Well, I don’t imagine the right is going to care for this at all.
Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson said Monday that while Osama bin Laden needs to be caught and killed, the terrorist mastermind would get the due process of law.
Last week, when bin Laden’s latest tape emerged, Thompson said the terrorist responsible for 9/11 is “more symbolism than anything else.” When that drew some criticism, Thompson adopted a tougher line, saying bin Laden “ought to be caught and killed.”
Today, the actor/lobbyist/politicians sought to clarify, saying he wasn’t suggesting that bin Laden’s death would happen immediately after his capture.
“No, no, no, we’ve got due process to go through” depending on the circumstances, he said. “I’m not suggesting those things happen simultaneously.”
As it turns out, Thompson isn’t the first presidential hopeful to argue publicly that bin Laden deserves due process of law. The first was Howard Dean, four years ago. Of course, when he said that, the right went apoplectic.
National Review’s Andrew McCarthy, for example, described the comments as a “mistletoe buss for Osama bin Laden,” which should “disqualify [Dean] from serious contention for a major party’s presidential nomination.” He added that supporting due process for bin Laden made Dean “unfit” for national office.
This where Howard Dean would take America: unable to respond until a jury decides, probably sometime around 2010, if ever. Are the Democrats as a whole really willing to walk over that cliff with him? There are sensible, patriotic Democrats who have supported the global war on terror, even as they have carped about military operations in Iraq. At what point do they face down the fringe? At what point do they say: If our presumptive nominee can’t even say Osama bin Laden is guilty, it’s time to go back to the drawing board?
One wonders if intellectual honesty will compel McCarthy to write a similar column condemning Thompson. Somehow, I kind of doubt it.
More generally, I think it’s safe to say that Thompson’s performance out of the blocks hasn’t exactly impressed, well, anyone.
Over the weekend, publius had an excellent item explaining Thompson’s troubles.
First, raising money is not the only reason why campaigns start so early. It’s also important to get your sea legs and work out the bugs well before people start paying attention. People like Kerry and Edwards and Romney and McCain started visiting funnel cake stands in Iowa many months before … Thompson did. It’s not fun, but the experiences gave the candidates a chance to respond to a dizzying range of questions — and tighten their message accordingly. […]
Thompson seems determined to repeat Clark’s mistakes — and for similar reasons. Running for President is hard. You get asked a lot of diverse questions. It takes time to hear them all and master good, persuasive, politically-safe responses to them. Thompson, however, clearly hasn’t been thinking about these questions (or let’s hope not anyway). Several months on the stump sharpens your message, improves your bullshit powers. Thompson sounds like I would sound if I jumped into a high-stress presidential campaign 4 months before the primary — like an unprepared idiot.
The point is that Thompson’s stupid responses aren’t a reflection of his intelligence or potential strength, they’re a reflection of his inexperience. They’re a reflection of his sitting on his ass all year. There are structural reasons if you will why Thompson is going to say stupid things over the next few weeks. Most people get those out of the way early on before the national media starts hanging on every word. These gaffes are even worse for Thompson because he’s been built up in people’s minds as the Messiah — dumb words sound even dumber when set against those type of baseline expectations.
Well said. People, even some political professionals, seem to believe that running for president is no different than running for, say, the Senate. If a candidate understands the issues, and has opinions on various policies, he or she simply needs to get out there and impress the voters.
Nonsense. Thompson is used to memorizing a script, not responding to voters or reading policy white papers. So far, as David Yespen noted, it’s not working out particularly well.
Fred Thompson’s announcement speech Thursday in Des Moines was underwhelming. The former U.S. Senator and movie actor formally announced his long-awaited candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination at the Des Moines Convention Complex. It wasn’t very impressive.
The crowd of a few hundred didn’t seem enthused. Thompson’s oratory didn’t soar but was somewhat rambling. […]
[A]s the Thompson campaign winds it’s way across Iowa for the next two days, the actor might want to work on his lines. Punch up the message. Lose the note cards. Pump up the volume. Give us a little stump oratory. And how about a specific policy initiative or two?
Otherwise, Republican activists won’t be impressed. They’ll be disappointed. Thompson won’t live up to their expectation that he could be their savior. They’ll start drifting to other candidates.
And this thing will get out of hand.
Say it with me: Thompson isn’t ready for prime time.