompson. The last of the candidates to enter the race, Mr. Thompson, 65, a former Tennessee senator, has so far seemed to distinguish… [...]