Thompson Agrees To Line Up With The Seals
the debate weanies get their wish at last
By haystack Posted in 2008 — Comments (10) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
There has been much ado about how Fred Thompson has conducted himself in the run up to announcing his candidacy for the Oval office. With all the attempts to trash everything about him before he even announced, it should come as no surprise that everything he has done since would be fodder for anyone wishing he hadn't done so.
More importantly, the notion that he should be held to a different standard - some higher level of expectation than his GOP opponents (SOLELY because he waited longer than anyone believed he should have) - has long since morphed into this goofy idea that he has to part the Red Sea or walk on water to have ANY chance of getting the nod through the primaries.
Thompson, in an interview on Laura Ingraham's radio show, [link to audio about 2/3 of the way down] was asked about the New Hampshire debate he blew off in lieu of a Jay Leno appearance. While they chuckled a bit about how much time and energy was spent on the candidate NOT in the room, he showed as much respect for these little forays into nothingness as I happen to possess:
I've been debating folks in court rooms and political forums since I was about 28 years old and I'm sure that we'll have the opportunity to do a lot more of the 10 little Indian stuff and I'll be there, and I'll be a good boy and stand in line and wait for them to throw me a fish just like everybody else.
For all the experts, and analysts, and "we-gotta-find-SOMETHING-to-complain-about" pundits out there...the moment you've all been waiting for has arrived! Thompson has announced he will attend the circus in an "Oct. 9 CNBC-sponsored debate on economic issues in Dearborn, Mich., an Oct. 14 forum in Manchester, N.H. and, a week later, at an Orlando, Fla. debate."
More below the fold...
To give them each their due, McCain, Giuliani, and Romney have been at it a good long while now. McCain, for goodness sake, has been at it for YEARS. They have done the yeoman's work of trudging through the slop and dredging up support one vote and one headline at a time. I respect that. But as these debates go, little impresses me regarding which should get my vote.
Now, I've come to accept that a Ron Paul breathing is a Ron Paul winning. Or, a Chris Wallace beat-down of Ron Paul is a Rudy winning. Or a fairly decent crack about Thompson's bedtime is a McCain winning.
Ultimately, however, these debates are no more an opportunity to get inside the heads and hearts of your fave Presidential hopeful than a steak fry at a county fair. Sure, everyone will line up and over-analyze every word Thompson utters and set for him a much higher standard...because [gasp...shock...horror of horrors] he waited too long.
It should not go unnoticed here that all the top tier wannabes blew off the Value Voters debate in Florida on Monday yet received no negative press for having done so. That's ok. These campaigns have been all about photo ops and silly sound bites anyway, and seem orchestrated around the nightly news and the NYT front page.
Of course, as Thompson pointed out on Leno, an old-fashioned Lincoln-Douglas style debate - mano a mano - for a couple hours would be far more indicative of the kind of President we might expect to see once he took the oath, but that's not what America seems interested in anymore.
Those who doom any candidacy with the name Thompson on it will have already penned their "Thompson Flops" headlines. Those who have already deemed any Presidency WITHOUT a Rudy name on it will puff their chests and claim victory; "The Thompson campaign is dead in the water!"
I'll do neither. I WILL, however, watch every second of it to see if any in the field sound Presidential, or if they sound like they're doing screen tests for next year's newest reality tv series on Fox.
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Thompson Agrees To Line Up With The Seals 10 Comments (0 topical, 10 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Fred will finally validate the Great Communicator claims made for him, or even the Lincolnesque claim he made for himself while being grilled by Jay Leno. Or, he will conclusively demonstrate that he is just another "seal."
be another seal. Not because he is NOT a great communicator--I think he is. But because the format leaves no room for anything else.
which is, of course, the problem.
...when they see me they'll say, "There goes Loren Wallace,
the greatest thing to ever climb into a race car."
had no problem shining in debates, town halls, you name it. And he never complained about the format, as if answering questions by biased journalists, in front of a TV audience, were demeaning.
weekly seal feedings debates as they/we are now. IIRC, there was one, maybe two debates in an entire campaign back in the early 80s. The way campaigns are forced down our throats nowadays is entirely different than 25 years ago.
...when they see me they'll say, "There goes Loren Wallace,
the greatest thing to ever climb into a race car."
are forced down our throats. We still have the ability to not listen to the debates. We also still have the ability to not anaylize and reanalyze the race, but we still do this. I think the people who are most upset about the race starting early are those who are paying attention, because if you're not paying attention than you don't notice it.
and I've certainly adhered to your first suggestion (not listening to the debates). Your point about not noticing is exactly what I've suggested for weeks about the general public, so I suppose I should listen to myself... :-)
...when they see me they'll say, "There goes Loren Wallace,
the greatest thing to ever climb into a race car."
per J Martin's blog:
"Fred committed to debate that is not happening
Fred Thompson's campaign issued a press release yesterday indicating that they had committed to three debates next month. Included in these was an October 14th forum in New Hampshire to be sponsored by ABC News. The only problem is that there is such no such event.
ABC canceled the forum long ago in the interest of equal time, a source at the network said. Because the DNC only sanctioned six debates, ABC had to limit the number they had originally hoped to sponsor. Having held Republican and Democratic debates in Iowa last month -- and planning one more for each party in New Hampshire in January -- the network didn't want to hold a Republican but not a Democratic forum next month.
Apparently the word did not filter down from the old Thompson team to the new aides installed there. Of course, for full disclosure, I also didn't recognize that the debate was no more until it was flagged by a reader."
I'm not so sure. I think Americans might just tune into it because it would be so different from the usual pap. We just can't get the MSM to promote one. And they are difficult when there are 10 people on stage.
..and count on him making even more deprecating remarks such as that in the future. Read on Kausfiles this morning the remark about how Fred is doing so poorly since his first week of campaigning that he is now leading in the Rasmussen poll by 8 points. God bless Fred for continuing to confound the much-vaunted "experts"! By the way, Fred's hometown visit in Lawrenceburg this past weekend here in Tn. was a HUGE success. While some press reports grumpily said that about 1000 showed up, those who were there gave the estimate at around 10,000. And that includes a noted talk-show host, Phil Valentine, who was there as well. Run, Fred, run!