Now that Fred Thompson has officially withdrawn from the race, the chatter will only increase about his apparent intent to not endorse another candidate, as reported by Jim Geraghty and Marc Ambinder.
This is pretty cagey on Thompson’s part. Had he endorsed his good friend, Sen. John McCain, he likely would have hurt is own standing among Fredheads. Moreover, if McCain should win the nomination and offer the Veep slot to Fred, his acceptance can be spun as uniting the party. Furthermore, should Romney (or someone else) win the nomination, his options remain open.
I wish I could say the Thompson campaign was inspiring, but its lack of inspiration was one of the major reasons for its collapse. Nevertheless, I certainly wish Thompson, his ailing mother and his hot wife all the best and look forward to seeing them again.
“I wish I could say the Thompson campaign was inspiring, but its lack of inspiration was one of the major reasons for its collapse.”
I would say it was more the lack of any kind of positive press, but that would make me look bitter and cynical, and we can’t have that.
And I would like to invite happyfeet to come by Athens so we can drown our sorrows, if his globe-trotting every brings him down around these parts.
Camp Fred did not help themselves by tossing the Fox alumni who joined his staff.
I would say it was more the lack of any kind of positive press, but that would make me look bitter and cynical, and we can’t have that.
Well, then allow me …
If Thompson got half of the media attention that Huckster got … even Time mag was pushing Huck. This week’s Huck installment? TWO articles: one on Huck’s campaign manager and another pice called “Jesus Christ’s Superstar.” You could say Fred was already “out” at this point, but there isn’t a picture – or a mention -of Fred anywhere. Nor has there been before this point.
I think he did hurt himself with the hedged “will he or won’t he run” gambit.
OK, so now we have to have McCain and Romney tie for delegates, brokered convention, FRED!
Well, OK. Unlikely.
Athens, OH?
“If Thompson got half of the media attention that Huckster got … even Time mag was pushing Huck. This week’s Huck installment? TWO articles: one on Huck’s campaign manager and another pice called “Jesus Christ’s Superstar.†”
Yes but the bothersome part is WHY the Media is giving the attention to Huck. I’ll go out on a limb here and say it’s due to:
a) A way to snidely show just how wacky THOSE people are (Southerners, Christians)
b) Related to the above, it’s a way to showcase “the other” similar to how they might showcase The Elephant Man. Gives them something to snicker about. Plus it’s something most folks in the media have probably never seen A Baptist.
I’m just not sure that’s something that should be celebrated in any way.
“Yes but the bothersome part is WHY the Media is giving the attention to Huck.”
It is much simpler than that. You ever heard of Wayne Dumont? If Huck gets the nomination you can bet your ass you will. With pictures.
And this time it will be Mike Dukakis drinking the rubbing alcohol instead of Kitty.
“It is much simpler than that. You ever heard of Wayne Dumont? If Huck gets the nomination you can bet your ass you will. With pictures.”
Huck was associated with a minor league pitcher/NJ State Senator?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_Dumont
Who knew?
That guy gets around!
(Sorry…I’ll get my coat)
D’oh! That would be Wayne DumonD.
Why? He entered the race at a time that would have been normal in any other election year. Edwards shoul dbe strung up by his optic nerves just for announcing so early, the rest of the Democrats for following his lead, and the Republicans too.
This can be laid back on the press as well, stoking the fires for a longer than natural campign season and making the artifical apperacne that Fred was late. Rather he was on time and everyone else was seriously early.
Well said, RTO. Though his official announcement came later, Silky started running about 5 weeks after the inaugural ceremony, and Hillary has been raising money for years. Some of the R’s are no better. Tsk, tsk, Senators. Primaries were not designed to begin 2 years before the election, but that is no a ridiculous starting line from which this fiasco started.
The process is what it is. As someone who stresses the value of organization, I cannot complain that candidates starting “early” have an advantage building one over those who don’t.
Aside from that point, Fred could have officially entered when he was getting buzz last summer and done better, though again the reason he did not was lack of organization in his own inner circle.
::sigh::
Poor Fred. He just isn’t crazy enough.
Regards,
Ric
With respect to #14, I want to ask a serious question:
What was Ronald Reagan doing between 1976 and his announcement in 1980? I would be surprised if he wasn’t working the state parties.I really would.
Huckabee got press because he won in Iowa. Winning early gets you attention – it may flame out fast, but it gets you attention. The MSM may loathe you, but you get attention. The media system may be dying, but it isn’t dead yet, and it brings attention still, especially amongst a certain demographic known for driving Mercury Grand Marquis’ (IYKWIMAITYD) and they vote.
The George Costanza theory of opposites should always be applied to primary voting as it relates to MSM coverage. Goddammit Fred!!! It ain’t over til we say it’s over!
Too bad about Thompson; I would have liked to know more about him. I agree that this horserace gets underway too early. But is Huckabee really a viable option? It seems that between him, Romney, and Giuliani, the repubs have a serious religion issue to address. I don’t see a way around or over it; these guys are off the chart.
I think it’s a sign the writer’s strike is about to break. Feckless Fred was only in this so his agent could get him better contracts.
alpuccino – it isn’t paid workers slamming those campaign signs into snowbanks. Those are volunteers with a trunk full of signs. Been there, done that, got several cheap t-shirts.
I never got the sense that Fred’s heart was in it. He played the maiden for too long, waiting to be wooed into the race. And then he didn’t seem to be really trying to stomp the oppo flat.
holy bat shit. Dumont was a loser but his enemy of then, a certain then-Marxist professor, Eugene Genovese seems someone you ‘conservatives’ might like to know.
Just another reason to defend Academic Freedom. He “turned right” w/o having his tenure taken away. Read: urn to the Right
Starting in the 1990s, Genovese turned his attention to the history of conservatism in the South, a tradition that Genovese came to celebrate more and identify with. In his study, The Southern Tradition: the Achievements and Limitations of an American Conservatism, he examined the Southern Agrarians, critics who collectively wrote I’ll Take My Stand, their critique of Enlightenment humanism. Genovese concluded that the critics more accurately described human nature, by recognizing human sinfulness and limitation. The Southern Agrarians, he noted, also pose a challenge to modern American conservatives, with their mistaken belief in market capitalism’s compatibility with traditional social values and family structures when it actually destroys them. In his personal views, he has moved sharply to the right. Where he once denounced liberalism from a radical left perspective, he currently does so as a Republican. In December 1996, Genovese converted to Roman Catholicism, following the conversion of his wife, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese.”
heard on NPR that Thompson’s dropping out of the race will not help McCain but will help Romney. makes sense! since so many McCain haters liked Fred…but Fred and John are friends. Go figure…..
Giuliani has NY but little else due to his “Thompson” strategy IMO. but surprises could happen….
Which means Fred could have gotten McCain’s Republican supporters and McCain’s Republican detractors.
Dogmadave, you really don’t understand how people win elections, do you?
sure….I knew Fred was gone weeks ago…..but you’re still hoping. McCain’s the ticket if Repugs want to win…but then you might want to lose: Romney. Juvenaliani? Even most NY’ers think he’ll fade. Son of a Mafia hit man? come-on…
Sheesh. Easy to say today.
That was a misspelling, dave, as I indicated in comment 11. The person I was referring to was Wayne DuMond:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wayne_DuMond
A real sweetheart:
“DuMond received his second sexual assault conviction from a rape perpetrated in Arkansas in 1984. The victim, Ashley Stevens, was a 17-year-old cheerleader and a third cousin of then-Governor Bill Clinton.
…
In March 1985, after his arrest but before his trial, DuMond claimed he was attacked in his home by two men and castrated. … Phil Ostermann, the Arkansas State Police investigator who handled the castration case, noted in his report that Dr. Jeff Whitfield of the Elvis Presley Trauma Center in Memphis examined Dumond after the incident, and was asked by Dumond’s wife whether it was possible the castration was self-inflicted. Dr. Whitfield responded that it was possible, and he had noted similar cases of self-mutilation in the past. Fletcher Long, the attorney who prosecuted Dumond for the rape of Ashley Stevens, was skeptical that Dumond could have castrated himself, but he also doubted Dumond’s account because there was no evidence of a struggle, or that he had been tied up (which should have left ligature marks), and there was a two-thirds-empty half-gallon bottle of Jim Beam whiskey at the scene of the supposed assault.
While in prison, DuMond successfully sued the St. Francis County and the local sheriff who publicly displayed DuMond’s severed testicles and later flushed them down the toilet. DuMond was sentenced to life plus twenty years in prison.”
We need a fence around Arkansas. Now.
I’m sure he’ll say the same about McCain before it’s over.
datadave appears to be hitting the hard stuff tonight. That was a healthy dose of teh krazy right there.
Oh hey B Moe – I wish I could. Stuck in NY and it’s not nearly as fun as in the movie.
Well if you ever do, drinks are on me.
thanks for the clarification
I already said McCain’s got a very long shot, but it’s looking like Romney all the way (to the Dukakis doghouse). Guiliani (sp?) has a small chance, but I never doubt the ability of the Democrats to snatch defeat…from the usual poll laden expected victory. Dukakis was 20 points ahead in late spring of that election year…then “poof”.
Besides who even wants to be President and get blamed for all the crap the Bush Dynasty has wrought?
You forgot Kyoto, datadave. And Darfur. And poverty. And worldwide hunger.
ok…yeah, yeah, sly humor about unfunny things.
In case you weren’t aware datadave, calling Republicans “Repugs” makes you an asshole. I suspect you already had suspicions about this, but in case you didn’t…
hey, I’ve been called a lot worse. It’s the obvious choice of words that that the rightwing blogs accept and you can’t take any criticism w/o using invective. Point to any interchange I’ve had here and conservatives use the bulk of invective. And nasty words.. and then get all ‘legalistic’ and uptight when ideological opponents use similar words.
‘legalistic’?
oh, man. I just did a little research. Hey, I’ve only been visiting here about a half year of so. That’s a hint. “Legalistic” is like using a law to put down the rabid troll instead of just blocking here from foaming at the mouth statements that were obviously harmless in the long run. Come’on it’s just the internet. I (we?) am taking this way too seriously. Apparently, it’s wise to not let readers onto where you live or are employed or stalkers (both right or left) come and try to take it away from you. Except, the Right takes it to the n’th degree and want’s lifetime punishment for any disagreement.
I despise that holier than thou “Law and Order” crap. Like conservatives never are guilty. We could like save lots of money if we really all just drove the speed limit. A wonderful ‘web experiment was that li’l movie about the kids who drove their cars at the speed limit and then miles of traffic were backed up behind them incensed that they had to drive the speed limit. Not that I do it either.
hey, I’ve been called a lot worse. It’s the obvious choice of words that that the rightwing blogs accept and you can’t take any criticism w/o using invective. Point to any interchange I’ve had here and conservatives use the bulk of invective. And nasty words.. and then get all ‘legalistic’ and uptight when ideological opponents use similar words.
I have noticed that you casually drop smears, usually within your first comment on a thread, and then having either forgotten that or giving yourself license to “deal with us on our level” you are shocked that others respond in kind. If I had to guess, and I do, I’d say you are just a garden variety bigot who truly believes that the right side of the political equation is the cause of badness in this world, and as such you are allowed to approach us as if we were subhuman. In short, I suspect you are taking shortcuts in your thinking process, and the result is as predictable as it is ignorant.
DD,
It’s important, really important, that you take your meds exactly as prescribed. Don’t skip a day and then double up on the next dose, unless your doctor tells you it’s okay. Even then, your doctor and I would agree that it’s far better just to take the right dose at the right time, every time. Ordinarily, I wouldn’t offer medical advice in a political forum, but your stream-of-conciousness rant about stalkers and speed limits has me concerned.
interesting. I’ll have to check our WordPress.
Ed.guy, nice writing. I suspect you are another PW writer keeping the level of discourse at a more “intellectual” level. :”I’d say you are just a garden variety bigot who truly believes that the right side of the political equation is the cause of badness in this world, and as such you are allowed to approach us as if we were subhuman.”
reread the above quote I gave before. It matches yours but with the invective left in.
Hey, Like Shr(H)illary, I was a Goldwater Republican and know of whom I talk about.
“[O]f whom I talk about”?
What? The Full Prepositional Employment Act?