The poor Fredheads

Over at the Right Wing Nut House My friend Rick Moran is really upset the Fred Thompson's campaign has gone bust and explains in detail why none of the other candidates are acceptable. Meanwhile dday writing over at Hullabalo brings us what the pundits at CNN are saying about Thompson's "campaign":

BLITZER: It wasn't exactly a shocker today, Jack, that Fred Thompson announced he's dropping out of this race. But let's take a look at the political fallout.

Among the Republicans, who gains, who loses?

CAFFERTY: Well, if he hadn't announced it, I'm not sure anybody would have noticed.

(LAUGHTER)

CAFFERTY: I mean I -- you know, it's like he hasn't -- he's only been here what -- you know, he wasn't that interested in campaigning. I think he would have liked it if somebody would have said you can be president. But he didn't want to work to get the job. And I'm not sure it means a heck of a lot for anybody. Somebody said that he might be trying to position himself to be vice president. He'll deny that.

BORGER: ...So watch for Mitt Romney, who is also running as a social conservative, to go after those six or seven Thompson voters that are out there.

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: And he'll try -- he'll try and get them.

TOOBIN: You know, Wolf, you have to go all the way back to Rudolph Giuliani to find a campaign that has been singularly as unsuccessful as Fred Thompson's has been.

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: That far back?

TOOBIN: You know, I just don't think it will have any impact at all, his departure...

BLITZER: Well, it could have a...

TOOBIN: ...just as his arrival didn't.

BORGER: You know...

BLITZER: It could have an impact in new episodes of "Law and Order," though.

BORGER: It could. It could. But, you know, this was such an interesting candidacy. It was created by the Republican establishment in Washington, who felt that they needed a new horse. They needed someone else. So they created this. They took a guy who was television. They said let's turn him into a presidential candidate. He will clearly appeal to the American public. And it totally flopped [...]

TOOBIN: That was the ultimate problem.

CAFFERTY: Take a look at all the other ideas the Republican establishment in Washington has had for the last seven years.

(LAUGHTER)

CAFFERTY: It's no surprise to me the Fred Thompson thing didn't go anywhere.

BLITZER: I can't tell you how many people in that Republican establishment -- especially here in Washington, the beltway, you know, the Republican lobbyists...

BORGER: Right.

BLITZER: ...the so-called elite, when they were even thinking of getting him in, they said this is the new Ronald Reagan. He's an actor.

CAFFERTY: Yes.

BLITZER: He's media-genic. He's powerful. And he's really going to turn things around.

(CROSSTALK) CAFFERTY: If you want to look at the definition of irrelevant, look up the Republican establishment in Washington, D.C.

BORGER: Right.

CAFFERTY: That's irrelevant.

(LAUGHTER)

TOOBIN: Fred Thompson definitely was the tallest candidate.

BORGER: Right.

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: But, you know, it's so...

CAFFERTY: And the baldest.

BORGER: ...it's so arrogant, though, you know, to think that you can be anointed in Washington and you're pretty good on television and you look pretty good and you -- and you have great name recognition because you're in "Law and Order," and, gee, I can then become president.

And I think they talked him into it. And I think they said to him, you know, you don't have to work that hard.

(LAUGHTER)

BORGER: You can actually just get this job, get in late, let the public take a look at you. You're different. You're going to win. It didn't work out that way.

CAFFERTY: He bought that part about not having to work very hard. He liked that part.

(LAUGHTER)

CAFFERTY: You can sit in the trailer until it's time for your close-up, Fred.

(LAUGHTER)

As dday points out that is pretty much what the progressive blogosphere was saying from the beginning. And they noticed something important - the real loser when Fed pulled out was the Republican establishment in Washington. Yes, those same folks who brought us Ronald Reagan and George W. Bush. Jack Cafferty said it well:

If you want to look at the definition of irrelevant, look up the Republican establishment in Washington, D.C.

Too Funny

Did Fred Thompson take the Fredheads for a ride in that red pickup truck? Is all he ever wanted to be was John McCain's VP? Did the entire thing just get out of control? According to FOX's Carl Cameron the answer to all of the above may be yes.

Back in March of 07 at the CPAC convention in DC several former Fred Thompson Congressional staffers told me Fred Thompson was thinking about a run. Some of his Tennessee cronies had been talking him up too.

I reported first that he was eyeing a White House bid. At the time several insiders told me OFF THE RECORD that it was largely a trial ballon to guage his popularity and float his name as a possible vice presidential nominee. I was sworn to silence.

Those insiders have now lifted the conditions on our conversations. From March to August of 07 through postponed announcement days, staff changes, firings, resignations and general disarray the Thompson camp was stunned by the incredibly positive response and didn’t really know how to manage it. The trial balloon soared mighty high and he found himself being dragged into a race that he was not even sure how to run.

He took third in Iowa and Third in South Carolina, after which his aides openly suggested the #2 slot on the ticket. The circle has been closed, and Fred Dalton Thompson is waiting to see if he gets the call from the eventual nominee.

He has not said who he will endorse. He is friends with John McCain. But if he doesn’t throw his support behind anyone …it makes it easier to be picked by everyone.

Not too surprisingly the wingers are not happy campers and for once I can't blame them. Macranger asks; Was it all a farse?

It does explain why he didn’t attack McCain before the South Carolina primary, especially if the old birds were going to team up later on. They go back a long way, but the just the thought - if true - he played his supporters for fools, and that sucks.

Much more if he does join in with McCain, what’s that say about how dear did he hold his conservatism? You deal with the Devil son, you lose your soul.

Some of his commentors are not so kind or diplomatic.

It's not over until it's over.....

.....unless you're Fred
The latest poll from New Hampshire shows some real movement - in the wrong direction for Fred and Rudy.
Thompson skids while Romney, Paul climb in N.H. poll

Thompson came into the GOP race late with the hope of winning over social conservatives unsatisfied with the rest of the party's field, and racked up a key endorsement from the National Right to Life Committee last week. But the former star of the television drama "Law and Order" has trailed the GOP front-runners in early voting states since entering the race in August, and his support in New Hampshire dropped from 13 percent in a September poll to 4 percent in November's survey.
By contrast, Romney's support grew from 25 percent to 33 percent over the same period; McCain held steady at 18 percent; and Giuliani dipped from 24 to 16 percent.

Meanwhile, the percentage of support for Paul grew from 4 percent to 8 percent, putting him fourth among the GOP contenders in the Granite State.

I suspect this indicates that people are getting to know the candidates. In Fred's case once you get to know him you realize there's not much to know. In Rudy's case once you get to know him you don't like him very much.

Bring him on - Fred that is

I think that Fred Thompson's campaign for president will die an early death which is too bad - he would be easy to beat. The other day I suggested that Fred is A glass completely empty.

The fact that Fred Thompson looked good for awhile to republicans certainly doesn't speak well for the rest of those running for the Republican nomination. Fred only looked good because they really didn't know him. He is not a glass half full or half empty - he is a glass that's completely empty and it seems he proves it every day.

Over at The Left Coaster eriposte has a good post on faltering Fred that puts many of Fred's gaffs in one place.

A glass completely empty

The fact that Fred Thompson looked good for awhile to republicans certainly doesn't speak well for the rest of those running for the Republican nomination. Fred only looked good because they really didn't know him. He is not a glass half full or half empty - he is a glass that's completely empty and it seems he proves it every day.
ANOTHER FRED GAFFE

More gaffes from Fred Thompson: Not only has he misspoken or said he didn't know about Terri Schiavo, or the controversy about oil drilling in the Everglades, or that he was unaware that a federal judge had ruled that lethal injection procedures in his home state of Tennessee were unconstitutional, last night in Iowa he said that the Dems controlled congress when John Roberts went through his confirmation hearings for Chief Justice.

That is wrong, the Republicans still controlled the Senate and the Judiciary Committee of course, and Fred was designated to make the rounds on Capitol Hill at the time as Roberts’ shepherd.

OK Republicans, bring Fred on. Do you really think that the country is ready for another lazy and intellectually lazy President after eight years of George W. Bush.

When Henry Met Stupid

The seven stages of dumb, nasty bad behavior run the gamut from casually, less than brilliant bad intentions to mind bogglingly, criminally evil stupidity. And it pops up on both sides of the aisle far too often. But frankly, I can't identify where this hell this falls on that scale. It seems that somebody is trying to play some games on the web with GOP sort-of candidate Fred Thompson. (Courtesy of Capt. Ed.)

Apparently hoping to confuse web surfers looking for Fred's website at http://www.imwithfred.com/, a new site has appeared at http://www.imwithfred2008.com/ -- only this site welcomes people to the Ku Klux Klan, "Bringing a Message of Hope and Deliverance to White Christian America!" It includes links to a variety of disgusting racist sites.

Who would post something like this as a smear on Fred Thompson? Someone a little too stupid to cover his tracks, possibly? A DNS search gives us an answer. The domain name, registered through GoDaddy (no great shock there), belongs to:

Henry Reynolds
500 California Ave. #5
Santa Monica, California 90403
United States

Ed's article goes on to point out that Mr. Reynolds is an attorney and a regular contributor to MoveOn, John Kerry, DNC and such.

As I noted in Ed's comments section, there is more information to be gathered before anyone can be absolutely sure of what's going on here. I mean, it's certainly possible that Henry is actually a gay member of the KKK with a life partner named Fred who will celebrate their anniversary in 2008, but somehow it seems to lack the ring of truth.

Seriously, now... how effective could anyone think this could be? Whether you care for Thompson or not, he's a pretty high profile person in the political scene. He could never have risen past the level of city dog catcher if he was stupid enough to have his name associated with this type of material.

Stupid? Evil? You be the judge.

Stranger and Stranger
The URL above imwithfred2008 now goes to an ad for John Edwards. Not good for Edwards and looking almost Rovian in nature.
Ron

Stranger and Stranger II
The link now re-directs us to Wikipedia entry for Fredric Jameson. Hat Tip to Ed.

Update From Ron
It should be pointed out that in addition to being stupid this is just plain wrong. It is the very thing that we have been accusing the other side of doing, accurately at times.

Something else we all can agree on

The right and the left are both opposed to the immigration bill which is about to die on the Senate floor and both sides seem to agree that this is about the stupidest thing to ever find it's way into a newspaper.
A GOP Plan To Oust Cheney

The big question right now among Republicans is how to remove Vice President Cheney from office. Even before this week's blockbuster series in The Post, discontent in Republican ranks was rising.

As the reputed architect of the war in Iraq, Cheney is viewed as toxic, and as the administration's leading proponent of an attack on Iran, he is seen as dangerous. As long as he remains vice president, according to this thinking, he has the potential to drag down every member of the party -- including the presidential nominee -- in next year's elections.

Removing a sitting vice president is not easy, but this may be the moment. I remember Barry Goldwater sitting in my parents' living room in 1973, in the last days of Watergate, debating whether to lead a group of senior Republicans to the White House to tell President Nixon he had to go. His hesitation was that he felt loyalty to the president and the party. But in the end he felt a greater loyalty to his country, and he went to the White House.

Today, another group of party elders, led by Sen. John Warner of Virginia, could well do the same. They could act out of concern for our country's plummeting reputation throughout the world, particularly in the Middle East.

Now if John Warner were to actually do that, which is highly unlikely, Cheney would be Cheney and simply tell him to go f*ck himself. But now it gets even more absurd.

For such a plan to work, however, they would need a ready replacement.

And who does Ms Quinn think that might be?

That leaves Fred Thompson. Everybody loves Fred. He has the healing qualities of Gerald Ford and the movie-star appeal of Ronald Reagan. He is relatively moderate on social issues. He has a reputation as a peacemaker and a compromiser. And he has a good sense of humor.

He could be just the partner to bring out Bush's better nature -- or at least be a sensible voice of reason. I could easily imagine him telling the president, "For God's sake, do not push that button!" -- a command I have a hard time hearing Cheney give.

Not only that, Thompson would give the Republicans a platform for running for the presidency -- and the president a way out of Iraq without looking like he's backing down. Bush would be left in better shape on the war and be able to concentrate on AIDS and the environment in hopes of salvaging his legacy.

From the right we have Ed Morrissey's reaction.

I'd like to have a shot at what Sally Quinn's drinking. In today's Washington Post, Quinn tells us that Republicans have decided that Dick Cheney has to go, and will start devising plans to force him out of an office to which he has been twice elected. Quinn believes that this has reached the Goldwater-to-Nixon scenario in the summer of 1974, only this time Cheney stands accused of hurting the GOP's chances in the next election rather than any lawbreaking.

I don't know but I think whatever she is drinking is too strong for me. And from the left we have this lambert at Corrente

WaPo's Quinn floats trial balloon: Replace Cheney with Fred Thompson (then run Thompson in 2008)

Well, that’s beyond shameless, isn’t it? Anything,a nything at all to evade accountability and preserve the “Our Town,” the Beltway as a Republican fiefdom. Her and Dean Floater. Even for Ben Bradlee’s child bride. Maybe that’s why she’s got a yen for Fred?

And the belt way media wonders why they don't get any respect. It's because you are all idiots.

A new horse in the stable

With a presidential stable of of old nags the Republicans are looking for a fresh filly. Is Fred Dalton Thompson that filly? Robert Novak says maybe:

Thompson's performance Tuesday night, with his remarks off the record, helped show why many Republican insiders are ready to support him. Thompson is winning straw polls at Republican conferences and running well in opinion polls mainly because of dissatisfaction, for varying reasons, with the three leading GOP candidates -- Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney. Thompson at the dinner confirmed the perception inside the party of his potential to be an extraordinary candidate.

Mitt Romney the ultimate flip flopper and a Mormon cultist, John McCain is senile and Rudi Giuliani is - well, Rudi Giuliani. So Fred probably looks pretty good. My friend The GTL™ sums is up pretty well:

I think I’ve just figured out why the neoconservatives want this guy to run for President so badly: he uses his full middle name just like serial killers do. Not just “Fred” Thompson, but “Fred Dalton” Thompson. Staying the course in the “Big Oil and Nation Buildin’ Bidness” will require somebody with a serial killer’s mentality, so I applaud the neoconservatives for encouraging the use of Mr. Thompson’s FULL middle name…

Of course Mr Thompson's biggest problem will be how to distance himself from George W. Bush without distancing himself from George W. Bush. If he does too much distancing he can't win the Republican primary but if he doesn't distance himself enough he can't win the general election. So Fred Dalton Thompson are you ready for the Kabuki Dance.

The New Reagan?

Rudi has a few too many skeletons in his closet to make the final cut, John McCain has lost his mind and Mitt Romney is a flip flopping Mormon. So what are the Republicans and the corporate media to do? Bring back Ronald Reagan or at least the next best thing, Fred Thompson. Robert Novak adds fuel to the fire today.
Thompson Is for Real

In just three weeks, Fred Thompson has transformed the contest for the Republican presidential nomination. It is not merely that he has come from nowhere to double digits in polls. He is the talk of GOP political circles because he is filling the conservative void in the field.

Republican activists have complained for months that none of the Big Three -- Rudy Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney-- fits the conservative model of a conservative leader for a conservative party. The party faithful have been waiting for another Ronald Reagan. But in conversations with them the past year, nobody mentioned Thompson as the messiah until he appeared March 11 on "Fox News Sunday."

Thompson was surprised by the reaction to his statement that he was "giving some thought" to running. In the first Gallup Poll that listed Thompson (conducted March 23-25), he scored 12 percent -- amazing for someone out of public life for more than four years who has not campaigned. More important is his backing within the political community. Buyer's remorse is expressed by several House members who endorsed Romney, the former Massachusetts governor.

Thompson says he's running - should the Democrats be concerned? I think the answer is yes. The influential James Dobson has been cold up to this point but as Digby said Dobson is just waiting for Thompson to "kiss his ring" and guarantee his position as a power broker. Thompson would be a formidable candidate because of what he did on screen rather than what he did in the Senate.

Sophisticated social conservative activists tell me they cannot vote for Giuliani under any conditions and have no rapport with McCain or Romney. They do not view Sen. Sam Brownback, representing the social right, as a viable candidate. They are coming to see Thompson as the only conservative who can be nominated. Their appreciation of him stems not from his eight years as a U.S. senator from Tennessee but from his role as Manhattan district attorney on the TV series " Law & Order." The part was molded to Thompson's specifications as a tough prosecutor, lending him political star power.

Update
Steve Soto makes an interesting point, what about the TV show?

Yet the one person who probably doesn’t want Thompson to run is “L&O” creator and executive producer Dick Wolf, who now faces major problems for the upcoming season of the show if Thompson jumps into the race. He would have to cast someone else immediately as a new DA or else face flak from other candidates for he and NBC giving Thompson an unfair platform to look the part each week.

Reagan Redux?

As Paul Krugman pointed out today the Republicans are missing Ronald Reagan. A good reason to be watching Fred Thompson, actor and former Senator. The Republicans were able to create a mythology around an actor but they can't do the same thing around a New England rich kid with a phony Texas accent. Now Arnold Swarchenegger is not a possibility, born in Austria, but what about Fred Thompson. He is getting a lot of coverage in the winger blogosphere here, here and here for a couple of examples. What better material for myth creation than an actor. It certainly worked with Reagan. The Democrats should be watching Fred Thompson as Giuliani, McCain and Romney self destruct. Reagan Redux?