The Fred Thompson moment, if there ever was one, is already passed. It's strange how passed-the-sell-by-date his candidacy already feels. A lazy-man's John McCain to start with, I can't see Hollywood Fred catching fire... or really even sending off sparks.
But his candidacy is fantastic news for Mr. 9/11. And here's why:
The under-the-radar candidacy of Flip Romney has actually been doing very well for itself. He's the frontrunner in Iowa. And New Hampshire is literally his back yard. He's no favorite in Dixie, largely because of his heathen LDS religion. But talking with religious leaders, in particular the Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptists' political arm, Mitt's Mormonism is a lot more tolerable than Rudy's rocky personal life.
So fast forward to whenever it is that these ever-accelerated primaries and caucuses get going: Mitt takes Iowa and wins New Hampshire running away. Without Thompson in the race, Mitt stood a pretty decent chance of capturing South Carolina too. With that kind of momentum, it's not hard to imagine Romney up on the podium in Minneapolis accepting the GOP nomination.
But that dream bites it with Thompson in the race. I'm not sure he'll convince the hard-core religious right of any deeply held religiosity. But his Southern style and wit will make him very hard to beat in the Palmetto state. And a win by Thompson in South Carolina would substantially muddy the electoral waters going into Tsunami Tuesday on Feb. 5.
Instead of a media narrative about Mitt The Unstoppable, you're going to have the pundits anxiously anticipating how Rudy the social moderate is going to fare in the friendly, delegate-rich contests of California, New York and Illinois.
In basketball terms, Fred sets the pick on Mitt, and Rudy rolls to the lane for what is suddenly a much easier shot at the nomination. Rudy's still clumsy enough to clank it off the rim. But if he loses it won't be Fred Thompson's fault.
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Imo, a pretty woman with a southern drawl can sound attractive. A man with a slow drawl just sounds lazy and stupid. I can’t stand the thought of hearing Thompson’s lazy-assed drawl for years on TV.
Someone mentioned Richardson. I live in NM and hope he crawls back under a rock. He’s worse than Jesse Jackson. Sticks his nose in everything—if there’s a camera nearby. Somebody farts, Richardson comes out of the woodwork to make comments about it. I can’t stand him.
A town and state so behind the times and corrupt as hell. Our State Senator for years Ward Cructfield has been found guilty of taking a bribe from the FBI. Several more are going to jail down to school board members and county commissioners are going to or are already in jail.
Fred is just anouther example of all this.A carefully crafted bull shit artist who comes from Tennessee. And about the Red pick up truck I have yet to see it. I wouldn't vote for that anti gay asshole if he was the only one running.
In his first campaign ad Thompson is awkward and unconvincing. How bad will he be when the cameras are roling for more that thirty seconds, and he's required to perform unscripted?
Imagine you are a B-list 'supporting actor' and before you get too old to be cast at all you would love to get to A-list territory and become the lead actor in series and movies where you can earn more in a month than four years as president. But for that you have to vastly improve your name recognition and get tons of favorable exposure. What could be more effective at that than a high profile but ultimately unsuccessfull run for president? If that was your goal you wouldn't say shit about shit, You would just tell lots of charming stories and display your stock character.
"Just becuase I talks slow, does not mean I thinks slow"...
Fred, lethargic? - don't think so, it looks like an act.
He will be elected twice in a 50/50 nation.
Those Dems in NYC live in NYC, not Alabama or Idaho. Your analysis might be just a little simplistic (and off base).
as the deciding electoral map change in '08.