PatHMV wrote an interesting post for Stubborn Facts about Fred Thompson (and Al Gore). Thompson wrote an article yesterday for Pajamas Media, in which he thanks the ‘online community’ for its support and in which he appeals for, yes, bipartisanship.
In his post, PatHMV contrasts Thompson(‘s post) with Gore(‘s book).
Those of you who know me from Centerfield know that I’ve long said that political centrists should focus on improving the tone and attitude of debates in this country, not developing substantively “centrist” policies. Ideology itself is not bad, when it reflects real, substantive differences of opinion between significant segments of the population. Mr. Thompson recognizes that the problem is fundamentally not with Washington, but with the people who send the politicians to Washington. Moreover, he realizes that the problems will not be solved simply by insisting that we give up our strongly held opinions (by “putting aside” abortion or gay rights or the other so-called “divisive” issues).
The solution is not to paper over those differences but to acknowledge them… that is, to acknowledge that other people in our country don’t all think like we do, that your differences with your political opponents may be based on honest differences of opinion, not just political opportunism.
Mr. Thompson recognizes our problems for what they are, in an optimistic light and with some knowledge, obviously, of the history of partisanship in this country. In so doing, he stands in stark contrast to Al Gore, who of late seems to have take courses at the Jimmy Carter school of national malaise.
Compare the excerpt from Gore’s book and Mr. Thompson’s PJM post. In reality, both are similar in substance. Both acknowledge the power of “new media” on the internet and its capacity to improve the health of public discourse in this country.
The main message is the same, but brought through completely different messagers. Thompson writes for Pajamas Media, Gore “gives us the message through the oldest of media, a book, with the excerpt being delivered from a quintessential old-media source, Time Magazine.” Furthermore, Pat argues, the tone is different: Thompson inspires, Gore lectures. Gore sounds like a Carter or a Dukakis, not like a Reagan or like a Clinton.
Pat makes some good points, having said that, I do not quite see how anyone can call Thompson a centrist. Thompson is, by all accounts, an American conservative. He might not be extremely conservative, he might be open to bipartisanship, but that does not, in my book, make one a centrist. A centrist is a person who favors centrist policies. Thompson is, perhaps, a moderate conservative. A moderate conservative is a conservative… with an open mind. He or she adheres to a conservative ideology, but is willing to listen to ‘the other side’ and, if necessary, to comprmise.
Anyway, I do agree with Pat’s view on Thompson: Thompson uses the new media in a great way. He’s able to directly appeal to voters. This is a major strength and, if exploited, will help him to win the Republican nomination.
Cross posted at my own blog.
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