You may only know him as D.A. Arthur Branch on Law & Order…but with a career in law and politics that pre-dates his famed television role by three decades, Fred Thompson is a legitimate candidate for President of the United States. He won’t be officially declaring his candidacy for another few weeks yet, but he’s been working the web for months, and has already captured the majority of the conservative talk radio-listening, blog-reading vote. Want to see why? Check out his blog at ABCRadio.com, full of brilliant near-daily commentary by Fred (or his staff) since mid-April.
If he intends to stick to the positions he’s promoted so far, and articulate them as clearly and forcefully over the course of the next 18 months, he’ll be the next President of the USA. Listen to him talk – he’s got the leisurely Southern accent, the demeanor of a wise grandpa, and the bite of a great white shark. It’s the mix of easy-going happiness and rock-solid toughness that is the traditional American male ideal.
For you Canadians who don’t listen to US conservative talk radio every day like I do, here’s the breakdown on the Republican nomination race: McCain cannot win – Illegal immigration amnesty and Campaign Finance Reform have killed him with the base. Giuliani has enough security and justice credibility to overcome his social liberalism, and will be in the top two or three at the end. Duncan Hunter is coming up from the rear thanks to his illegal immigration stand, giving him VP potential. Romney is too slick to be trusted, but his money will keep him in to the end. Newt Gingrich is planning on joining the race later this year, but his personality grates and his positions are often too nuanced for the average voter. Thompson has what most of the rest all lack – a genuinely likeable personality, and boldly strong and consistent policy positions that appeal to the conservative base. The buzz is that he’s the next Reagan, but I think he’ll be even far more popular to the general voting public than Reagan was in the 1980 campaign, where he didn’t pull ahead of Jimmy Carter in the polls until the final televised debate. The Clintons should be very afraid.
Flaggman's Canada 
Will Thompson’s support of McCain Feingold hobble him? With him, McCain, and Romney (who supported campaign finance reform in the past) in the race, the issue isn’t likely to go away.
It will hobble him only if he continues to defend it. He wasn’t the author like McCain was; just a supporter. If he comes out and says “it was a stupid mistake”, it won’t be held against him by many.
There is nothing tough or folksy about Fred Thompson. He is but an actor—a con man—who has spent years honing both his tough-guy and down-home demeanor to fool the public. Thompson is the ultimate faker—a flimflammer with a red pickup truck that is being brought out by the GOP for his next scam on the political stage.
Here’s what the mainstream media won’t tell you about Snake Oil Thompson: He’s spent a good part of his political career in craven endeavors. From 1975 to 1992 Thompson was a lobbyist for corporations such as Westinghouse and General Electric, and most notoriously, the Tennessee Savings and Loan League.
Actors make good con men and con men make good actors. And in 1982, Thompson was vigorously lobbying for legislation to deregulate the Savings and Loan industry although he knew it could destroy the foundations of the institution. The deregulation that ensued gave the thrifts the freedom to invest in risky speculations and gamble away the savings of U.S. consumers.
The Savings and Loan debacle was the crowning moment of the Bush Oligarchy. Over one thousand thrift institutions collapsed and hundreds of thousands of Americans lost their life savings. The ultimate cost of the crisis was $150 billion and George H.W. Bush bailed out the thrifts to the tune of $125 billion, which contributed greatly to the largest budget deficits this country had ever seen to that point. These deficits heralded the 1990-91 recession, one of the lowest points of our nation’s economic viability since the Great Depression.
John Kenneth Galbraith called the Savings and Loan Scandal, “the largest and costliest venture in public misfeasance, malfeasance, and larceny of all time.”
Golly gee, that’s some great off-the-cuff information thar! Boy, that changes everything…
/sarcasm
So how are things there at Hillary’s campaign headquarters, anyway? This is some fine talking points they’ve fed you. But it’s all dissimulation. First, you smear him with the ad hominem “con man” label. Then you imply that all lobbying for all corporations is evil. Then, the “a-ha” moment – Fred lobbied for a saving and loan company. Finally, the screed about the S&L scandal, implying that Thompson himself orchestrated the whole thing.
Dumb liberals would fall for a garbage post like yours. You are wasting your time here.
I like Fred, I always thought he was “The Walking Tall” guy though. Turns out no, oh well can’t have everything. A lot less baggage and more curb appeal than Giuliani certainly.
As for Junkyard, he looks like a real pro, the Dems must fear Fred.
Hyuk! I likes my ole’ Freddy! He drives an ole’ Chevy pick-up jus’ like me! Well, mine’s a bit older than his ’90 seen as I cain’t affords a newer one since I lost all muh money when my hometown S & L went bust an’ lost mah job right after that…
But sure as shootin’, I likes my ole’ Freddy! Hyuk-hyuk! Conservative talk radio sure is fine, too! Hyuk-hyuk! Dum libruls! Hyuk-hyuk!
Spark: cheap and boring, as usual. Please go away.
Spark, huh? A misnomer if ever there was one.