Rep. Zack Wamp (R-Tenn.), one of Fred Thompson’s boosters on the Hill, recently suggested the actor/senator/lobbyist would make a good president, in part because of his speaking voice.
“He has a commanding voice,” Wamp said. “He has a commanding presence. He makes people feel secure. He makes us feel confident.”
Sen. George “Macaca” Allen (remember him?) apparently feels the same way. (via Steve M.)
Former Sen. George Allen is bullish about former Republican Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee, the actor who hasn’t even gotten into the 2008 presidential race yet.
Thompson has the right philosophy, is articulate, has a record and is “the best voice in America,” Allen, a Virginia Republican, told a lecture series audience yesterday.
He likened Thompson’s voice to that of a “modern-day Rex Allen,” drawing a reference to a now-deceased cowboy actor.
It’s good to know substantive qualities weigh heavily on the minds of GOP leaders.
On a related note, interest in Mitt Romney’s appearance is apparently still high among conservative political observers.
In his June 6 column, Politico chief political columnist Roger Simon declared former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney the winner of the June 5 Republican presidential debate and attributed Romney’s victory, in part, to the fact that he is “[s]trong, clear, gives good soundbite, and has shoulders you could land a 737 on.”
As Media Matters for America noted, Simon has previously described Romney as having “chiseled-out-of-granite features, a full, dark head of hair going a distinguished gray at the temples, and a barrel chest,” adding: “On the morning that he announced for president, I bumped into him in the lounge of the Marriott and up close he is almost overpowering. He radiates vigor.”
This, of course, follows Bill O’Reilly praising Romney’s jaw and hair, and NewsMax celebrating the former Massachusetts governor’s “sensational good looks.”
The moral of the story: if a Republican candidate looked like Romney and sounded like Thompson, they could call off the primaries and give the guy the nomination. They might be tempted to ask this amalgamation a few questions about issues, but why bother? He’d make Republicans “feel” secure.