It seems almost amusing to think that as recently as, say, August, a significant portion of the Republican Party was absolutely convinced that actor-lobbyist-politician Fred Thompson was going to ride into the presidential forum on a white horse and save the party from electoral ruin. Sure, Thompson backers said, there’s a learning curve for anyone who runs for the presidency, especially those who’ve been away from politics for years, but the former senator from Tennessee wouldn’t have any trouble.
It’s clearly not working out as planned. Even if we put substance aside for a moment, Thompson, at this point, is perhaps the least capable candidate of the 18 people running for president.
Twenty-four minutes after he began speaking in a small restaurant the other day, Fred D. Thompson brought his remarks to a close with a nod of his head and an expression of thanks to Iowans for allowing him to “give my thoughts about some things.”
Then he stood face to face with a silent audience.
“Can I have a round of applause?” Mr. Thompson said, drawing a rustle of clapping and some laughter. “Well, I had to drag that out of you,” he said.
Ouch. This comes just a few weeks after Thompson, while campaigning in Florida, drew such blank stares from his audience that he asked no one in particular if his microphone was on. It was.
But maybe, some will say, this is an over-emphasis on style. Thompson’s strength was supposed to be his smooth demeanor and folksy charm on the campaign stump, which suggests his biggest asset now looks like a weakness, but perhaps Thompson is exceeding expectations when it comes to substance.
If only. Yesterday was perhaps my favorite example of Thompson cluelessness to date.
The only political public service Thompson has performed since leaving the Senate and joining the cast of “Law & Order” is shepherding John Roberts’ Supreme Court nomination through the Senate. Thompson was responsible for lining up support, preparing Roberts for the confirmation hearings, providing senators and the Senate Judiciary Committee with materials, etc.
It was his only recent experience, and he doesn’t seem to remember it very well.
[Tuesday] night in Iowa he said that the Dems controlled congress when John Roberts went through his confirmation hearings for Chief Justice.
That is wrong, the Republicans still controlled the Senate and the Judiciary Committee of course, and Fred was designated to make the rounds on Capitol Hill at the time as Roberts’ shepherd.
Thompson wasn’t just some bit player — the man responsible for shepherding a Supreme Court nomination through the Senate just two years ago didn’t know that Republicans (his own party) were in the majority?
And you know what this means: time to update the big board.
* Thompson mistakenly believes Saddam Hussein had WMD shortly before the U.S. invasion in 2003.
* Tennessee, Thompson’s alleged home state, is in the midst of a major controversy over executions by way of lethal injection. A federal judge ruled the procedures unconstitutional last week, which was big news in the state. Asked for his opinion on the developments on Friday, Thompson responded, “I hadn’t heard that. I didn’t know.”
* Asked about the Jena Six, Thompson said, “I don’t know anything about it.”
* Asked about his thoughts on the Terri Schiavo matter, Thompson said, “That’s going back in history. I don’t remember the details of it.”
* Asked about hurricane property insurance while campaigning in Florida, a huge local issue, Thompson said he doesn’t “know all the facts surrounding that case.”
* Asked about Social Security reform, one of the top issues on his policy agenda, Thompson said he couldn’t remember what Bush’s position was on Social Security two years ago.
* Asked about oil drilling in the Everglades, while campaigning in Florida, Thompson said he didn’t know there was oil under the Everglades and didn’t know it was an important local issue.
And now he doesn’t even know which party was in the majority in the last Congress, despite shepherding a Supreme Court nomination through the Senate at the time.
One last thing: the NYT notes that Thompson, in addition to not knowing much of anything about current events, doesn’t even seem to like campaigning.
After his events, he tended to stay for only a few minutes to sign some autographs or pose for some pictures. Mr. Thompson does not appear to share the taste of some of his rivals for lingering at the rope line shaking hands; he tends not to ask many questions of the people he meets and not to make prolonged eye contact with them.
Why is this guy even running?