Thursday, August 16, 2007

Fwenchies Really Really Scared Witless Over Fred Thompson

TV star Thompson set for 2008 Iowa test-run

"Billed as a savior of conservatives left cold by 2008 Republican White House hopefuls, screen star Fred Thompson Friday dips a toe into the race in Iowa. But has his rescue mission come too late?

The craggy former senator's visit to supporters in the strategic state is the latest signal that an official campaign launch is imminent.

Thompson, star of internationally syndicated crime drama "Law Order," had been expected to take the plunge a few months ago. Now the smart money is on an early September debut -- four months before first nominating contests.

A Thompson campaign aide declined to confirm such rumors Wednesday, saying the 64-year-old, six-foot-six (two meter) star of "The Hunt for Red October" was still "testing the waters."

But when he does join the fray, how will Thompson fare against rivals who have been on the trail and piling up huge war chests for months?

If polls are to be believed, his spell on the sidelines was a political masterstroke.

In an average of recent national surveys by website Real Clear Politics, he sits second to former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani, and is a clear top-tier candidate in polls in key states in the nominating process.

But the phantom candidacy has also exerted a price.

Back in May, when news of a possible run surfaced, Thompson basked in a wave of favorable publicity.

But since then, reports have emerged of several campaign shake-ups and gossipy accounts of supposed overreaching by Thompson's wife and advisor Jeri.

Still, Thompson remains well placed, said Dan Shea, professor of politics at Allegheny College.

"I think it was rather strategic ... on the Republican side I think that a lot of voters and potential contributors have been only moderately pleased with the field."

"Jumping in late gives them the impression that he is the savior of the party -- so I think it was smart," Shea said.

But Thompson faces soaring expectations from Republicans desperate for the mix of plain-spoken conservatism and charisma embodied by another former screen star, their hero Ronald Reagan.

Critics, though, have complained Thompson is a mere shadow of the late ex-president, with a modest record as a Tennessee senator between 1994 and 2003.

But Thompson's trump card may be his gruff, no-nonsense character and southern charm, rather than a stuffed policy briefing book.

"Ronald Reagan was popular and effective because of his personality, not because of his record of achievement as governor of California," Shea said.

"His personality fit a need at the time -- that's I think what Republicans are looking for now."

Thompson's tax-cutting, small government ways sit well with conservatives yearning for a Reagan substitute.

"He is very much out of the Reagan mould, he is very much a federalist," said Professor John Geer, of Vanderbilt University, Tennessee.

"He speaks to a lot of old-time Republican concerns."

Thompson's return from the wilderness may reflect weakness in the overall Republican field, some analysts believe.

Giuliani's past positions on issues like abortion are seen as too liberal by many social conservatives.

Senator John McCain is struggling just to keep his campaign alive and Mitt Romney, the ex-governor of Massachusetts, is accused of hiding a moderate political past.

Thompson skeptics, though, point to his disappointing fundraising haul of just 3.4 million dollars in June. His backers, however, predict money will pour in when he enters the race for real.

Thompson has been holding forth on his new website "ImwithFred.com," calling for higher defense spending, lower taxes and sticking with the current surge strategy in Iraq.

In previous articles and blog postings with various conservative sites, Thompson has branded Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad a "pirate" and accused Democrats of "investing" in a US defeat in Iraq.

He harbors a dark world view of looming future threats and has accused NATO allies of slumbering through a showdown with Al-Qaeda's forces of "nihilism."

Forget for a moment what loon professor extraordinaire Danny Boy Shea has to offer about Reagan's personality over substance, and the fact that Professor John Geer, of Vanderbilt University, Tennessee thinks that Fred fits the "Reagan mould" because I really and truly do not think that Fred or Ronny were mouldy at ANY time of their lives.

The Fwench dug until they hit paydirt with two Lie-beral academics who showed them how to be afraid, very afraid, of someone who looks at the world and sees it for what it is, and not what the Tooth Fairy says it should be.

The only man getting us out of this moslem mess is one who recognizes TRUE darkness for what it is and fights it to the death.

If and when Fred announces his candidacy I'll await word of his platform and then make the decision to back him or not.

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