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30.05.2007
FRED THOMPSON RUNNING
per Mike Allen. I think he'll be formidable both as a primary contender and as a potential nominee. --Jonathan Chait

Posted: Wednesday, May 30, 2007 10:03 AM with 22 comment(s)

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mrcookie1 said:

this faux cowpoke boys do well in GOP circles... but for me, the real story is that Rudy is no longer seen as the 9/11 White Knight but as a flawed candidate among many flawed candidates. That is the big story, at least in my opinion...
May 30, 2007 10:29 AM

towalk said:

Candy Crowley just said on CNN that Fred Thompson is now "cancer free." Well, it looks like the news media will be giving Fred a pass, if this sort of BS coverage is any clue. Personally, I think Thompson looks really old. Surprisingly so. I wonder if he really has the energy to see himself through a long campaign.
May 30, 2007 10:42 AM

Wandreycer1 said:

I check in with my very right wing Texas kin every now and although they are only one family, I can't help but wonder if the Republican Party is in outer space in terms of what is happening with their voters. They like Rudy (which they know makes me insane), but the faux cracker act is utterly dead - Fred Thompson feels like a media darling to them. They aren't stupid, contrary to popular belief and Rovian patronizing. They aren't interested in voting for an actor from LA Law or whatever it is, please. But what surprised me the most is that to them, the scare monger thing is on life support as an appeal - it leaves them wanting much more (health care, entitlements, etc). They still love to rile up liberals, but my (literally) cattle ranching, bible thumping, gun toting, primary voting Uncle said to me "honey, so far we like Obama. He's a very decent man." I almost dropped the phone. These are the same people who assume Senator Clinton is the devil herself. Am I just being wishful? I think it's pretty clear how I feel about Rudy and his insulting campaign shtick. Maybe I'm just projecting based on one family.
May 30, 2007 10:48 AM

tdneeley said:

I think his energy, drive and will power are big questions. This is not Law & Order or Die Hard 2 where he can come in for a few hours a day, read his lines, drink coffee and go home early. This is a very long (entirely too long), exhausting, mind-numbing, repetitive slog. Lots of long days. Lots of real work, not phoning it in and chatting with Sam Waterson during the downtime. I don't think Fred has the fire in the belly. Does he need to be president? I doubt it. And why should he? Fred's got plenty of money, a cushy, high-paying, high-profile gig that makes him very popular to millions of tv fans. Why blow that? Why spend the next 18 months killing yourself on the road only to end up hated by half of America? Why give up all his free time and the easy life of a tv actor to deal with deficits, trade imbalances, terror, the Palestinians, the Russians, inflation, diseases, immigration, etc? I know I wouldn't. Would you?
May 30, 2007 10:56 AM

Wandreycer1 said:

I also forgot to mention that I like Fred Thomson more than the Texas kin, and I'm the communist in the family (as a TNR Democrat). He's very charming - it does seem he believes very little of what he says, but who am I to quibble? Doesn't seem like Republicans care about that stuff anymore anyway.
May 30, 2007 11:02 AM

Wandreycer1 said:

I also forgot to mention that I like Fred Thomson more than the Texas kin, and I'm the communist in the family (as a TNR Democrat). He's very charming - it does seem he believes very little of what he says, but who am I to quibble? Doesn't seem like Republicans care about that stuff anymore anyway.
May 30, 2007 11:02 AM

Rhubarbs said:

Can anyone name three significant, admirable things Thompson has ever accomplished? (In real life -- helping John McClane save Dulles from terrorists in Die Hard 2 doesn't count.) Even on conservative grounds, all I've heard is praise for his attitude, appearance, and rhetorical style. I have not yet heard a single example of Thompson having done an admirable thing.
May 30, 2007 11:14 AM

miceelf said:

Yes, he does look really old. This shouldn't matter, but he looks especially old alongside his current wife. To everyone else: it's "Thompson" not "Thomson" as much as it pains me to make sure his name is spelled like mine.
May 30, 2007 11:15 AM

adamvaught said:

He dated Lorrie Morgan; she's pretty hot. That might count as admirable to some people.
May 30, 2007 11:19 AM

adamvaught said:

How come the Democrats don't run Michael Douglas? He was great in "The American President," and therefore obviously qualified to be the actual american president.
May 30, 2007 11:25 AM

mrcookie1 said:

can remember from Thompson's one term as a senator was when he made a complete ass out of himself when his committee tried to smear Clinton with that China investigation. Other than that, I cannot think of one thing the thespian accomplished.
May 30, 2007 11:55 AM

Tgossard said:

Thompson could effectively run as the only "True Reagan Republican" and possibly get away with it. That would narrow the field to Giulani, McCain, and Thompson. Do you see the logic? btw who cares what he did or didn't accomplish back in the stone age?
May 30, 2007 12:44 PM

g.mcentire said:

Man, he couldn't of picked a worse time to run for President. Republicans will buy his southern-fried good-ol-boy act and love it. The rest of us will see the second coming of George Dubya and reject him soundly. Stylistically, Thompson is a dead man walking. Still glad I invested in him over at Intrade a month back, though. He's up 35% since then. :)
May 30, 2007 12:48 PM

mpatrickhendri said:

Hello, Days of Thunder was transcendent. But forget this chump, the Republicans should go with a true Texan that attended SMU during their cheating hay-days, served in the USAF as an F-15 pilot and later as a guerilla with the heroic band of brothers known as the Wolverines, and knows his way around a cowboy costum as Curly Bill Brocius. Hell, old boy even got experience in the executive branch serving as VP Daniels on the neo-Con hit, 24. I speak of the great Powers Boothe. I mean damn, just the name alone screams pure Texan badass. Go rent Red Dawn, and if you can get by his pederast flirtation with Lea Thompson, you'll see the next President of United States.
May 30, 2007 1:43 PM

tdneeley said:

Well, Thompson was a Senator for 8 years, twice as long in the Senate as memiorist-in-chief Obama. Fred was an assistant US attorney for 3 years. He was campaign manager for Sen. Howard Baker. He was co-chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee. And he was a practicing lawyer and a lobbyist for several years. That's more experience in government than many, many candidates. Sure he hasn't written (or ghost-written) any bestselling books about. There's aren't any photos of him on beach. He hasn't been on Oprah. He doesn't have a luxurious, well-styled head of hair. Of course in our dark time these are often confused for qualifications so perhaps Thompson is doomed.
May 30, 2007 3:00 PM

miceelf said:

You're describing past JOBS, not past ACHIEVEMENTS. I don't know that "lobbyist" is even neutral, let alone positive, in terms of qualifications.
May 30, 2007 3:19 PM

mrcookie1 said:

but he has played a bad ass DA on tv for the past 4 years, every week so please, don't get all hot under the angry white collar with the snide jabs at Obama. Power Boothe - hey, better actor than Fred so on that basis alone, he's more qualified....
May 30, 2007 3:57 PM

butchie b said:

Care to name one for Edwards or Obama? Beating Lauch Faircloth by 2 points doesn't count. Frankly, even HRC doesn't exactly ooze achievements - unless you count overlooking her husband's, ahem, problem and helping to pardon Marc Rich.
May 30, 2007 4:10 PM

tdneeley said:

Exactly. Thompson may not have achieved much, if anything. But by that standard neither has anyone else on the Dem side. Writing a few books, being married to a successful pol, being a rich trial lawyer, are not achievements that necessarily apply to being president of the US. Fred has served in the Senate longer than Edwards, HRC and Obama. He held more Federal government positions than any of them. And he has worked outside of government to boot. You are right miceelf, those are jobs, not achievements. But among this achievement-free group the jobs are almost all we have to go on. And don't worry Mr. Cookie1, I have plenty more slide jabs for BHO. Nothing angry though. See, I'm smiling right now. ;-)
May 30, 2007 4:21 PM

boneill said:

He could run on the "Punch boneill In the Face" platform, and I'd still vote for him. We all rightfully scoff when Rudy talks about staring down Putin or whomever, but Powers Boothe could totally do it. And he played the veep on 24 this season so he is really close to qualified.
May 30, 2007 4:29 PM

teplukhin said:

Next GOP PorkRinder - he dead in da water. Look, non-southern, non-fundie Repubs know that the Falwell era's finished. The GOP can't win if it can't get competitive again outside the South, and Ahnuld, Bloomberg, Rudy and the pro-abortion pro-healthcare Mitt have shown the way to do it. I seriously doubt the GOPers love Jesus and purity more than they love power. Get ready for Rudy. uhayp
May 30, 2007 4:42 PM

hustveit said:

Isn't it time Dan Quayle makes his Nixonian comeback?? Now there's a Reaganite Republican the country can get behind..
May 30, 2007 8:21 PM