Exclusive: Fred Thompson to Support John McCain
By Kevin Price Posted in Archived — Comments (32) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
On today's Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650), I interviewed Jessica Colon of the Young Republicans and a regular feature on Fox News and Fox Business, and during that program she informed me that Senator Fred Thompson is going to support John McCain for President.
In that interview, Colon stated that she met with a senior staff member of the Thompson campaign who wished to remain unidentified, who stated that he was confident an endorsement would soon follow. In light of the two senators different ideologies, the question being asked by many is why?
Colon got the sense that the two are esteemed colleagues and friends from the Senate. In my experience as a former aide to US Senator Gordon Humphrey (R-NH) during the 1980s, I found the Senate to be the ultimate buddy club. The House was really hostile and confrontational. The divisiveness wasn't limited to the two parties, but ideologies among the parties. The Senate always had a different attitude.
Also, Senator Thompson actually endorsed McCain in 2000 and there is a case that can be made that it would be natural for him to do it again.
However, this could harm Thompson's chances of getting the VP nomination if he chooses the wrong horse. Than again, Colon pointed out that Thompson hasn't expressed an interest in that position.
This information is based on a conversation between Jessica Colon and a senior staff member of the Thompson campaign. We haven't heard anything from the Senator. Those who supported the Thompson campaign might find it helpful to contact him and encourage him to refrain from making that decision.
The interview will be posted shortly. For those who would like to hear it online through our archive, email us at info@HoustonBusinessShow.com and put "Jessica on Thompson" in the subject line.
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Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show, (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of Houston Business Review. Read his many opinions at his blog at www.BizPlusBlog.com.
Another Fox analyst said Fred ran -specifically- to get the VP spot. Which is it?
Till Fred says something in public, everything's rumor, so far as I can tell.
But God Bless the "Unnamed Sources"
Fred Thompson, 2008
I heard a senior advisor to Fred say that this was Fred's time to be VP! So I agree, it is all speculation at this point.
I'll stick with Erick's staffers who tell him Fred will NOT endorse anyone.
...they are not to be taken seriously. Do you really think they have better information than we do?
If you, you need to rethink.
I'm not discrediting Redstate as a source. I didn't see antying on this site saying definitively what Fred was going to do.
Also, Jessica has been a guest on my show several times and have been a very credible source of information.
I'm not saying she's right. But I guess it will be an interesting reflection on all those who are confident that she is wrong. Until we hear from the former Senator, it is speculation.
I don't believe Fred would do this to his supporters, but he has endorsed McCain in the past, so you never know. But it would be very disappointing. Now Hunter endorsing Huckabee is right on the money!
I support Governor Mike Huckabee for President.
Hunter endorsed Huckabee? That's a big disappointment. By the way, I'm convinced that Huckabee will be the biggest loser from Thompson's withdraw. He has been using Thompson as an excuse for poor performance.
By the way, in the end, if Huckabee is our candidate, I will support him. I just hope isn't our candidate.
Sorry, but I am/was a Fred supporter, and I'd be thrilled for FDT to endorse McCain. I'm not the only one, either.
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Beth
This particular Fred staffer has been pushing this for a while at the expense of the campaign.
I would not hold your breath. Having talked to more senior people in the campaign than this source, I don't think it'll happen.
Think about why Thompson was one of very few Senators to endorse McCain over Bush in 2000... They have more in common than many FredHeads want to admit. Win the War, Fight the Pork, Shrink the Government... Vote McCain.
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Fred and McCain have more in common than many FredHeads want to admit.
I believe this too, I saw it when he would go on a Huck-bashing rampage that had no truth behind it. I knew he was bashing Huck so his supporters would not realize that Huck was more like the guy Fred was selling himself to be than Fred himself actually was. I didn't want to believe someone would mislead their supporters this way, but his voting record and past support of McCain belies his blustering.
I support Governor Mike Huckabee for President.
Huckabee is a pawn of the Clinton machine -- propped up to run although woefully unprepared to be POTUS in order to attract the evangelical vote and then fracture them from the GOP and keep them home in November when Huckster does not win the nomination -- then Hillary sails back into the WH.
Or, if my some strange miracle the Huckster did win the nomination -- then the Clinton machine wins in a mandate with a map of nothing but blue across the US.
Why did Dick Morris run Huckabee's first campaign when Morris was still part of the Clinton machine?
Although I don't like Huckabee, I don't agree with your analysis. The ones that the Democrats are using are McCain and (obviously) Paul, in my opinion. Don't be fooled by the rhetoric that McCain is the one the Democrats fear. They are hoping for him.
Hillary did not expect Obama. Hillary expected a coronation.
So the initial preparation by the Clinton machine was not make sure that they either (1) ran against the weakest possible GOP nominee and/or (2) fractured the GOP Reagan coalition so that some part of that 3 part voting block would either not vote or not swing.
It does not matter if McCain is a weak candidate that the DNC does not fear running against. Fred Thompson is the only candidate the DNC feared running against - this is why the MSM has done everything it could to depress his campaign from the start.
Huckabee is the pawn or useful idiot in all of this because he has absolutely no credentials for national office (except for sleeping at a Holiday Inn express), his Southern Baptist preacher background was destined to first attract the evangelical vote and then when he is not the nominee -- they sit out the election in a mad huff. If Huckabee had not been running, then the EV may have held their nose for another candidate to come out an beat Hillary. EVs find more excuses to stay home than they do to vote. EVs have to be lead to the voting booths with carrots.
I don't know where you picked up on me following any rhetoric about McCain being feared by the DNC.
"I don't know where you picked up on me following any rhetoric about McCain...."
I didn't. I think you may be the one that needs it explained to you nice and slow. You didn't even use such rhetoric, this was my assessment. I thought you were wrong about Huckabee... shocking! Are you not use to people coming to that conclusion?
I think you are wrong and I think Huckabee could be a bigger challenge to the Democrats than McCain. This site is opinion. You expressed yours with rhetoric that was shadow and conspiratal. The type of rhetoric that has made many Conservatives look like idiots. I disagree. Being able to do such is what Redstate seems to be about.
displeased the members of my family would be. I just cannot believe he would do it...but politicians have betrayed me before...we'll see.
Freedom of Religion not Freedom from Religion
However, I think we overestimate the knowledge of political staffers. I have been a political staffer and have swore up and down one side and the other that my candidate was about to do "A", right before he did "B". My point is that Thompson's campaign has ended and he may or may not be sharing his intentions with his paid staffers who no longer have a job. That would be like my boss asking me who he is going to vote for.
My thoughts are that Thompson prefers McCain. He preferred him before he got in the race. He preferred him in 2000. And he has as much as said to reporter that if her were to not be in the race he prefers him now. My gut feeling is that they are keeping this horse in the stable, and Fred and McCain will decide when the right time is to bring him out.
"I believe in grace, because I have seen it. In peace, because I have felt it. In forgiveness, because I needed it."
-George W. Bush
but for those who are whimper about being betrayed IF Fred were to endorse such a traitor as McCain, what reason can you give for him endorsing anyone else?
Immigration - McCain said that he had heard the American people on immigration. He lost. He will acquiesce to the will of the people
The difference between McCain, Romney, Huckabee and Rudy? They acquiesced. Not one of them now publicly holds the same position on immigration they held in their previous jobs. Romney, Huckabee and Rudy are equally complicit.
Taxes - McCain opposed the Bush tax cuts.
Romney would not publicly oppose the tax cuts, but he did not support them, either. He wanted to maintain his relationship with the White House. He wouldn't be "a cheerleader" for proposals that he disagreed with. Yeah, it was first reported by the Boston Globe in 2003, but it was picked up by Byron York at NRO.
http://corner.nationalreview.com/post/?q=MTBkYjg1ZmJlYjFmOGFjODRmMDViZWZ...
Huckabee raised taxes A LOT in Arkansas. Rudy did the least damage as mayor.
GWOT
McCain has made it clear that he will fight the war on terror. Okay, we didn't like his attacks on Rumsfeld, and he criticized the Bush for not putting in enough men, but he will fight terrorism. Any question about that?
To date, neither Romney nor Huckabee have shown great enthusiasm for the war on terror. Heck, they haven't shown minor enthusiasm. Huckabee will end our arrogance and negotiate with terrorists the opposition. Only Rudy has passionately supported the war on terror, probably more than McCain.
Abortion
McCain got a 75 from the National Right to Life. In this session. Because he supported embryonic stem cell research. Really. I don't remember any public support for abortion rights. Maybe I missed that.
Only Rudy comes up short in public pronouncements. I mean, really, I have been assured by various Romney supporters that I can now TOTALLY trust his recent conversion to pro-life. Even though he was pro-abortion as governor, when he could have made a difference. But his current position is the only one that matters. Right now. In this election.
Only Huckabee has been stalwart on abortion.
Consorting with Democrats
I love this one. McCain is a traitor, through and through.
Except somehow it is testamony to Romney's courage and skill that he successfully governed USSR-MASS, completely dominated by the Dems. The few Republicans in the state seemed to serve mostly in making Romney look conservative by comparison.
And Huckabee spent years giving the Democrat-controlled state legislature what they wanted. Tax increases, public works, everything. For the good of Arkansas, naturally.
And Rudy had a lot of choices, didn't he? He was the only Republican in the entire freaking city. Exaggeration intended, but only slightly.
So maybe some Huckabites and Romneyites will be oh, so offended if Thompson endorses McCain. But really, somebody show me the real difference, the one issue that means Thompson has to endorse their guy or commit sipiku if he endorses McCain. Perhaps friendship is reason enough this time.
And no, I don't really support McCain. With Fred bowing out, I'm scratching my head for someone to support. Rudy's support for killing terrorists any time, any where, may be the right guy for 2008. McCain is just about there, too.
His NRLC score is 75 because of campaign-finance reform. IIRC, he has a perfect record on abortion votes.
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a Romney site. If you are right, and I have no reason to doubt it, seems like Romney can't even slander his opponents honestly.
Its hard to tell based on his statements. On the one hand he speaks of how he has heard the people and agrees on the need to focus on enforcement (or is it just border security???) in order to regain the public trust; while on the other he says his position has not changed and he still supports a path to being a future Democrat for illegals.
There is an excellent article about this topic on National Review today;
http://article.nationalreview.com/?q=ZjA1OTJmODJhYjdiMzIwMDVhMTFkNDU5NmE...
A question I'd pose to any McCain supporter is this; do you think that if elected President, he would sign Ted Kennedy's immigration reform bill if it passed Congress? Before you answer, bear in mind that he has said he might not seek a second term, and thus would have less to fear from the base on this issue.
This whole one-term thing is one of the reasons I don't think for a second that he'd nominate AND fight for conservative judges to the Sup Court. Another is that I think he would value maintaining McCain-Feingold over abolishing Roe. Another is that I don't think he would want risk turning the media against him over this issue. Of course, it's inevitiable that the media would turn against him in the general anyway, but that relationship could be rebuilt easily if McCain advanced the Democratic agenda on some big issue once in office.
But I don't want to be accused of helping Hillary or Obama by refusing to support McCain. If he is the nominee, I would vote for him over any of the Democrats...and then have very low expectations for his Presidency on pretty much everything other than steadfastness in fighting the War.
on immigration. The people let Congress know how they felt about immigration, and McCain heard the people. If the phones hadn't melted down on the day before the vote, a lot of Congress critters would have voted for it. And I think McCain would sign a bill if Congress gave him one.
I also have the same total lack of faith in the election year conversions of Romney, Huckabee and Rudy on conversion. Can anyone here really believe that on a day, Huckabee wants to give illegals immigrants educational benefits, and on another day, he wants to build a mondo fence? I don't believe that his support of the fence is anything other than pandering, and he will change his mind when Congress passes the bill.
For any of the current candidates, their core values have not changed from when they were governors or mayor. I think they will sign any immigration bill that gets out of congress.
Unfortunate, but I wouldn't let immigration be the tie breaker for selecting a candidate this year. And that includes McCain.
Steadfastness in fighting the war is enough for me. McCain or Rudy can be trusted on the war, if not immigration. The other two, not so much on either one.
nothing more than the US Senate and the loyalty of its members to the Senate above their loyalty to America. I have actually called for the elimination of the Senate.
more later
Mike Gamecock DeVine @ The Charlotte Observer
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McCain votes on what is right, not because he panders for support. That makes him a leader. McCain not once voted to raise taxes while he was in Congress. (Romney raised taxes in MA). He didn't support the Bush tax cuts because the plan wasn't conservative enough. The plan didn't cut spending! Our republican controlled congress spent like liberals. You can't have all that pork and cut taxes at the same time. You need to cut both. McCain as President will veto spending and any tax increases. McCain is the most electable conservative running, period.
He is pro-life, pro-tax and spending cuts, pro-security.
On the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, on hushing up Wisconsin Right to Life via McCain-Feingold, on McCain-Kennedy immigration.
McCain said very clearly why he voted against the 2001 and 2003 Bush tax cuts, that too much of the cuts went to the wealthy. Basically, McCain adopted the same Leftist class warfare rhetoric that Ted Kennedy used.
Since when is a Naderite view of the economy "conservative?"
McCain even promised to vote to help the Democrats retain their right to filibuster conservative judicial nominees after the Democrats were down to only 45 senate seats. The Democrats were flat on their backs and they need RINOs like McCain to help them keep the filibuster. So, McCain announced that he wouldn't be voting with Rick Santorum, Jon Kyl and the other Republicans on the nuclear optoin but would instead vote with Chuck Schumer, Ted Kennedy and Dick Durbin.
solid reporting Kevin. First class investigative journalism at its best.
Seems like rumor otherwise
W.C. Fields for President!
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