Fred Thompson came to the offices of National Review some years when he was still in the Senate. I liked him fine. He has done nothing, anywhere, ever. The Hubble Telescope could not find what he has done, because he has not done it.
Fergus Cullen, New Hampshire's GOP chair:
"Maybe the times have changed, and the Webcast and his celebrity are enough. Maybe he and his tactics are the wave of the future," Cullen said, adding a stinging comparison between Thompson and the failed 1985 launch of a new Coca-Cola formula. "Or maybe he's the New Coke."
The rationale for Thompson's run has been refreshingly phony: It's all about his looks, his voice, his personality. His backers have confused all of that with leadership, and Thompson, like the worst actor, is starting to believe his reviews. That's a mistake. The point of Fred Thompson is that he was never serious.
The good news is that he's really coming into his own on the stump ... or, you know, not.
Photo by Flickr user FreddThompson used under a Creative Commons license.
Remember that National Review cover from the bad old days when it looked like Howard Dean might be the Democratic nominee? "Please Nominate This Man!"? Well, I think some impish writer for some liberal magazine should suggest something similar now. Except the cover should have photos of all the Republican frontrunners with the caption "Please Nominate Any of These Men!"
Posted by Ashish George | September 8, 2007 4:30 PM