Early last year while shopping at an Embassy Suites gift shop,
I spied a Fred Thompson campaign button and snapped it up because
the idea of another actor running for the highest office in the
land intrigued me. This was months before Senator Thompson
actually entered the 2008 Presidential race with what the MSM has
continually described as a lackluster effort. I've noticed the
negligent media coverage of Thompson's campaign and it makes me
wonder if the mainstream press considers him far more formidable
than it would like. I've watched the debates, listened to the
positions of all the candidates and I like Fred Thompson because
he's running as an adult, not an entertainer.
When the moderator of the Iowa debate asked for a show of hands
for those who believe that global warming is serious and
man-made, Thompson immediately said, "I'm not doing a show
of hands today". At least five of the other candidates had
already raised their hands then lowered them when Thompson made
his defiant stand against this juvenile request. It was clear who
was a leader not a follower and isn't that whom we're supposed to
be electing in November?
I'd already come to the conclusion that Senator Thompson was the
candidate adhering closest to my conservative values but it
wasn't until he appeared on the O'Reilly Factor that he exhibited
true presidential timbre as a no nonsense straight shooter. Bill
O'Reilly weighed in on the Pakistan crisis after the Bhutto
assassination and proposed putting pressure on Musharref to go
after the Taliban more vigorously or threaten to withdraw our
financial aid. Unlike Barack Obama who suggested that we go after
the terrorists in Pakistan ourselves, Thompson exhibited mature
caution recognizing the need to keep the only Muslim controlled
nuclear nation stabilized. Thompson uttered no sound bites just
remarked with measured deliberation to a very complex issue. In
so doing he demonstrated the difference between armchair
quarterbacking from the comfort of a studio and the reality of
making crucial life or death decisions.
Thompson is the only candidate who's consistently raised the
touchy issue of Social Security reform. President Bush's efforts
to address this issue were decimated by the Democrats and the
AARP lobbyists. Anyone who has actually looked at their adult
children's paycheck noting the FICA deductions and realized how
unlikely they will benefit from the program recognizes how unfair
this system is to young working adults in every economic sector.
On immigration, Thompson offers a comprehensive proposal
eschewing amnesty and dares to ask Mexico, "What does it say
about the leadership of a country when that country's economy and
politics are dependent upon the exportation of its own citizens?
"
Besides negligence another sign of a hostile mainstream press is
its continuing campaign of distorting Thompson's statements. When
he was asked by a man in Iowa about whether he wanted to be
president he answered that he "wasn't particularly
interested in running for president." The complete news
article of the conversation made it clear he was referring to the
campaign process and any sane person would empathize with that
sentiment. I've never understood what kissing babies and eating
hotdogs on the campaign trail signified other than photo ops. But
who reads more than headlines today? Thompson was honest enough
to say what the other candidates undoubtedly are thinking but
once again Thompson was depicted as a lazy, noncommittal
candidate and not to be taken seriously.
Yet what Thompson revealed in that conversation was exactly what
we should be seeking in a candidate; someone who is eager to
serve his country rather than running to satisfy an intense
personal ambition. I seem to recall that our Commander-in-Chief
was a reluctant candidate as well because he understood how the
presidency would strain his family.
There probably has never been a clearer choice between the two
major political parties. Democrats are pro-choice; for gay
marriage; a repeal of the tax cuts; bigger government and want a
withdrawal from Iraq. The Republican candidates other than Ron
Paul on Iraq are adamantly opposed to all these positions. Yet
according to Dick Morris, the Republican Party is fractured into
three factions. The social conservatives are for Huckabee; the
economic conservatives are for Romney and the national security
crowd is for Giuliani. Oddly enough, Fred Thompson meets the
criteria of all three blocs and sooner or later it's going to
dawn on all these Republicans that they like Fred, too.