June 19, 2007

Waiting for the call

Melanie Morgan, conservative talk show host and chairman of MoveAmericaForward.org, is able to describe much of Thompson’s attraction in one sentence:

Unlike the current crop of declared Republican and Democrat candidates, who have spent years plotting and scheming about how they could win their way to the White House, Fred Thompson is truly being drafted to run by people who are sick of abandoned principles and lack of a moral center.

So many presidential candidates have been dreaming of sitting behind that big desk in the Oval Office since they were knee high to a grasshopper, that it’s refreshing to learn that Thompson is getting involved so that he can make a difference. After all, he quit a successful acting gig in order to give his candidacy a serious chance. It’s not like he was at loose ends with nothing else to do except make a run for president. Yes, there is likely some ego involved in his decision, but that’s to be expected if he plans to put himself on a pedestal for the American public to knock down should they so choose. But from what we can tell, it’s not the ego driving Thompson’s quest, but a true desire to serve – something we have come to expect less and less from our politicians.

Telling it like it is

Jay Leno asked Thompson if he wanted to be president when he appeared on The Tonight Show on June 12. Thompson’s answer? “I’ve never craved the job of president, but I want to do some things that only a president can do. So the answer is yes.”

A direct answer! We aren’t used to such straight talk from our elected leaders, who often speak out of both sides of their mouths in order to please everyone (and usually end up pleasing no one but themselves). Camille Paglia calls Thompson “phlegmatically pithy” with a “homespun act [that] feels tired and looks tired.” Perhaps it seems that way to limousine liberals, who shudder delicately at the idea of anything that has a whiff of what Paglia calls “vintage 1910 small town life.” But many of us prefer the “homespun” candidate to one whose slick exterior likely hides more than it enhances.

Thompson has also been compared to Ronald Reagan, a man dubbed “the great communicator.” Part of being a great leader is being able to get your ideas across to the people. Unfortunately, President George W. Bush is found wanting in this crucial category (and I’m not talking about how he mangles the occasional word like “nuclear”). If the people don’t know exactly what it is their president wants to accomplish and why, they aren’t very likely to play along. Thompson’s ability to make us feel comfortable as he explains his vision for a better America will certainly work for him, not against him, no matter what leftists like Camille Paglia think about his so-called homespun act.

Writing for American Thinker, Ray Robison says,

…Thompson has slyly asserted himself as the easy going but tough guy of the right who also happens to be media savvy, more John Wayne than Reagan. And oddly enough in American politics, it all strikes many of us as genuine.

But he isn’t qualified!

Much of the complaining we hear about Thompson is that he doesn’t have the qualifications needed to be president: he hasn’t run anything, nor did he sponsor any major legislation when he was in the Senate. If that’s the case, then the three top Democrat contenders should step down immediately! True, Thompson is not what one would call a “Washington insider.” But isn’t it that whole incestuous “you scratch my back, I’ll scratch yours” atmosphere in D.C. that has Americans in an uproar? Current Congressional approval ratings of 27% are lower than that of the president. As a former senator, Thompson must have a fair idea how Washington works but he has not held office since 2002, which helps label him as more of an outsider. (Another Republican candidate who is running as an outsider is former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani.)

Other Thompson detractors say they don’t know anything about him other than his abbreviated resume of lawyer, lobbyist, senator and actor. Obviously they haven’t been reading his online commentary on sites like TownHall.com and his radio commentary on ABCRadio.com. Where Thompson stands on the issues is easy to find if you know where to look.

On the issues

One of the biggest concerns of our time is national security, and Iraq could be described as the litmus test of our commitment to it. During an interview with Peter Robinson of the Hoover Institution, Thompson said the following about our involvement in Iraq:

How we come out of that and how we’re viewed by friend and foe alike is going to impact our stability and our freedom for a long, long time in this country. So we ought to be very, very careful about the decisions we make in terms of precipitously pulling out of there or wholesale pulling out of there before there’s any stability.

During the same interview, he also said he would increase military and homeland security spending, as well as revamp our intelligence capabilities. Thankfully, Thompson does not seem to be the kind of man to dance to the tune of cut-and-run Democrats like Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi. Stability in the Middle East may seem like a pipe dream these days, but it’s imperative that Iraq not be turned over to al-Qaeda and Iranian interests, which it surely would if we pulled out before the country could defend itself against such deadly interlopers.

Thompson also advocates lower tax rates and overturning Roe v. Wade, turning abortion legislation back over to the states. These are two matters near and dear to many a conservative heart.

The bottom line

From the interview with Peter Robinson, we get a glimpse of how Thompson views himself as a candidate versus his Republican rivals. His comments also say a lot about the man himself:

It’s not about me or them, it’s about the country. Having another good man in the race is not going to hurt our country, and at the end of the day the people will make that decision. It has to do with your view, it has to do with your electability. … I will happily abide by what they [the American people] decide and we’ll be together in November.

For some conservatives, it’s the candidate who most embodies their core values, including national security, taxes and abortion. For others, it’s who can beat whomever the Democrats nominate. Does Thompson fit both of these conditions? Since he hasn’t declared himself as an official candidate, we can only speculate based upon his past actions as a senator, writings, speeches and interviews. Yet even this week, he traveled to Britain to meet with former prime minister Margaret Thatcher and deliver a speech entitled “Strengthening the Transatlantic Alliance” to the Policy Exchange. He is also said to be planning a trip to Israel later in the year.

July can’t come soon enough for Fred Heads, the nickname for Thompson’s admiring supporters. If and when he makes it official, we’ll be able to get a better idea as to whether or not Fred Thompson will be the man to beat in November of 2008.