With 27 electoral votes and an evenly divided electorate, Florida is generally considered one of those states that presidential candidates are desperate to impress. On the other hand, Fred Thompson, for reasons that remain unclear, seems anxious to make a bad impression.
It started in a couple of months ago, when Thompson alluded to Cuban refugees entering South Florida possibly being dangerous. “I don’t imagine they’re coming here to bring greetings from Castro,” Thompson said. “We’re living in the era of the suitcase bomb.” Suggesting that a key GOP constituency in South Florida might be terrorists didn’t go over well.
Yesterday, Thompson, in Florida’s capital for some meetings, was asked about his willingness to drill for oil in the Everglades.
“Gosh, no one has told me that there’s any major reserves in the Everglades, but maybe that’s one of the things I need to learn while I’m down here,” Thompson said after talking over state issues with Gov. Charlie Crist.
Thompson, who has called for seeking U.S. oil resources wherever they exist, was asked by an Associated Press reporter whether that included drilling in the Everglades.
“I’m not going to start out by taking this, that or the other off the table in terms of our overall energy situation,” he said.
Now, for those of you who are unfamiliar with the Everglades, it is generally considered a national environmental treasure. It’s a “river of grass,” protected in a national park, national wildlife refuge, and water conservation areas. The idea of drilling it for oil would strike the typical Floridian as ridiculous.
By all indications, Thompson just didn’t know anything about the issue. Indeed, Mitt Romney, after hearing about Thompson’s comments from a reporter while campaigning in Florida, said, “You’re kidding? Let’s take that off the table. We’re not going to drill in the Everglades. There are certain places in America that are national treasures and the Everglades is one of those.”
Now, I suppose the natural defense is that Thompson just doesn’t know anything about the Everglades, so he didn’t want to rule out drilling the area for oil. But therein lies the point.
At this point, Thompson doesn’t appear to know much about anything.
* He said Social Security reform is one of the top issues on his policy agenda, but then said he couldn’t remember what Bush’s position was on Social Security two years ago.
* He said he couldn’t remember the Terri Schiavo controversy, so he has no opinion on the matter.
* He attributed the Anbar Awakening to Sunnis’ love of cigarettes.
* Thompson dismissed the significance of Osama bin Laden, describing him as “more symbolism than anything else.”
* He believes “we better figure out a way” to combat al Qaeda. Not that he necessarily knows how, of course, only that “we better figure out a way.”
* Thompson proposed a bizarre constitutional amendment on gay marriage yesterday, and argued that “zero” state legislatures “have affirmatively approved gay marriage,” a claim that happens to be wrong.
A couple of weeks ago, former White House Press Secretary Ari Fleischer said the former senator must demonstrate “a command over policy issues.” Fleischer added, “He’s got to knock the policy questions out of the park.”
How’s that working out so far?