After a week of campaigning, Thompson’s beat

September 16, 2007

There are two principal knocks against Fred Thompson’s presidential campaign: 1) he doesn’t know (or care) much about policy, and expects to get by on vague generalities and platitudes; and 2) running for president is really hard, and Thompson is too lazy to excel.

On the first point, Thompson seems to be doing his level best to prove just how little he knows about public policy, and on the second, he seems equally anxious to appear as lazy as he possibly can.

His critics, already pointing to what they call Mr. Thompson’s skimpy Senate record, might find even more ammunition in his campaign schedule. In his second week as an officially declared candidate for the Republican nomination, Mr. Thompson has made a languid three-day swing through Florida ending Saturday with the candidate watching a football game in Gainesville. The pace has kept him on a jumbo air-conditioned bus far more often than he is actually campaigning.

Since Thursday morning, when the tour began, Mr. Thompson has made no more than three campaign stops a day, with long stretches in between. In recent spins through Iowa, he kept a similarly relaxed schedule. Mitt Romney, by comparison, often does six town-hall-style forums a day when in Iowa.

A spokesman for Mr. Thompson said the driving distances in Florida were a factor, and that he would add more impromptu stops later in the campaign.

Next week, his schedule has no public events at all, limiting his appearances to fund-raisers in Florida, Tennessee and Texas. (emphasis added)

Apparently, after one week on the campaign trail and a handful of events, Thompson needs a break.

This sounds particularly painful.

But once off the bus, Mr. Thompson has shown occasional signs of discomfort. In a speech here on Friday, he sweated profusely under the afternoon sun, breathed heavily and, while struggling over a question, asked no one in particular if his microphone was on. (It was.)

Is this thing on? It’s one of those old, comedy cliches asked when an audience isn’t laughing at the jokes. That Thompson even thought to ask is not at all a good sign.

At his second campaign stop of the day on Friday, just after 2 p.m., Fred D. Thompson was deep into a riff on the benefits of high-quality American health care.

“It’s allowing us to live healthier lives and to live longer,” Mr. Thompson, a former Republican senator from Tennessee, said at a Jaycee park here. “That’s good news. But we have more retired folks. I hope to become one of them one of these days.”

Does this sound like a serious presidential candidate to you?

Fred Thompson has never had to be serious about anything, and evidently doesn’t plan to start this late in the game. He will, however, have the effect of diluting the Republican vote by siphoning off the true believers who think life is just like a TV episode, and that Fred’s victory is foretold by 6:00 PM (or whatever time “Law and Order” ends where you are) regardless of the efforts to turn him aside from his path between now and then. It’s difficult to accept that such childlike adults exist and, in another context it, might be sort of sweet. In the context of choosing who is going to make the unarguably toughest decisions of America’s lifetime over the coming four years (at least), it’s the kind of situation that should not allow pause for pity.

Thompson is, as another poster alluded, a lightweight. Even if he were a quantum-physics-book smarter than he appears, he doesn’t have what it will take to get the country anywhere close to back on course. I frankly doubt any of the candidates do, although I think Obama is the closest.

  • The pace has kept him on a jumbo air-conditioned bus far more often than he is actually campaigning.

    If I were him, I would stay off those buses. The seating is really uncomfortable.

  • He sounds just as serious as most of the other Republican candidates.

    There is no way that any of those guys can win the nomination. But one of them will!

  • I’ve wondered, since I first heard his name being bandied about, as to how much he’s being pushed by his much-younger, Republican-activist second wife?

    Zack Wamp (probably the most ridiculously named person in Congress) has been showing much more enthusiasm on TV for Thompson’s candidacy than has Thompson.

  • i don’t like Thompson a bit, but don’t discredit him too soon. He was the pointman behind the Roberts supreme court nomination… Look how that turned out for the country.

    But then again, it’s fun to see the media make some fun of him for a while, maybe it will stick, kind’a like the flip-flop thing on Kerry.

  • He’s an empty shirt who actually believes that it’s really himself on the big screen and not a character written for him.

  • Limiting Thompson’s exposure is probably the wisest strategy for his campaign to adopt. He is obviously unprepared and anything but a deep thinker. It’s in his own best interest that he remain a tabula rasa upon which the Republican base can write their own aspirations for a candidate. Thompson is nothing more than a platitude spouting bag of hot air attached to a drawl but, it’s wise to remember that Republicans want to be reassured that the world is a simple place and that we’re the Good Guys and we always win.

  • Mark (#1) said: “It’s difficult to accept that such childlike adults exist and, in another context it, might be sort of sweet.”

    It’s really not sweet to run across these halfwits – in places you wouldn’t expect them – and then have to deal with the fact you share anything in common with such fools. They really are out there (as the “contributors” to yesterday’s commentary on that day’s Thompson post clearly demonstrated), which proves conclusively that there really are two species of hairless biped on the planet: homo sapiens (us) and homo sap (them). It’s even sad to share a race and a gender with them.

  • “TV’s Fred” is pathetic, yes, and he’d be another failure as president. But he’s a lot less horrifying to contemplate than an energetic psychopath like Giuliani; the country would survive TV’s Fred as something still resembling a constitutional republic. With Il Rudi, we’d be something else, something a lot uglier.

  • A man with lymphoma running for the office of Commander in Chief is reckless, childish, irresponsible, and frankly, despicable.

  • Whatever, CB. I’ve seen Thompson on Law & Order, and he never acts like that. He’s always smart as a whip and ready to take on more. So you can stuff that in your Thompson-bashing pipe and smoke it.

    I’m joking, of course. I’ve never seen Law & Order. But I do imagine that he doesn’t act like this on the show. And I think Phoebes is onto something and this might just have been his wife pushing him into this. I have no idea why he’s running for President otherwise. I’m guessing he’s just going to look for a good opportunity to bail-out gracefully; ie, in a way that doesn’t make it apparent that he shouldn’t have entered the race to begin with.

  • I’ve never thought that Thompson would be a particularly formidable candidate. The R’s are so fixated on finding the next St. Reagan that they’ll settle momentarily on anybody who kind of looks the part, before fluttering off to their next Great Right Hope. They’ll end up with Romney, not because he’s so great, but because all the others are even more ridiculous.

  • Fred Thompson…ugh. He’s too old, he’s not healthy, he lacks energy, interest in the issues, knowledge that extends beyond what he reads on the bumper stickers he sees on the cars from his bus window. Like I said, ugh. We’ve seen this before and I hope never to see it again.

    I suspect he’ll end up dropping out, his wife will leave him for someone with more ambition, and that will be that.

  • You think the American electorate would never put a sick, poorly informed, lazy man who’s all image and no substance into the White House? Look at who we’ve got now.

  • Freddie is starting to remind me of SCTV Eugene Levy’s Perry Como impersonation.

    Sung to the Tune of I’m Tired by Lilly Von Schtupp (Blazing Saddles)
    Freddie’s Version

    Here I stand, the Reagan of Tommorrow
    Set Repubs on fire
    I have this power
    Morning noon and night it’s meeting and greeting
    Some quick campaigning
    And then a shower
    Spin Doc Handlers always surround me
    They always hound me
    With one request
    Who can satisfy the demanding press
    I’m not a robot
    I need some rest

    I’m tired
    Sick and tired of trips
    I’ve had my fill of trips
    On buses and ships
    Tired, tired of being admired
    Tired of trips uninspired
    Let’s face it
    I’m tired

    I’ve met with 1000’s of folks
    Again and again
    I promise the moon
    I’m always flipping and flopping
    Flopping and Flipping
    And always too short
    Right guys?

    I’m tired,
    Tired of playing the game
    Ain’t it a crying shame
    I’m so tired
    God dammit I’m exhausted

    Tired, tired of playing the game
    Ain’t it a crying shame
    I’m so tired

    [Campaign workers:]
    He’s tired (he’s tired)
    Sick and tired of trips (Give him a break)
    He’s had her fill of trips (He’d like a cake)
    On buses and ships (Can’t you see he’s sick)
    Tired (He’s bushed)
    Tired of being admired (Let him alone)
    Tired of trips uninspired (Get off the bus)
    He’s tired (Don’t you know He’s pooped)

    I’ve met with 1000’s of folks
    Again and again
    I sing the same tune
    I talk all Folksy and Homey
    And talk ’bout nothing
    And bust your ballon
    Aye!

    Tired, tired of playing the game
    Ain’t it a freakin’ shame
    I’m so…
    Let’s face it everything above the neck is kapput!

    [Workers:]
    Tired!

  • Not to sound too stupid but I always thought actors had grueling schedules, at least while they are filming. The shallow “thinking” doesn’t really surprise me but this apparent lack of stamina does.

  • I wouldn’t count Thompson out. Lazy yes, but crafty as well. Why is it that Thompson skipped the last Republican debate? He knew he was unprepared and would fare poorly. The way he managed to skip it though, was fairly brilliant. Not as brilliant as studying and learning the issues mind you, but it does show that he has learned to be pretty effective at hiding his laziness.

  • I agree with Dennis that it’s probably a smart strategy to keep Thompson out of the spotlight as much as possible. Look at the stupid things he’s said in his public appearances already, just over a week on the campaign trail. Maybe it’s best that he keeps them down to a minimum. He’s already doing well enough in polls without all the public events.

  • Great, just what we need another resident for the White House who needs 20 weeks of vacation each year.

    If Thompson does win, I hope he’ll at least rad the PDBs and think about them.

  • Freddie T. is in a pickle. He might want to play a president on T.V. but this ain’t that. He’s got this candidate bucket stuck on his foot and it’s so big that he needs a bus to haul it around in. It’s an embarrassing pain in the foot to be dragging this clanky f’n thing around. Fred’s a star. He’s no candidate. It’s demeaning as hell to play this dumbass game. He’s going to have to wear a religious belief that he doesn’t have on his sleeve. And if he can even hack it up, it still won’t be enough to shut up some/many. He doesn’t need this crap. He’ll be g*d itself on T.V. but here on earth that means he gets to go home at the end of the day, mix a tasty drink and hang out by the pool with the kids

    It’s his wife and temporary insanity. He told Ms. Freddie T. awhile back that he’d do anything for her and she’s holding him to it. But he’s ruing the day now. He’s been going with the flow and stifling himself for awhile. But reality is kicking in and he is shaking his head at how shit like this can get out of hand. Why couldn’t he be more like Harrison Ford and get himself some nice, smart, devoted and laid back cutie like Calista to hang out with? Drama is the day job. Life is getting way too complicated.

    Ms. Fred picked the wrong guy to carry her over the threshold of the front door to the W.H. Maybe she can give Rudy a call and convince him that the fourth time is a charm and together they would be magic. I’m sure he would consider the offer on all of it’s levels of potential benefit. Fred would probably help with alimony to Judy.

  • Two small children… A young wife… And you expect such a sleep-deprived man to be energetic in daytime campaigning?

  • Fred Thompson has lymphoma. It may or may not be in remission, he may or may not be taking heavy duty drugs; it’s incurable, he’s got it.

    Who should he pick for his running mate?

  • Let’s remember that in Hollywood someone is always kissing your ass and telling you that you’re the reason the sun rises and sets everyday. His pole numbers will drop faster than Guiliani’s dick goes limp after his Viagara wears off! I give it a month.

  • Thompson’s not going to win this thing. America will never elect someone to the WH who walked away from public service—who walked away from his country—for a Hollywood paycheck.

    And therein lies the “Achilles Heel” of Fred Thompson. You play that one angle—and play it hard—he’ll fold his tent and go back to Hollywood before Christmas carols start playing over shopping-mall sound systems….

  • There are lymphomas and then there are lymphomas. Some will kill you in months and require major drugs. Others can be completely asymptomatic and you can have them for years, decades even. Thompson has the second kind.

    Of course, the second kind can transform into the first kind, but more often does not.It can be a disease you die with, not die from. Hollywood Fred gets no slack cut from me for having indolent lymphoma, unless and until he announces it’s transformed into a different form.

  • That Thompson is doing so well in the polls right now says more about his opponents than about him. He’s got some of the image part down, but unless he’s really sandbagging (and could sandbagging this much actually be useful?), I don’t think this act will wear well.

    I agree with the commentor above who thinks Romney’s the likely nominee, though I still see Huckabee as the main Republican dark horse in the race. He may never get any real attention, but if he does, enthusiasm could shift to him in a hurry. I’d actually pick him as the most likely nominee still, with Romney second, Thompson third. [And wouldn’t it be strange to have both nominees able to call Arkansas home?]

    Then the winner loses to the Democratic nominee. Almost nothing’s ever a sure bet in politics, but I’d say the Democrats chances in 2008 are roughly those of the Republicans in 1968, and for similar reasons.

  • Anyone seen “Weekend at Bernie’s”? Maybe someone should check Freddie’s pulse. My guess is his wife’s dancing his tired old corpse around like a marionette because she’s got visions of picking out a new pattern for the White House china.

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