Fred Thompson has been consistently conservative on social policy and provided critical help in getting John Roberts confirmed as Chief Justice.
The Republican Party presidential field seems wide open. Giuliani has lost valuable campaign papers, which might compromise a promising candidacy. He also is to the left of the Republican center on many issues, but his honesty and likeability make up for much of that. McCain is nominally pretty conservative, but he is simply disliked and mistrusted by too many Republicans. Romney is handsome and smooth, but unless he runs away from the pack early, his possible flip-flops on social issues will hurt him.
There are dark horses, like Mike Huckabee of Arkansas or Frank Keating of Oklahoma – both are popular, articulate, conservative and made their careers in state government, rather than Washington. Tom Tancredo would make a wonderful president, but has little chance of winning either the nomination or the general election.
Republicans need someone like Ronald Reagan, someone everyone knows, someone everyone likes, someone who is conservative and – most importantly – someone who would hold the presidency for eight years. What qualifications would such a candidate need? He would have to be someone who is very articulate and convincing in front of the camera, someone who exudes confidence, someone who naturally appeals to women voters, someone familiar with the news media, someone who has kept very much in the public eye and yet someone who has been away from the mess in Washington for awhile.
Is there such a man? Yes, there is: Fred Thompson. He has been consistently conservative on social policy and his help in getting John Roberts confirmed as Chief Justice to the Supreme Court was critical. Thompson has a record in the Senate and he voted conservative, according to the American Conservative Union, eighty-six percent of the time.
Although a conservative senator, he is well liked in the Senate. He also knows the Senate very well, although he has not been a member of the Senate for five years. Thompson also supported John McCain in 2000 and was his national co-chair. He has managed to be friendly with McCain and yet a strong supporter of President Bush. In short, he would be a unifier for the entire Republican Party and should receive the strong support of McCain, if Thompson won the nomination.
The most intriguing aspect of a Thompson candidacy, however, would be his extensive and successful experience as a movie star, a regular on two very popular television programs (programs, pointedly, that are particularly popular with women voters), and now as the replacement for Paul Harvey, whose radio program reaches tens of millions of older Americans every single day.
There is another Republican who did a regular radio commentary, who appeared before the American people for years on a very popular television program, who before that was a successful movie star, and who had left politics for several years before running for president. Who? Ronald Reagan, of course. He spoke to the American people with a radio commentary during the years between his defeat for the 1976 nomination and his run for the 1980 nomination. He was on General Electric Theater, a highly rated show, for years before entering politics. President Reagan honed his skills as a communicator at every single level.
Fred Thompson would naturally appeal to a couple of voting groups who do not naturally gravitate to Republican candidates: women who watch Law & Order, senior citizens who listen to and trust Paul Harvey, and young voters who have seen Thompson's many action movies. Fred Thompson also is an impressive and brilliant communicator. He also exudes a confidence and a leadership which people naturally seek in a president in troubled times.
Would Thompson run? He originally intended to run for re-election in 2002, but the death of his daughter caused him to reconsider. Thompson obviously does not “need” to be president to feel fulfilled in his life, but that is the very thing which most Americans want – someone, like Ronald Reagan, who actually wants to be president in order to serve his country and not his ego. It certainly seems that Fred Thompson cares about the future of America and he is clearly energetic and active enough to make a presidential run.
Would Thompson win? Today people are identified by image not policy briefs; Fred Thompson of Law & Order fame has the permanent image as a “good guy” to America. If his opponents complained that he was “just an actor,” then Thompson could easily answer: “Yes, just like Ronald Reagan was just an actor” (and no one says today that Ronald Reagan was a bad president.) He might run and he could easily win. After that, this well liked and brilliant actor might be the next Reagan.
Interesting pick. I don't know much about Fred Thompson… except that he was pretty cool in Die Hard 2 :) I guess at 20, I represent the aforementioned "young voters".
The only problems I foresee, without knowing anything about him politically, are A) that he's too southern and B) that he's pals with one of the most disliked, liberal RINO's in the Senate (that being John McCain).
Personally, based on what I know of the candidates who've thrown their hats in the ring, my "fantasy" president for '08 would have to be John Cox, followed closely by Tom Tancredo. Unfortunately I don't think either of them have a snowball's chance in hell of making it past the primaries, and I think we're probably going to end up with a pro-abortion, homosexual rights activist Rudy Guilliani when the smoke clears.
I think he might actually stand a chance. He has a strong presence and presents himself well. I'd have to review his voting record and service history before swaying my vote that way but that is a very interesting choice…
OK, I'm convinced. Hillary will roll over McCain or Giuliani because the cultural conservatives will stay home on that election day. Either someone like Fred Thompson who is likable and reasonably conservative steps forward are we have no chance in '08. We may not anyway after two more years of bad news from Iraq. But hey, if Fred will run, I will be his Delaware campaign chairman. The thought of a Pres. Hillary would drive me to wear my knuckles to a bloody mess knocking on doors for Thompson
Bruce Walker's piece is excellent. I was truly saddened when Thompson left the Senate. With the current crop of moderate/moderately-conservative Republicans that are at the top of most of the early 2008 Election polls (i.e., Giuliani, McCain and Romney), I am deeply concerned about our prospects against Sen. Clinton. (Like "prnitz," I fear that many conservatives will simply sit out the election if a middle-of-the-road Republican wins the nomination.) While I (like Patrick) would love to see someone like Rep. Tancredo in the White House, I don't believe he (or Huckabee, or any of the other conservatives that have indicated that they might toss their hat into the ring) has a chance of winning the nomination. Thus, as a fan of Fred Thompson (both as a politician and as an actor), I would work my rear end off if he were to decide to run for the GOP nomination. I think he'd have a MUCH better chance of defeating Hillary than the present crop of frontrunners.
I have been saying this since December 2004. Senator Thompson would make a great president. He has been in government since the 1970's and has established himself as a man who gets things done, plus he has earned respect from both sides of the aisle.
So, Mr. Walker, you being part of a nationally known magazine, I say you throw out the cry, Thompson in '08"
As the saying goes, "Get 'er done!"
Fred Thompson would prove to be a worthy opponent to anybody/thing the Democrats could put forward. He is the complete opposite of all they stand for, and has enough integrity that Hillary! would be hard-pressed to undermine. I guess the hard part would talking him into running…
I, too, was disappointed when Fred left the senate. I hoped he'd return to Tennessee and run for governor, then president. I remember he delivered the Republican response to Clinton's '95 SOTU address after the Republican takeover in '94. It was great. Given the field today, I hope he does run.
I need some help on my history here. As I recall, it was Fred Thompson's integrity which lead him to leaving the senate. He had been put in charge of some committee and was all destroyed by the left by devious means.
I got the idea at the time that he felt the quagmire was simply too deep and incapable of being changed. If my impression was correct, I doubt that he would run.
However, any decision on his part to become involved in government, at any level, would be supported by me– especially as president. Since he knows what the senate is really like, he'd be one heck of a guy to take them on as vice-president.
Mike Brown
Thompson has "all the right stuff" and most importantly, has that indefinable "Reagan Aura" which will unquestionably attract many of the on-the-fence voters. His political philosophy, attitude, likeability, experience and unquestioned patriotism qualify him for "the most important job in the world".
I believe that this website should work hard to put his name and qualifications before the public – the public would respond enthusiastically, and his proposed candidacy would cause consternation on the left.
We could have an instant frontrunner here. Thompson’s margin of victory in 1994 set a record in Tennessee that lasted only until the next time he ran in 1996. So clearly he is electable. He is well spoken and highly respected in two of the (if not the two) most visible occupational fields there are. His 6 foot 6 inch frame only adds to the dominating presence he already commands and would serve him well not only in debates, but also in diplomatic venues. He is a matter of fact type which sets him way apart from the many phonies who overtly and shamelessly aspire to the highest office in the land. Call Rush, Hannity, Bennett, Ingraham, O’Reilly, Medved etc (but probably not Savage, he might scare Fred off) and bang this drum loud and often.
Finally a candidate I can feel excited about backing.
Now if we can only get him to run. I'm with the above poster, I would actually
knock on doors,and man a phone bank. I believe he could win with the largest landslide
in history. There are very few people on the Democratic side who are actually
excited about Hillary or Obama, much less the rest of the country.
Sen. Thompson would grab all the swing voters, and all but gauruntee 100% of the Rebublican
base, in the actual 08 election. IMO
http://www.draftfredthompson.com is such a place. We can let him know just how much we need the man. This is an unofficial ( therefore no donations are asked for or accepted ) but, serious grass-roots effort that is catching FIRE…Let's make sure Fred knows we want him and we're with him…Thank god, a real and strong conservative choice!
Also at http://www.fred08.com/ is another unofficial website.