An Empty Oval Office?
Fred Thompson may be onto something. This week the New York Times puzzled over his “sleepy, unconventional” approach to pursuing the presidency, noting, “Indeed, what has defined his campaign recently has to a large degree been his absence from the trail.”
But the Senator/actor who got his start during the Nixon impeachment may be putting his experience to good use. After the trauma of an administration that tried to do too much, the country was ready for a vacant Oval Office or, failing that, an innocuous president like Gerald Ford and then a low-key Jimmy Carter, who was perplexed by the “national malaise.”
With the high-energy Rudy Giuliani imploding in scandals, laid-back Fred Thompson may be foxier than he seems. As an antidote to Bush’s imperial presidency, he may be showing voters how little he would do to make them anxious or fearful.
His ambling through primary states could be just the ticket for the times. Before the debate, he had a week with only one retail campaign event: a “meet Fred” in the back room of a Southern Carolina barbecue restaurant with no music, food or even chairs. A hundred voters stood for three hours before he arrived for a few remarks and half a dozen questions. Less than 30 minutes later, he left.
At the Florida state convention, other candidates blustered for half an hour or more. Thompson chatted for four minutes, leaving one supporter to say, “We were all hoping he would say something we could get behind, but there was nothing.”
Republicans, his campaign manager sums it up, will have decide whether they want “the Energizer Bunny or a consistent conservative.”
At this rate, if Fred Thompson gets the nomination, he may nod off during debates with Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama and doze all the way to the White House.
If voters want a restful President, he’s their man.
Cross-posted from my blog.
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4 Responses to “An Empty Oval Office?”
[...] Clark An Empty Oval Office? » This Summary is from an article posted at The Moderate Voice » Domestic and international news [...]
Fred is doing it right.
Rudi is a RINO.
Romney is a Mormon.
Huckabee is a Religious Right Darling.
I think he is hoping that in the end the party will return to its roots and turn to Fred Thompson. About the only candidate in the mix without baggage. Thats what makes him attractive.
However He may be failing to take into account this nations fascination with “DRAMA”. Just look at TV nowadays….its full of DRAMA type shows. The younger generation thrives on drama. Where there is no drama they create it.
Perhaps this nation IS ready for Rudi and his Freight Train worth of Baggage and Drama to be president.
Who knows anymore. What was………no longer is….and what is……..would never have been.
Yesterday.
This is a new day.
Thompson would not hit the mark with voters who want a change agenda- he is much too much like the present occupant of the WH, so would probably be pretty easy to defeat. Also, his campaign has fundraising and organizational woes which would make it an easy mark for Obama or Clinton- the likely Democratic nominees. Those campaigns are most afraid of Giuliani, who could compete in traditionally blue states.
Strange, but of all the candidates interviewed by Charlie Rose, Thompson has been the only one leaving me with the impression that he was absent from the interview. He seemed that disengaged.!
He left the impression of an actor reading his lines, while the real Thompson was planning a vacation.