Fred Thompson Mega-Thread (Merged)

[xd9fan]

Key Bush backers rally to Fred Thompson

Key Bush backers rally to Fred Thompson

By: Mike Allen
Jun 4, 2007 02:22 PM EST
Fred Thompson with supporters
Fred Thompson has signed on high-profile supporters.


George P. Bush, a nephew of President Bush, has contributed to the prospective presidential campaign of Fred Thompson and signed an e-mail asking friends and associates to do the same, The Politico has learned.

"In a field of candidates without a clear favorite among our fellow Republicans, my sincere hope is that you consider joining us in this effort to encourage Fred to run," the e-mail says.

The involvement of a Bush family member highlights a stream of former Bush-Cheney aides and supporters who are signing on with Thompson, in some cases quietly. Thompson, the "Law & Order" actor and former Tennessee senator, filed papers Friday that allowed him to begin raising money. Aides say he remains on track to formally announce his candidacy the week of the Fourth of July, although they say no date is set in stone.
Fred Thompson

* Fred Thompson will run, advisers say
* Thompson discloses cancer amid rumors
* 'Law & Order' and lobbying

Mary Matalin, the former counselor to Vice President Cheney, says she will be advising Thompson. A campaign source says she will be an unpaid adviser. Matalin is friends with Thompson and his wife, Jeri, and her involvement began informally, the source says.

Advisers say the head of economic policy for Thompson's fledgling team will be Lawrence B. Lindsey, who was President Bush's first economic policy adviser and an architect of his tax cuts. Lindsey was chief economic adviser to Bush's first presidential campaign and is a former member of the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. Lindsey will also have a hand in the campaign's broader policy formulation, sources say.

The head of domestic policy is to be David M. McIntosh, a lawyer and former congressman from Indiana who was an official in the Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, according to the sources. The chief foreign policy adviser will be chosen soon, the sources say.

Adding to the Bush-Cheney ties, the campaign has said that the chief operating officer will be Thomas J. Collamore, a former aide to the older Bush when he was vice president and also an official in the Reagan administration.

And Michael Turk, e-campaign director for George W. Bush's reelection campaign, will take a leave of absence from his current job with the National Cable & Telecommunications Association to assist in getting the Thompson website off the ground. He may continue in a webmaster capacity for the campaign.

George P. Bush, the chief operating officer of a real estate development firm in Fort Worth, Texas, sent the appeal Friday afternoon along with Timothy P. Berry, the firm's president. The e-mail closes "Devotedly," then has both of their signatures.

just more of the same

 

[gego]

I suppose that tells the difference between Fred Thompson and Ron Paul.

If the same people who support Bush are pushing Thompson I think you can draw the inference that Thompson is just another puppet whose strings will be pulled by the special interests. Just an actor hired to play the part, so to speak.

 

[baz]

just more of the same

Maybe that's exactly what the MSM want you to think? This is, after all, from the pen of the Time's Washington Correspondent.

Realistically, it will be impossible for any successful Republican candidate for President to put together a team that does not include people with connections to previous Republican administrations. I doubt that everyone who has worked previously for Bush is in 100 percent agreement with everything Bush has ever done. A discriminating reader will realize that, and will not be so easily fooled by this MSM attempt to link Thompson to Bush.

I used to work for Bill Clinton. If anyone thinks they can infer from that absolutely anything about my political inclinations, or even my own opinion of Bill Clinton, they are mighty gullible. Same could be said, I'm sure, about many who have worked for Bush.

 

[geekWithA.45]

If the same people who support Bush are pushing Thompson I think you can draw the inference that Thompson is just another puppet whose strings will be pulled by the special interests

That inference is preposterous.

Did GW ever tell Michael Moore to think about a mental institution?
Did GW ever flat out publicly write about Federalism, 2A in clear language that most folks here would approve of? Has any major political figure in recent memory?

Nope.

What it tells you about the diff between Fred and Ron is that Fred is smarter: he knows how to get the same ideas across without coming off as a lunatic and alienating everone who isn't.

 

[xd9fan]

keep it comin boys but just remember......the GOP has more than one seat at the whitehouse to fill.

They have a broken platform, a divided party and they are lost wandering in the forest......AND they LIKE big Govt.
IMHO Fred cant lead the way. He has not been tested enough like Ron....again just MHO.

Bush backers are now joining Fred.......doesnt make me think like change will really happen with this party. Fred likes big Govt too. (voted for the new medi-care of our generation....the prescription drug plan)

talk is cheap.
Again its about walking the walk....for me.

 

[Jkwas]

Isn't there anyone "qualified" to run this country?

 

[JohnBT]

"just more of the same"

You want him to hire inexperienced people? Or maybe experienced people from Clinton's campaign? There are only so many people out there with experience running a successful national campaign and they happen to be Republicans and Democrats. What would you choose?

Sheesh.

John

 

[Jkwas]

Isn't there anyone "qualified" to run this country?

That statement really isn't true. Problem is people vote for personalities and not for qualities. Most of the people truly qualified come off like "stale bread" in front of the camera. Not very electable really.
My sister said she wants to vote for Hillary! I said, "Come on! Gimme a breaaaaaaak!

 

[Waitone]

The cast of characters announced here is the team selected to get Fred elected. Some will show up as policy guru's but by and large their job is election.

That said, this is the kind of reporting I want to see more of. Who is being selected for what positions will give a clue to the policies eventually enacted.

One additional piece of information is required and that is organizations with which the person is affiliated. I am well past believing what a candidate says. I want to see what they have done in the past and who they will use to implement what they want to do in the future. Not guaranteed to avoid the klinker but is helpful.

 

[pcosmar]

Bush Lite
Bush Like.

 

[Correia]

I was a Bush backer too. Turns out he sucked.

So now if I rally behind a different candidate, does that by extension make my new candidate exactly the same as the old one? Does it mean that I, as a backer, believe exactly the same as either of them?

Obviously not.

But hey, don't let that hold anyone back. This is L&P afterall. Where innuendo, panic, hyperbole, strawmen, and general foolishness outshines intelligent adult discussion nine out of ten times.

 

[Rob G]

I don't really buy the Bush comparisons. I'm sure he's got a few similiarities since they are both conservatives and bound to agree on a few things. I'm also not surprised he's using some of Bush's former people. Let's remember that they helped win an election....so they probably have some idea what they're doing. I think we should give him some time to voice his stances before we decide what he is or isn't. Then we should make that decision based only on what he actually does as opposed to what some of the people around him did in the past.

 

[Sistema1927]

I worked for Jimmy Carter.

I worked for Ronald Reagan.

I work for Bill Richardson.

I support Fred Thompson.

Make whatever inferences you desire. They are about as significant as the ones that some folks on this thread are making.

 

[eric_t12]

i'm still voting for Ron Paul. Running and 'winnable' or not.

my .02

 

[TallPine]

Choosing between Hilary and Rudy would be about like choosing between being shot and being hung.

Choosing between Hilary and Fred is a somewhat more hopeful option - with Fred we might get to keep our guns long enough for something better to happen in the future.

Oddly enough, I think Ron Paul could win the election by drawing support from both sides, but he will never get the Republican nomination

 

[Titan6]

Bush backers should back Thompson. He is very close to Bush on most issues. He is better on guns than Bush though.

 

[ArmedBear]

People who backed Bush backed him for a lot of reasons.

He has disappointed them on all counts.

His drop in approval ratings comes not from the left, who never approved of him. It comes from conservatives of various stripes.

Many people who backed Reagan, backed Bush. Many regret it (though Gore and Kerry weren't their choices, either, by a long shot). Bush is no Reagan.

If some of the same people now back someone with specific political beliefs, it isn't surprising. It also doesn't make Thompson "another Bush", any more than Bush was "another Reagan."

Thompson will stand or fall based on who and what HE is. We will see. It shouldn't shock anyone, though, to hear that he get support from Reagan conservatives. Did you think Fred Thompson would get donations from George Soros or the Hollywood set?

See Peggy Noonan here: http://www.opinionjournal.com/columnists/pnoonan/?id=110010148

Or you can go ahead and believe whatever simplified sloganthink you want. It's easier. And you, too, can be as cool as the moonbats.

 

[Elza]

ArmedBear: Many people who backed Reagan, backed Bush. Many regret it

Armedbear, you just described me to a 'T'!
+1

 

[STAGE 2]

Oddly enough, I think Ron Paul could win the election by drawing support from both sides, but he will never get the Republican nomination

Thats cause he's not a republican.

 

[zoom6zoom]

I'd never heard of Ron Paul before seeing his name on one of these forums. I'm guessing that's true of a lot of voters. Fred at least has a recognition factor going in his favor.

 

[Autolycus]

Its sad though that there are many peope who will vote for him because is a TV actor.

I will vote Ron Paul as Fred Thompson is to much of a christofascist for my tastes. I like his views on the 2nd amendment but other that that I cannot imagine voting for him. If there are only 2 choices on the ballot, Hillary or THompson, well I will be voting Hillary. This is assuming that the Libertarian Party is not running anyone....

 

[Dan from MI]

I don't like seeing this. I've had it up to here with Dubs, and I'm a Republican (1994 style).

I'm still undecided and will be until at least September's Mackinac Conference. I'm staying off any bandwagons until then.

 

[NickEllis]

If there are only 2 choices on the ballot, Hillary or THompson, well I will be voting Hillary.

My goodness, my jaw dropped at that one. That blows my mind. And that would support your cause how? Unbelievable.

 

[Erebus]

I supported(past tense) Bush because I thought he would be close to Reagan. Go figure. Really didn't want him in the second election but he was still better than Kerry. It was a defensive vote.

Thompson I could vote for. I would vote for ANYONE before voting for Hillary. If I have to I will cast another defensive vote for the republican or independent if it's Hillary or Obama.

 

[pcosmar]

Dan from MI Said,

I'm still undecided and will be until at least September's Mackinac Conference. I'm staying off any bandwagons until then.

Hey I think I voted in your poll.
I have tried to get some of the party to accept that Ron Paul is running. The only answer I have gotten was rude. They did finally get him on Saul's blog, then the debate and Sauls reaction.
Oh well,It seems that they want Rudy Mc Romney.