Being hailed as the savior of the Republican Party hasn't seemingly provided GOP contender - and we're suggesting the use of the most passive possible form of the verb "to contend" - with the sort of motivation you'd expect from a candidate who warns of the "urgent threat" of terrorists and a "fiscal tsunami" that'll be here in a few short years. But now that he's earned himself a "cash infusion" for actually putting forth an effort at the South Carolina debate from funders still willing to spur him to the task of running with, at the very least, the fierce audacity of "sometime soon, maybe," the refibrillated candidate says he's finally found his medium: radio. Naturally, all those people who dragged Thompson into the race were fools to believe that he might be comfortable making his case on camera!
Fred Thompson is relying on his radio roots for a rally in South Carolina's GOP presidential primary.
Thompson has sat behind microphones in a series of town-hall meetings as talk radio hosts question him for a few minutes before opening it up to audiences. On Wednesday, it was at a diner in Sumter. On Saturday, it was much the same at an overflowing pancake house in North Charleston.
Thompson says the radio is a natural fit for someone who grew up listening to AM broadcasts, including the well-known commentator Paul Harvey. In fact, the former Tennessee senator is quick to point out he filled in for Harvey for a while.
"I wanted to bring it back in this campaign," Thompson said. "It's worked out real well for us."
At last something is "working out real well" for the candidate. And he has a point: his latest advertisement comes off like a Pepperidge Farm commercial on Quaaludes.
So, Thompson is alive with the spirit of radio! Well, he may not defeat McCain and Huckabee in South Carolina, but Woodrow Wilson has got to be quaking in his boots.