March 12, 2007
The Fred Thompson Surge (Brent Budowsky)
The major media is missing the full magnitude of the grassroots Republican surge that will soon transform the 2008 field.
The remnants of the Bush presidency and recent Republican Congress is a crisis of conservatism with a major backlash brewing beneath the surface. None of the Big Three (McCain, Romney, or Guiliani) has won the confidence of authentic conservatives. The boomlet for Fred Thompson will grow and challenge the conventional wisdom, again.
What is modern conservatism? Major budget deficits, trade deficits, current account deficits? A mismanaged war with military advice often ignored and a catastrophic scandal in treatment of wounded troops? Massive pork-barrel spending with a Big Government superstate more reminiscent of French Gaullism than American conservatism?
What happened to conservative libertarians and "strict construction of the Constitution"? Presidential signing statements sweeping aside federal statutes? Massive violations of privacy that attack constitional protections without the rule of law? New revelations that the FBI apparently violated the law itself while the firing of U.S. attorneys under questionable circumstances faces major investigation?
What happened to sound management? More than $10 billion of U.S. Iraq reconstruction money missing, stolen, or wasted, with tons of Iraqi cash lost in space? Incompetence and neglect in military care of heroes? Katrina? Abu Ghraib? Conservatism?
New Republican candidates consider running by revealing their adultery while congressional pages were violated and Republican leaders passed the buck (at best)? "Conservatives" now champion a pardon for putting one's hand on the Bible and lying under an oath to God?
The list goes on. This crisis of conservatism not only alienates the conservative base of the Republican Party, but moderate Republicans, independents and Reagan Democrats as well.
Howard Baker is brilliant and right in promoting Fred Thompson. The pundits are wrong, the field is wide open, half of the Republicans are not happy with the choices and there is a real chance of a Thompson surge. Conservatism has always included fiscal conservatism, libertarian conservatism, moral conservatism, respect for commanders, patriotic commitment to troops, sound management, small-sized government and respect for the Constitution.
Every one of these is under seige.
Conservatism is in crisis.
Fred Thompson is waiting in the wings.
Dont belive the pundits. Get ready for the surge that will transform the Republican race.
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Fred Thompson is a member of the CFR.
Ron Paul is running now!
Comment by mickey — March 12, 2007 @ 9:16 pm
Thompson's record speaks for itself. It is the record of a movement conservative, with a few blips here and there to cause some consternation(such as his friend McCain's campaign finance reform). All in all, however, it is a very solidly Conservative voting record.
Also, Thompson is a student of America and loves the "American story". I once heard him speak glowingly of D.M.'s 1776, and how he thought every American should read that book to truly understand the hardships and toil that our Founding Fathers went through to forge this great nation.
Thompson "gets it". He has a love for what those Founders fought so hard and suffered so much to build. And that love is clearly genuine. This is the kind of person we need as President. A person who loves America not only because he was born here and is supposed to, but because he really GETS the idea of America and what it was always supposed to be about.
The last President who really "got" the idea of America and its founding was Ronald Reagan. And that made all the difference in how he approached his office.
We need an American idealogue - not just another "manager" like Bill Clinton. "A program here, a program there, some politics here, etc." We need IDEAS and somebody with a strong idealogical conviction as to what this country was founded to be, and why that's unique and wonderful in the history of the world.
Only idealogues like this are able to show the kind of restraint necessary to rightly govern a nation such as this. Almost everybody else, absent such ideaological moorings, begins to succumb to the "politics as usual" notion and finds it far too easy to start "using government" in a manner that was never intended by our Founders.
Now Thompson is PERFECTLY positioned to become a firm part of that American story that is written about in 1776, and at a critical time, when he can do a great deal of good for this country. This is a critical time both internationally and domestically, as we are poised in a great clash of Civilizations from without, and are teetering on the edge of socialist disaster from within(the push for socialized medicince, etc.) We need another "Great Communicator" to put the idea of America back into the public's imagination. That's Fred Thompson, in my opinion.
There will never be another shot like this for him, as age and other factors come into play. And he must know this. NOW is his chance to take the stage, be a part of this American story, and help to right this ship - as Reagan did before him so well over 20 years ago.
The field is wide open for Thompson, as Republicans would flock to him if he announced his candidacy, joyous in the prospect of having an actual Conservative WHO CAN WIN THE GENERAL ELECTION running in this race.
And he is a candidate that has the Left openly quaking in their boots. Bob Beckel supposedly said that Fred Thompson is the Left's "worst nightmare".
This guy is a strong Conservative, and he has an extremely good shot at winning the Republican primary if he wants it and can build his organization and raise sufficient funds, and a very, very good chance of winning the general election as well.
None of the other Conservative candidates are nearly as attractive as this - they all have something fundamentally "wrong" with their candidacy.
1. Romney - flip-flopping charges and Mormon, which despite the best wishes of many Conservatives will be a very, very tough sell in the general election - can we risk that when running against Hillary?
2. Guiliani - Pro-Choice. Gun Control. Open borders guy. Etc. A distasteful personal life is nothing compared to the borders thing, in my opinion - but it may be enough to get voters to stay home in a general election. Very hard for Conservatives to get really excited about Guiliani, and though he's high in the polls now, that's because most average people don't know about all of these more liberal positions or the details of his personal life.
3. McCain - 'nuff said. No Conservative likes him. And he obviously doesn't like Conservatives. Against the tax cuts. Open borders guy. Media attention-whore. Tried to hamstring Bush on terrorist interrogation. And on and on and on. Conservatives won't be holding their noses to vote for McCain in the General if they have to - they'll be cutting them off.
All of these guys have FUNDAMENTAL problems that could cost us the election, or be only a mild victory for Conservatives if they do win.
Not Thompson - some minor disagreements and quibbles here and there, sure, but not fundamental problems that will be hard to surmount in the General, and Conservatives will be HAPPY with who they voted for when he wins.
As a bonus, he's also the only major party candidate, I think, that we can trust on the immigration issue. 70% of this country wants an ENFORCEMENT FIRST policy, which is purely common sense and unassailably just, before we deal with the issue of what to do about the illegals that are already here.
We already have tons of immigration laws that aren't enforced, so why on earth would we trust that the new laws are going to be any different?
ENFORCE the border first. Stop the flow. Then deal with who is here. The American people will be much more amenable to dealing with that situation with a much wider latitude of possible solutions if they can see that the bleeding at the border has truly stopped and we have things under control.
And control it we must. The consequences of such a mass illegal immigration problem are becoming disastrous for our country and culture, as large numbers of illegal immigrants are not being absorbed and assimilated into our culture because they have no reason to be - they have their own entire culture here. Their own language, their own stores and shops, etc.
It's just too many people too quickly to absorb and assimilate. For the first time, we have a large immigrant population coming in who largely think of themselves as members of the country they left and are not concerned, as a group, with becoming Americans. And look at the fruit this disaster is starting now show… Entire towns and areas are changing into something else every day. Emergency rooms are closing. Prisons are filling up. Law enforcement is stretched to the brink.
And worst of all, we contnue to import millions of voters from a socialist country who, when they do get the chance to vote, and they will eventually, they will be another huge voting bloc for the Democrats. And then what chance will Conservatism ever have? We have to think long-term on this and stop this now, or Conservatism, and America as we know it, is destined to become another Europe, both in a loss of our culture to an invading foreign population and in the entitlement socialist nightmare caused when that population decides to vote themselves benefits from the public treasury.
On Fox News Sunday, Fred Thompson came out unequivocally for the common-sense, highly-favored by Americans ENFORCEMENT FIRST approach. He is the only, or certainly one of the only, major party candidates WHO CAN WIN THE GENERAL ELECTION who has come out and made this stance. That is strength.
And he did so without any hemming and hawing. It's the right thing that most Americans want and support, and yet he's the only major party guy who will state that this is his position without any equivocation? What a sad, pale inconsequence our political system has become!
Fred Thompson IS "the guy", and he should certainly run. It's his time to be part of the American story, and it's America's time to have another no-nonsense, straight-talking, GENUINE American idealogue, like Ronald Reagan, back at the helm.
Comment by David — March 13, 2007 @ 1:13 am
I somewhat agree with the points made in this blog. Both Fred Thompson and Newt G. would be welcome additions to this joke of a race. Newt is the favorite for me, but he may be a bit 'battle-warn' to finish on a positive note. Fred appears to have a pretty clean background and shouldn't be challenged on many issues seen as immoral.
Comment by Kurt — March 13, 2007 @ 9:42 am
The GOP field is still wide open, and Thompson, Newt, and Condi Rice can still get in.
The public image of Condi Rice makes her worth over $10 million in advertising, so she can enter late, get on the ballots quickly and win delegates for the 2008 nomination. It is in the hands of the people to select their own president.
The Condi Rice SURGE will shake up the entire race.
Comment by Crystal Dueker — March 19, 2007 @ 8:43 am
There have been some questions re: his ties to McCain, and I have not heard any answers.
Instead, we should draft Rep. Dr. Dave Weldon (R-FL) — he has a lifetime ACU rating of 93, and has had no problem writing or sponsoring right-minded legislation.
Comment by Steve Gagne — March 22, 2007 @ 11:16 am
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Comment by CW Goad — April 1, 2007 @ 12:28 am