I’ve been trying to wrap my head around why one-of-these-days presidential candidate Fred Thompson makes an appealing candidate. So far, the reasons I’ve heard are a little thin.<\/p>\n
In May, Rep. Zack Wamp (R-Tenn.) said Thompson is qualified for the presidency because he’s tall<\/a>: “We need a president of the United States after the 2008 election who will rise above the partisan challenges … That person is 6 foot 6. He has a commanding voice. He has a commanding presence. He makes people feel secure. He makes us feel confident.”<\/p>\n A month later, MSNBC’s Chris Matthews got a little creepy<\/a> in praising Thompson, complimenting the former senator’s odor<\/i>: “Can you smell the English leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man’s shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved? Do you smell that sort of — a little bit of cigar smoke?”<\/p>\n TAP’s Garance Franke-Ruta spoke to a “leading figure in the Iowa Republican Party” about the actor-lobbyist-senator, who explained why<\/a> so many conservatives are excited about a Thompson campaign.<\/p>\n “Can you imagine what debates are going to be like with great big Andrew Jackson-looking Fred and Hillary on her stubby little legs, stamping her feet?” Thompson, if elected, would be the tallest president ever. Republicans are not just looking for the usual John Wayne-type signifiers as they go about selecting a candidate, but thinking about who can best loom over Hillary Clinton and make her look like a shrill, small, silly little woman. Thompson’s booming voice will make her “sound like Madame Defarge.”<\/p><\/blockquote>\n In other words, the GOP wants a big guy. Not in terms of stature or intellect, but in physical size<\/i>. (For what it’s worth, like Kevin<\/a>, I think Hillary would humiliate Thompson in a debate).<\/p>\n