Finally, at 4:30 this afternoon. Fred’s an appealing if not terribly accomplished candidate, but he’s long past the point where he needs to get out and put some miles on his odometer.
But a Thursday afternoon in the last week of August? Talk about lackluster timing.
Jonathan Martin at the Politico says he’s just announcing when he will announce (huh?) and won’t be in next week’s debate. Fred’s not doing a real good job of demonstrating what Bush-weary GOP voters want changed more than anything else: a guy who can stay on offense as far as setting the narrative, who won’t just let things happen to him and get walked all over by the press (it doesn’t matter much what your message is if you can’t get it out).
UPDATE: I’m being unpleasantly reminded of this guy. Which is not a good association in a Republican primary.
4 thoughts on “Fred Is In”
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I am pretty sure now that Fred Thompson has no chance. If you really want to be president, you need a fire in the belly. An if you are indecisive about running, how can you be decisive about anything. Reagan ad Clinton, hell, even Carter (ugh) shared the belief that THEY were the best choice for the oval office, and how could they get you to believe that. Never did they think they shouldn’t run. Well, in Carters case especially, I wish he did have that thought.
That he hasn’t made an announcement yet is bordering on parody at this point. Daryl’s right, it takes a fire he does NOT seem to possess. And if he’s supposed to fill the gap as the straight-talkin’ leader-type, it will be difficult now after standing on the side of the pool with his toe in the water for months while everyone else has been doing laps for months.
If he’s afraid to jump in the pool, how much of a leader can he present himself as…
I think it was more about fundraising and non-disclosure to the FEC. He reported some fundraising, but I’m betting he was raising a war chest out there out of the FEC’s focus. That on top of continuing to draw big bucks from his Law & Order re-runs, it was largely a financial decision.
I think he is a baffoon candidate, but then I thought that of Reagan and Bush and they both sold America the “I’m one of you and a nice simple guy” lies for two terms.
Astro, I disagree. Reagan never said HE was a simple guy, but that he could reduce his ideas to simple terms. Plus, you damn well knew he was running for the job, even when Ford asked him to be his running mate.
You wanna be president? You find ways to do what you want, or need to do. W earned it in 2000, since he found a way that Gore didn’t. Part of the job.