NPR: Fred Thompson Fights For His Campaign in Debate

Fred Thompson Fights For His Campaign in Debate

The reviews are in from the Republican debate held in South Carolina last night, and the majority opinion is that Fred Thompson came out swinging and ultimately had the best night of his campaign so far.

Republican presidential hopeful, actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson speaks during a Fox News television debate in Myrtle Beach, 10 January 2008.

EMMANUEL DUNAND/AFP/Getty Images

Jim Geraghty at The Campaign Spot on National Review Online gave a gold medal to Thompson. "This performance was so commanding, I wanted his last answer to echo back to the lights in the back of the auditorium, blow out all the lamps and spotlights, for the theme to "the Natural" to play, and for him to trot around the stage in slow motion while sparks showered down in the background."

NPR's Scott Horsley, who called the debate a largely "polite" affair, also noted that Thompson was particularly tough on former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, trotting out the "l" word to describe his actions.

"He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies and liberal foreign policies," Thompson said of Huckabee. "He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy in the tradition of 'blame America first.' That's not the model of the Reagan coalition. That's the model of the Democratic party."

Andrew Sullivan of The Daily Dish at The Atlantic wrote that " ... the big news was that Fred Thompson is alive. He came out swinging against Huckabee in ways that frankly surprised me. Funny at times, acerbic at others, he seemed much more comfortable as a campaigner."

(Thompson also picked up an endorsement today from Human Events, a leading conservative publication.)

But Jonathon Martin of Politico had a different take - as good a performance as Thompson gave last night, Sen. John McCain emerged from the debate "unscathed ... with the same designation he had upon arrival: front-runner."

12:15 PM ET | 01-11-2008 | permalink

Comments

Fred Thompson took a long time to join the republican candidates & once he joined them he decided to take a long nap, finally he is awake attacking huckabee, of course the media will jump on that because they didnt hear from him for a while, so the political blogs started to consider him "strong" & "the winner of the debate". Is this really strong?Let me tell you, the strongest thing I heared from all previous debates was Ron Paul when asked about electibility
"We need to borrow 10 billion dollar from china, then we need to give it to Musharraf who is a military dictator who overthrow an elected government & then we go to war, we lose all thses lives,.... promoting democracy .....in Iraq....I mean, whats going on here).
Just think about those words NPR.

Sent by kakel | 12:41 PM ET | 01-11-2008

I was asked why I picked Thompson to be the eventual V.P. nominee, despite Fred's low votes.

Whomever gets the GOP nominination wants a V.P. who will not attract the astounding amount of attention that Dick Cheney as V.P. attracted.

Dan Qyale was, for a while, was the perfect V.P. for Bush Sr., until Murphy Brown got a'hold of him.

Fred Thompson is way to smart to attempt spelling potato...or is it potatoe?

Geesh!

fred camorra call

Sent by fred camorra call | 5:12 PM ET | 01-17-2008

But Fred, what does he BRING to the ticket? (Other than a good looking wife?) Folksy country charm?(OK, maybe!)

Since, Mitt Rommney is a governor (spelled - "administrative leadership role"). And the ENTIRE democratic field is senators (spelled - "Laywer turned Professional debater").
People will pick a governor over a senator any day! Even if he IS a yankee! Hey, is that the point you were making? Fred Thompson is a southerner!

Do the math: Yankee governor + Southern senator/actor =(Republican win/ Another Democratic loss)

But, I like John McCain. Sure he's not up for torture (having been put thru it himself). Still, he IS honest (to a fault, politically speaking).

Sent by Harold | 10:25 AM ET | 01-18-2008

Sent by Harold: Do the math: Yankee governor + Southern senator/actor =(Republican win/ Another Democratic loss)

The Yankee/Southerner connections worked for JFK and Johnson. Back in the 60s when Democrats in Texas were bible carrying, gun totting conservatives. And it worked for FDR and Truman.

At this point in the game, everyone with any common sense knows that the Democrats have little to no chance. Which leaves the only challenge left in guessing which Republican will take the White House?

And who will be his V.P.?

Here in Florida, it's a toss up at the moment. Though McCain is gaining momentum of late. Today it looks as thought McCain is leading the pack. I'm kind of amazed that Rudy is not an overwhelming favorite in New York South. The Rudy and Hillary jousting match I'd hoped to see is not materlializing in Florida.

Back to Fred Thompson versus the Dick Cheney model of V.P. Thompson is quiet and a pleasing to look at actor. He seems to come off as the opposite of the Cheney model. I figure that will be more attractive to the voters in the general elections.

My original early line Vegas bet on Romney/Thompson still holds, though I'm looking close at another bet on McCain putting up a heckuva fight. But, for the nonce, I still believe Romney will edge McCain out in the end (largely because the Mormon Church is a LOT more powerful than most citizens realize...and the Bush influence will prevail).

Don't forget that some day down the road Jeb will want to be prez. It's just that America is in a temporary Bush-burnout. Jeb Bush is actually a rather astute and well spoken politician. He might have been president had he not lost to Democrat incumbent Lawton Chiles in Jeb's first try for Florida governor (while George was successful in removing Ann Richards in Texas).

Ergo, I visualize Fred Thompson as the perfect silent partner to Mitt Romney. And wouldn't it be funny if McCain took either Democrats Lieberman or New Mexico's Bill Richardson for his V.P......naw, that's too crazy. Seriously, McCain and Rudy might be better suited to one another.

Actually, McCain of Arizona with Richardson of New Mexico could be a very interesting contention. But the voters are not that sophisticated to understand the concept.

So, you got Southwest McCain and New York Rudy, or Michigan/Mass Mitt and Tennessee Fred.

I'd like to see Barack build on his resume and come back in the future. Hillary will become a distant memory after a 49 state GOP landslide victory.

A quick quizz off the cuff of your memory banks, if you can answer within five seconds: Who was Jimmy Carter's Vice Prez?

See, Dick Cheney as very visual V.P. was an anomaly.

fred camorra call

Sent by fred camorra call | 11:28 AM ET | 01-18-2008

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