New at Reason

September 7, 2007

Dave Weigel looks behind the voice and the jowls, and finds little substance to back Fred Thompson's folksy charm.

Comments

|9.7.07 @ 3:07PM|#

Is Thompson trying to just parrot Ah'nold's rise to power?

I'm sorry, but the amount of support for this guy mixed with the little the general public knows about him... the whole thing smells fishy.

|9.7.07 @ 3:14PM|#

Maybe folks who actually live in California have insight that I don't, but from afar it looks like Arnold has plenty of substance--he just hasn't been too successful getting his ideas passed into law. The idea of defanging the public sector unions was great, particularly in a state where prison guard unions seem to be dictating penal policy. Ditto with the idea to eliminate gerrymandering.

|9.7.07 @ 3:15PM|#

Anybody who uses faux-populism to such an extent makes me want to vomit. Thompson is the Republican John Edwards in that respect.

|9.7.07 @ 3:18PM|#

John Edwards has put out the most subsantive policy statements of any candidate in the race. Just as he did last time. He may look like a Thompson-grade intellectual lightweight, but he isn't.

Someone drew a parellel between Thompson and Obama on a thread yesterday, comparing Thompson's cornpone persona with Obama's "new age guru" stance. That was a much better comparison.

|9.7.07 @ 3:22PM|#

joe-

I wasn't referring to anything substantive, just their personas and their projection of faux-populism. Both turn up their southern accent and try to act like good old boys when in fact they are worth many millions of dollars, live in gigantic houses, and drive Lincoln town cars.

Bush does the same routine with his ranch and cowboy hat even though hes really from Connecticut and doesn't know how to ride a horse. I just feel like my intelligence as a voter is completely insulted when politicians act like this.

TLB|9.7.07 @ 3:34PM|#

I supported Ahhhnuld for a few years, until he was obviously gotten to by both Bush and his wife. He could have taken on the really bad people in the legislature, but instead he choose to collaborate with them.

As for Thompson, I don't know why this site would oppose him. He fits right in with their goals.

Les|9.7.07 @ 3:42PM|#

jbd,

Though I was happy at his initial plans to audit the state budget, Arnold has proven himself to be a typical politician in his pandering to the prison guards' union (the most powerful union in the state) and nannyish efforts to protect kids from video games, among other things. He's also seen fit to give his staff huge raises. Like most Democrats and Republicans, be believes in nothing so much as maintaining and increasing his power.

|9.7.07 @ 3:44PM|#

the prison guards' union (the most powerful union in the state)

That really says something about California, doesn't it?

iowan|9.7.07 @ 3:46PM|#

fred was in the state yesterday. It made the middle of the community section of the local paper. He is dead meat.

|9.7.07 @ 3:59PM|#

Lots to criticize about Thompson, but Weigel's article spend a little too much time making fun of his appearance. Does Fred have any grandchildren we can mock?

Marcvs|9.7.07 @ 4:04PM|#

Everyone is acting like substance has anything to do with getting elected president.

George W. Bush.

Any questions?

rho|9.7.07 @ 4:08PM|#

I just feel like my intelligence as a voter is completely insulted when politicians act like this.

Yes, well, they wouldn't do it if it didn't work. Hordes of people love this routine. Fred started mouthing platitudes and the right-wing blogs all went apeshit over him.

Fred would be a joke if he wasn't stronger than the other top-two candidates.

|9.7.07 @ 4:37PM|#

Prediction:

Crash and Burn.

Feb 5/08 latest. More likely by Nov 30/07.

There is absolutely nothing in this guy's message which distinguishes him from the rest of the field and his folksiness is so phony that it will turn everyone off once they pay any real attention to him.

|9.7.07 @ 4:51PM|#

I found this article too over the top, and dishonest. I'm skeptical of Thompson as well as the other two nitwits, but being from Tennessee and near where Thompson is originally from, it's common knowledge here that the reason Thompson left Washington in 2002 was directly related to the death of his daughter. This kind of reminds me of Hugh Hewitt yesterday trying to say Thompson was going to die. It makes you look foolish, extreme, and downright disgraceful.

Thompson's got enough problems to deal with that can be clearly defined. It's sad that some of you don't have the class to define that in an intelligable arguement. You go for the big words to scare everybody away, and it makes you look like a 10 year old.

I'm a Ron Paul supporter, but Paul would gain much more traction if some of you approached this with reason. I know we have some major struggles ahead, but stuff like this only paints Dr. Paul in a negative light, when I see the author is a Paul supporter.

Grow up and make your case. Smearing somebody, and I don't care if it is republican or democrat, makes you look unprofessional. To win the American public over, the last thing we need to do is insult them by being insensitive. They are insensitive, but does that make it right for us as well?

Pathetic. It really angers me because it is embarrassing, and saddening because it makes you look irrelevent.

The Wine Commonsewer|9.7.07 @ 4:54PM|#

Now there's a surprise. DW doesn't find Fred to be a charming guy.

Dave Weigel|9.7.07 @ 4:56PM|#

He has a certain amount of charm, but it was put to best use when he was a wisecracking, not-too-busy senator. I'm saying he's not at all serious about the challenges of the presidency and pretty murky about what he wants to do. Really, read one of his interview transcripts and tell me they don't sound like a reasonably smart guy bluffing his way through a foreign service exam.

|9.7.07 @ 5:03PM|#

Prediction:

Crash and Burn.

Feb 5/08 latest. More likely by Nov 30/07.

There is absolutely nothing in this guy's message which distinguishes him from the rest of the field and his folksiness is so phony that it will turn everyone off once they pay any real attention to him.

But... but... he was on Law and Order!

TLB|9.7.07 @ 5:22PM|#

He's also seen fit to give his staff huge raises. Like most Democrats and Republicans, be believes in nothing so much as maintaining and increasing his power.

One would think Ahhhnuld has enough money and could at least try to do what's right. However, I think someone whispered "Senator" in his ear and that caused a sea change. It was almost like he was trying to get his props to lose; when the far-left started a smear campaign about the only thing he could do was make a few TV ads including one with him in a sweater. Certainly, part of this is due to completely incompetent advisors, but part of it also due to the fact that two of those top advisors were linked to Bush/Rove.

I mean, come on. If you can't or aren't willing to force someone like FabiannnNunez out of public office and instead collaborate with them, you've got serious problems:

youtube.com/watch?v=FgbCB8QlQWw

Gene Berkman|9.7.07 @ 5:26PM|#

Dave describes Fred Thompson on Leno: "thighs splayed out, craning his neck over at Leno..."

Where are the Minneapolis Airport Police undercover unit when you need them?

The Wine Commonsewer|9.7.07 @ 6:15PM|#

DW, I'm not sure Fred IS all that charming, I just meant that we already knew where you stood on Fred's folksy charm. :-)

|9.7.07 @ 7:08PM|#

Hes already made a huge mistake by describing Osama bin Laden as "merely a symbol". What a dumb statement. I want to have bin Laden's head on a stick, or have him paraded in chains down Pennsylvania Avenue. We shouldn't ignore that jackass.

Marcvs|9.7.07 @ 7:29PM|#

Cesar, I agree with you, but I'm sure that he's just calculating (much like Bush has) that as soon as you state that catching/killing bin Laden is one of your goals, you are setting yourself up for failure, politically speaking.

|9.7.07 @ 7:59PM|#

Cesar, I agree with you, but I'm sure that he's just calculating (much like Bush has) that as soon as you state that catching/killing bin Laden is one of your goals, you are setting yourself up for failure, politically speaking

We could catch him if someone had the balls to put the screws in tight on Musharaff, IMHO.

|9.7.07 @ 8:04PM|#

If the president made a serious attempt to capture bin Laden and break up the little party on the Pakistan/Afghan border, but came up just short, I could live with that.

It's not really trying that ticks me off.

|9.7.07 @ 8:07PM|#

name two democrat front runners that Weigel never Critisises:

Clinton and Obama

How many of the republican candidates does Weigel criticizes on a regular basis:

All of em...including Ron Paul and even ones ones you never have heard of.

Well so much for Weigel focusing his criticisms on the party in power.

|9.7.07 @ 9:19PM|#

Nothing about Fred Thompson's favorite campaign prop, the little red pickup truck?