Redstate

By Leverkuhn Posted in Archived — Comments (0) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

As everybody knows right now, Senator Fred Thompson has decided to call it quits. He made his announcement after a string of defeats and poor finishes in the early primary states.

Since I am not a Fred Thompson supporter myself, one might expect that I would look upon his departure from the race as a good thing. And certainly, every serious candidate that John McCain outlasts is one less obstacle to his eventual nomination. Nevertheless, I want to say to all the Fred Heads out there that even though I did not support him I am truly sad to see him go. The reason is simply that he brought something to the race that I felt it dearly needed: perspective.

From the beginning Fred Thompson faced criticism over his perceived lack of enthusiasm toward campaign. That perception wasn't totally unfounded, and the truth is that Fred didn't always act like he really wanted the job as badly as some of the other candidates. However, at least part of the problem stemmed from the fact that he really is a whole, well-rounded human being with a diverse array of interests and activities that do not all revolved around politics. He is married to a lovely wife, and at the ripe old age of 65 he has two very young children (a four-year-old daughter, and a two-year-old son). He drew eyebrows earlier this winter when he indicated that his world would not be over if he fails to win the White House:

"I like to say that I'm only consumed by very, very few things and politics is not one of them," Thompson said at a town hall meeting in nearby Burlington.

The welfare of my country and my kids and grandkids are one of them. But if people really want in their president a super type-A personality, someone who has gotten up every morning and gone to bed every night thinking about for years how they could achieve the presidency of the United States, someone who could look you straight in the eye and say they enjoy every minute of campaigning — I ain't that guy.

I always knew that would make him a tough sell for Republican primary voters, who understandably want a man who desperately wants to win. At the same time, I always respected him for it as well. Thompson was a man totally comfortable in his own skin. While may not have been a good presidential candidate in his own right, he did the GOP a service by sticking with it for a while and reminding us that there is indeed life outside of politics.