With Fred ("Hamlet") Thompson's announcement of his candidacy on Leno (and let's not forget that it was one William Jefferson Clinton who pioneered the late night talk show as a political platform), one can say that the race for the Republican nomination has genuinely begun.
Meanwhile, we love what the rest of the field did during their debate last night. McCain's remark about the debate keeping Fred up after his bedtime was great fun, as was Our Man Rudy's statement that Fred has done a great job playing Rudy on Law and Order. Couple that with McCain's classy refusal to diss Rudy's national security record while still asserting--cogently but politely--that his own record in the military and the Senate was more germane, and you've got a fine exhibition of what it's supposed to mean to belong to the party whose greatest member coined the phrase "better angels of our nature."
And so we SWNIDishly say, Welcome, Fred. We hope that Thompson proves to be everything that his most ardent fans hope him to be, and more. We need convincing, believing that Thompson is inexperienced as an executive, uncommitted as a candidate and squishier as a conservative than his supporters believe. But if he proves to be the opposite, he can only help defeat the Evil Queen of Condescension, either by grabbing the nomination or by strengthening the mettle of the one who does. Meanwhile, there are still lots of reasons why conservatives love Rudy.
There is an advantage to the perpetual campaign as it currently exists. Candidates have a lot of time to devote to becoming presidential. Let's hope that someone does.
2 comments:
Nobody in the race on either side is sharper, quicker, or more articulate than Fred. That could go a long way.
Unfortunately, his "straight shooting" style could be his undoing. Good candidates / politicians lead without routinely offending people. I have a feeling that Fred is going to offend a lot of people over the next 4 months.
He should be the national security advisor in the next administration, whether Democratic or Republican.
Quicker? I won't wait for a response on that. I might have to wait as long as I did for Fred to announce.
How does Fred's resume support the notion that he'd make a good national security advisor? Can you dig that out of eight years as a senator with no particular responsibilities for national security? Granted he was Special Counsel to the Senate Intelligence Committee in 1982, but that's not much.
Let us not confuse Fred with the character he plays on TV. Rudy pointed out that mistake in the debate.
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