Bye, Fred. Bye, Jeri. Sorry We Were So Shallow.
Well, crap.
Fred Thompson dropped his presidential bid Tuesday, after the former Tennessee senator and actor finished third in the South Carolina primary and was unable to score a victory in any of the early primaries or caucuses.
“Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people,” Thompson said in a statement.
I knew in the back of my mind that it was coming, but I didn’t want it to in any way. Unfortunately, expectations got Fred; not his expectations but the expectations of media pundits and plenty of voters who wanted to see a dancing monkey.
More below the jump.
Well, they didn’t get one and that ultimately damned his Presidency. If that sounds like sour grapes…well…that’s because it is. I got really tired of the folks who spent the past couple months saying things like “Well, I really like Fred and his policies are exactly what I want to see, but…”. But what? But you didn’t think he could be elected? Well, he sure as heck’s not goign to get elected now so thanks ever so much for doing your part to make sure your ague notions of electability came true. If every person out there who didn’t vote for Fred because they didn’t think he could get elected had voted for him, he would have gotten elected.
But what else? But you didn’t think he had the “fire in the belly”? What in the name of blue hells does that mean? You know who had “fire in the belly” to be President? Bill Clinton. Jimmy Carter. You know who didn’t have so much? George Washington. Abraham Lincoln. That someone wants something really, really badly doesn’t mean that person would be any good at it at all. It doesn’t mean they’d stink at it either as some very good Presidents have has the apparently required amount of intestinal conflagration to pass modern muster. Suffice it to say that if someone’s gone through the trouble to put themselves forth as a candidate, they have all the belly-fire required to be President. You want more heedless ambition and cut throat competition? Watch The Apprentice.
But what else? Don’t like how he griped about the media? Well, I’ll tell you something. The media deserved every last bit of his griping. They’re lucky he didn’t gripe with a sharper edge. The way he was trated by The Politico was nothing short of shameful and I swear, if I had seen Fred Barnes remove his head from John McCain’s hindquarters just long enough to blow off Fred one more time, I would have taken to watching Wolf Blitzer. At least I know where the biases are coming from with CNN. You don’t expect the generally smart Fox All-Stars to succumb to the same vacuous schools of thought as you get from the other pundits. Yet there they were, putting huge holes under his campaign’s waterline pretty much every time I watched them.
That’s not to say that Fred is blameless here. Far from it. He should have recognized that we’re simply not ready to see another candidate whose sole life goal is to become President and made sure that we knew very well that he would work hard once he got there, as he’s worked hard at his other jobs. He should have reassured the voters that if they elected him, he would be as successful there as he has in his other pursuits. And he should have had some other folks out there making his case. Say what you will about our political system these days, but Mike Huckabee wouldn’t have been on the map in Iowa if it weren’t for Chuck Norris being at what seemed like every public appearance. Fred could have used a friend or two out there making his case on TV and radio. He needed proxies and, pretty much, he didn’t have any. No solitary person can win an election these days. That’s just the way it is. You have to have those people out there shilling for you and they have to be recognizable.
So, Fred’s out and the election game just got a whole lot less conversative and a whole lot more pandering. Let’s see who comes to pander to us Fredheads now.
UPDATE: Jim Geraghty says “He should have punched more hippies”. Yeah, probably so. Still, it wouldn’t have killed conservatives to get behind him if they liked what he had to say, would it?
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Category: Featured, The 2008 Horse Race
In a way, I feel your pain. I wanted Richardson, because he was smart, experienced and capable. But he has all the mojo of a strand of overcooked noodle. It is the nature of American politics that candidates need to inspire the voters or they get ignored. Reagan and JFK inspired people, and they were successful because of it. Richardson and Thompson, while being good candidates on paper, simply bored people. I guess I should note that Johnson actually accomplished the goals that JFK had set forth, but who gets the credit? Not Johnson. He was a far more effective president, but he certainly didn't inspire anyone. Intimidate, yes, but not inspire. So he gets short changed on his accomplishments.
Maybe this is a bad thing, but I'm not so sure. Any movement for change requires a lot of people to act when they otherwise would not, and that requires inspiration. Look at Gandhi, he really didn't do much himself, but he got millions of people to participate along with him. If it were just Gandhi doing those things, India would still be ruled by the British. But when the British saw that his movement was so broad and dedicated, they knew they had lost. So I don't think we should underestimate the need for inspiring leaders.
So who do you back now? I'm stuck with Obama because I can't stand Hillary and Edwards is a joke. Who knows? Maybe I'll vote for McCain.
I think if you want a movement for change you do need someone out in front around whom people can rally. That's not my preferred mode of change, but it seems to be the way broad national movements get started.
I don't think much change is necessary, though, so I don't need a lot of inspiration. I need a man of principles and, to this point, I'm not seeing many of them on display.
Who do I back now? I have no idea.
How are your travels? I've been checking in on your blog from time to time and (I think) you're back nearer home now?
A friend of mine asked me a few weeks ago for whom I would be voting. I told him that we were still several months away from knowing exactly who our options would be so there was no way I could even guess at an answer. But, I said, I was really hoping that Fred got the Republican nod.
Now, with Fred out, I'm disheartened. I don't like any of the remaining Republican candidates. And the Democratic candidates don't inspire me much either.
*sigh*
I had the Romney campaign reach out to me last evening. I have questions, and I think I could be convinced, but I don't know.
Perhaps a blog post with my questions might be worthwhile. Let's see who wants to answer them.
I'm back home now. I brought some weird Indian flu home with me, so I've been relaxing at home mostly. And working a little, of course.
Please take care of yourself. One never knows with illnesses that you get from other places. They can get nasty.
I agree to a limited degree, although I think part of the blame lies with our screwed up staggered primary system. I would've happily voted for Fred–he was definitely the least of all evils IMO, and maybe even an actual good–but I live in Missouri. We don't vote 'til Super Tuesday. I now get to sift for a second choice, maybe a third, and satisfy myself with "the least bad lizard," as Douglas Adams used to say.
But Fred definitely has to take some of the blame. Should've jumped in about a month and a half earlier, when interest was at the peak. And I remember reading a post over at Ace of Spades about the number of appearances the various Repub candidates had made in Iowa about two weeks before the caucus. Fred was in single digits, way below everbody else IIRC. No, you don't have to jump through media hoops or pretend you're something you're not, but dammit, get out there and CONVINCE US that you're preferable to the next guy. A laid back approach that might work in Tennessee isn't necessarily going to carry any water nationwide.
"They can get nasty."
They sure can, but at least I didn't get dengue fever this time. I got that in Cambodia once. I really wouldn't recommend it. Even worse, it keeps coming back. About every 18 months, when you least expect it, BAM! two days of extreme headaches and joint pain mixed with hallucinations, crazy nightmares and a high fever. I'd strongly recommend insect repellent if you are ever in Cambodia.
It is one of my goals in life not to get anything that would fit the phrase "______ fever". That includes Disco Fever and Pac Man Fever.
Is there no cure for the recurring dengue misery?
Chief, I think it would have helped Fred had he gotten in earlier. I just don't know how much earlier he could have gotten in, given the rough timeline we've seen to this point.
"Is there no cure for the recurring dengue misery?"
Nope. On the plus side, the recurrences are supposed get lighter as time goes on. We'll see about that. I'm with you on the Disco Fever. Definitely don't want that.