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September 05, 2007
Thompson Cometh
Fred Thompson is announcing for president today (and I, am, like so excited! Squeal!). He's not, however, attending the Republican debate, hosted by Fox News and held in New Hampshire. Instead, he'll run this ad on Fox during the debate:
So is this what the Republican base is looking for? Granted, the guy's got a solid, authoritative air presence that lets the ad scan like something you'd see in the last five minutes of a West Wing episode -- but not an exciting, or inspiring, episode. And Thompson's thumbing of his nose at Fox, New Hampshire, and the millions of Republican voters that would like to hear his views makes him seem a tad insecure, no? This is a guy running largely on the theory that he's tall and tough. But he's too scared to explain his views while standing behind a lectern?
September 5, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
Granted, the ad looks like something you'd see in the last five minutes of a West Wing episode, but Thompson's thumbing of his nose at Fox, New Hampshire, and the Republican voters that would like to hear his views makes him seem a tad insecure, no?
Or a tad drunk.
My guess is he'll have to start making some pilgrimages to NH real soon unless he doesn't plan on competing there at all. I thought I might have heard something to the effect that he may indeed not compete in the Granite State, but I'm sure I must have been imagining that. It's not feasible to just skip New Hampshire, is it?
Posted by: Jasper | Sep 5, 2007 2:05:30 PM
Umm. He smell like aqua velva -- and leather.
-- Larry Craig
Posted by: Klein's Tiny Left Nut | Sep 5, 2007 2:12:05 PM
His head bobbed up and down so rapidly I started to get seasick. Anybody else have that reaction?
Posted by: TomH | Sep 5, 2007 2:25:13 PM
His head bobbed up and down so rapidly I started to get seasick. Anybody else have that reaction?
Tom, I had the same reaction. I guess it's kind of a trivial point, but to the extent that this ad is his "first impression" with millions of people...could someone please get this man a neck brace? I've seen pigeons in Central Park who bob their heads less frequently. If you watch the ad without sound, it looks like his audition tape for "Rain Man."
Posted by: Daniel Munz | Sep 5, 2007 2:40:07 PM
He's not thumbing his nose at Fox in the least if he's buying ad space from them. Aren't political ads required to pay something close to market rate? I'm sure Fox is none too pissed about this.
Posted by: jhupp | Sep 5, 2007 2:54:20 PM
What is with the head jerking? Maybe we should start calling him "Pigeon" Thompson.
Posted by: KCinDC | Sep 5, 2007 3:03:48 PM
true "ben cartwrightian" appeal.
the wise patriarch keeping everyone safe on the ponderosa.
inspiring confidence, patriotism and the nostalgia for
normality.
i thought i heard hooves and the bonanza theme song faintly in the background
... and the squeaky sound of barca~loungers with approving republicans, sniffing buttered popcorn and liking him very much.
i wonder if he has a horse named sky king.
(there was a silent film era cowboy actor, named fred thomson, who had a horse named sky king.)
imagine him debating mrs. clinton.
there is an interesting thought!
and just imagine the dueling dialects of edwards and thompson...eeks!
Posted by: jacqueline | Sep 5, 2007 3:20:14 PM
Careful, Jacqueline, you're sounding like "a leading figure in the Iowa Republican Party":
"Can you imagine what debates are going to be like with great big Andrew Jackson-looking Fred and Hillary on her stubby little legs, stamping her feet?" Thompson, if elected, would be the tallest president ever. Republicans are not just looking for the usual John Wayne-type signifiers as they go about selecting a candidate, but thinking about who can best loom over Hillary Clinton and make her look like a shrill, small, silly little woman. Thompson's booming voice will make her "sound like Madame Defarge."
And does the average Iowa Republican actually think of Andrew Jackson when asked to name a "great big" guy? How many people even know what Andrew Jackson looked like, apart from the $20 bill portrait, which certainly looks nothing like Thompson?
Posted by: KCinDC | Sep 5, 2007 3:29:07 PM
KC,
Andrew Jackson also had the extra manly bona fides of walking around with a couple of slugs in him from duels. He also killed a man in a duel. He was kind of a Fitty Cent on horseback.
Fred has probably been in movies in which toy guns were fired. That's about the extent of the similarities.
Posted by: Klein's Tiny Left Nut | Sep 5, 2007 3:39:10 PM
Now I understand why he didn't want to be on the debate stage: low levels of lighting (as in the ad) and no closeups (as in the ad) do a good job of hiding the cravasses in his turkey neck and the canyons under his eyes.
This guy should have used his 'exploratory' time to do a remake on his face and neck. He just looks ghastly in normal light.
And yeah, the pigeon-peck head movements don't help either.
But his voice is real good. Maybe he should do a radio-only campaign (In 2006, he signed on with ABC News Radio to serve as senior analyst and vacation replacement for Paul Harvey - who was born in 1918 and is still a conservative voice daily on radio), and take us back to the good ol' days of William McKinley and Herbert Hoover!
Here's an idea! A front-porch campaign strategy ala Garfield, McKinley and Harding. Thompson is in their age group, right? His campaign theme song could be "Old Rocking Chair's Got Me".
I'd bet Viagra and Cialis would get into a bidding war for exclusive campaign sponship of F.D. Thompson's "geriatic-activism" appeal for the over 65 vote.
Did you know that Fred has a son (F. D. Thompson, Jr.-Tony) born in 1960? Fred could pick him as VP and set off yet another dynastic Presidency since in 2116 the son would be only 2 years older than GW Bush was when Bush was elected.
Posted by: JimPortlandOR | Sep 5, 2007 3:39:53 PM
optical illusions.
do you think they have found their man?
he makes other republican contenders look shrill also.
we have the decider,
next the inspirer.
hurray for hollywood.
Posted by: jacqueline | Sep 5, 2007 3:42:31 PM
jesus that was freaky. at no point while watching did i see him as a fellow human. some kind of palsy dinosaur. very heavy gw vibes too.
Posted by: jimmy-oh | Sep 5, 2007 3:46:07 PM
Does he not have a Hollywood director to help with the ads by at least saying "Stop jerking your head like that!"? Did they have to tell him that on Law and Order? No wonder he's on his third campaign director even though he hasn't started running yet.
Posted by: KCinDC | Sep 5, 2007 4:07:34 PM
He seems to be trying to gesticulate without using his hands. Somebody must have told him not to use his hands for some reason.
Posted by: Jason G. | Sep 5, 2007 9:14:51 PM
I'm torn. In a sane world, Frederick of Hollywood (h/t digby) would crash and burn in the most hilarious bit of over-reach since Icarus. But so many pundits appear to be fluttering with man-crushes that I have my doubts we'll see anything like an honest portrayal of his campaign: after all, it's already been a personnel trainwreck, and that apparently counts for nothing.
As JimPortlandOR says, he'd do well in an age before television, or radio for that matter. So far he's been the closest thing in recent memory to the pollsters' 'Generic Republican'.
Posted by: pseudonymous in nc | Sep 5, 2007 11:18:03 PM
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