Newsweek On Thompson: "Lazy Like A Fox"

Newsweek:

Fred Thompson does not want to meet the Butter Princess. Everywhere he turns at this morning's meet-and-greet at the Minnesota State Fair, he is surrounded by hundreds of star-struck onlookers, many of them "Law & Order" fans who line up three-dozen deep for a close-up with the actor who would be president. Thompson, a sometimes reluctant campaigner, is in full movie-star mode, and has his good-ole-boy charm set on high. All the women he meets are "honey" and the men "buddy." Even dressed down in khakis and a blue shirt with the sleeves rolled up, he is hard to miss. At 6 feet 6, he is head-and-shoulders taller than anyone around him. Posing for picture after picture, he reflexively stoops to fit in the frame. Some fans ask him to autograph DVDs of "The Hunt for Red October" and "In the Line of Fire," movies in which he had small but memorable parts playing powerful, world-weary men. "Run, Fred, run!" comes a shout from the crowd. Thompson lets out a long, low chuckle. All in all, he looks downright thrilled to be here.

Yet even on the best of days, there are limits to how far he is willing to go to please the people. As Thompson and his wandering retinue near the booth where the Butter Princess is holding court, most of his followers peel off to get a look at her. She is one of the fair's main attractions, and it's easy to see why. She is blonde and beautiful and all of 90 pounds--of butter. Carved that morning from a solid block, she smiles vacantly through the glass of her 38-degree display case. Inside, the sculptor, a woman bundled in a coat and gloves, is at work on another dairy masterpiece. Each day she creates a new bust, modeled after the real young women voted to the fair's royal court. The windows are crowded with people trying to get a look. Thompson hangs back; he clearly wants to move on. This is the second dairy statue he's had to endure this month--a couple of weeks earlier, he grudgingly posed next to a two-ton butter cow in Iowa--and he has lost any interest he may have had in the genre. He does his best to muster some enthusiasm. "Oh, she's got a wand," he says weakly. "That's somethin'."

Read the whole story: Newsweek

Comments

[frost]

06:20 PM on 09/03/2007

.

dear grandpa Fred..

it's good to see an old geezer like you walking around without a cane.. gives hope to the other senior citizens in the nursing home..

and to be spending so much time with your granddaughter.. whats that.. it's your wife..

he he.. got you some of that Viagra didn't you.. you lucky stiff.. whats that.. you don't actually get some.. she just hangs around for pictures and collects a check while she's banging the gardener and the grocery delivery boy..
.

well anyway.. grandpa Fred good luck on collecting those dollars from the right wing nutjobs.. bet you'll be hanging on to that cash for your retirement at shadybrook where the little wife will send you when the cashing in is done..
.

[1will]

05:21 PM on 09/03/2007

Not too bad of a story considering it's a left wing smear piece. It could have been worse.
Thompson seems to work hard for something important but doesn't want was time on irrelavent crap like meeting a butter sculptor or putting in 14-16 hour days in a useless "Sense of the Senate" meeting.
I compare that to Biden who could listen to himself talk for 14-16 hours, the Clinton's who have worked for power their whole lives and the overwhelming hypocrisy of Gore and Edwards.
Thompson doesn't come off too badly compared to his peers.

[Grulg]

04:42 PM on 09/03/2007

He def. is BORED and comes off as lazy, more than you'd expect, given his two terms in the Senate etc. Oh well. We'll see if the guy has a chance in the primaries or not.

[peterz]

04:10 PM on 09/03/2007

Sad. This guy is just a made up persona. Why can't people look deeper? He has about 17% of the republican vote at this time, and I'll bet few of those people know what he stands for or know how he traded on his Washington insider status to make millions as a lobbyist. Of course that's no lower than Gulliani parlaying his mayorial status in NY during 911 into megabucks on the lecture circuit and a shot at becoming president. Clowns all!

[NotaBeliever]

04:07 PM on 09/03/2007

We Americans like the good ole boys. We elect them president, no matter their lack of experience or sheer cussed laziness. If he can stomp Giuliani for the Repub nomination, Thompson is a definite threat to Dem aspirations for the White House. Sneer at him and then weep when he's elected.

[MikeDu]

01:35 PM on 09/03/2007

If this toad gets elected then America really does deserve everything it gets. Talk about America becoming a world laughing stock, Can you just imagine Thompson's child bride hosting a state dinner? At least with what's waiting for him at home Thompson won't be tempted to give the German chancellor an impromptu back rub.

[fourex]

12:53 PM on 09/03/2007

Is there any medication that could keep this clown awake? Will he travel with IV bag and nurse Rachet?

[WolfLady]

10:09 AM on 09/03/2007

This guy is all "Law and Order" and remarkably little substance. The best thing about him is how vividly he illustrates the GOP's desperation for a "savior".
But I really do hope they nominate him, because I'd just love to see him in a debate against Hillary! Sort of like a contest between a blowtorch and a daisy.
~Lannie~

[Qbear]

09:33 AM on 09/03/2007

Folksy truck driving dumb rich white
guy...where have I seen THAT before?

Fred do you enjoy clearing wood on an estate...er...ranch, by any chance?

[Unrepentantliberal]

08:18 AM on 09/03/2007

Fred Thompson soon starring as "Savior of the Republican Party?" I think not, and I think he too knows he's not and that is why he's stayed on the sidelines so long. Because as soon as this Not-quite-big-budget-extravaganza hits the screen people will instantly recognize it as a straight to video store release and not a blockbuster.

[Ammobob]

07:34 AM on 09/03/2007

All righty then! It's about time!

Let the good times roll and the money flow.

Fred 08!

[anangryamerican]

12:19 AM on 09/03/2007

Another Republiscum from Hollywood? Fancy That!

[Qbear]

11:32 PM on 09/02/2007

Fred,
hiring Santorum's old self-loathing queer (who was OUTED) as your Communications Director...shrewd move, Gramps!

[Qbear]

11:27 PM on 09/02/2007

Fred get in the race soon, but if you think either Rudy or Mittler are going to lay down and give you the nomination, then you don't just sound like a dumb HICK, you are one.

I wouldn't turn my back on either of those two cut throats.

[shag11]

11:11 PM on 09/02/2007

Hopefully the more mature women, who've been left for younger women will cringe everytime the see his "trophy wife."