Presidential Nominee Profile #1--Fred Thompson

"Republicans need someone like Ronald Reagan, someone everyone knows, someone everyone likes, someone who is conservative and – most importantly – someone who would hold the presidency for eight years. What qualifications would such a candidate need? He would have to be someone who is very articulate and convincing in front of the camera, someone who exudes confidence, someone who naturally appeals to women voters, someone familiar with the news media, someone who has kept very much in the public eye and yet someone who has been away from the mess in Washington for awhile.

Is there such a man? Yes, there is: Fred Thompson. He has been consistently conservative on social policy and his help in getting John Roberts confirmed as Chief Justice to the Supreme Court was critical. Thompson has a record in the Senate and he voted conservative, according to the American Conservative Union, eighty-six percent of the time."--Bruce Walker

I have to say that when I first heard about Fred Thompson's possible run for the White House I wasn't that impressed. I thought, first of all I don't know how impressive this guy is, and if I'm going to get behind an ideal guy who doesn't have a chance I'd get behind Duncan Hunter.

That has all changed for me. I'm not one of these people predicting that he's our next Reagan but I like what I'm seeing. First of all, to know Fred Thompson is to love him, the more I hear, the more I like. Second of all, the fact that he is #2 and even #1 in some polls and has already gotten the backing of some influential people shows that his viability is real. In fact, I will go out on a limb even before he has declared and predict that this race is now his to lose. I think its very likely that Fred Thompson will be the Republican nominee for President in 2008.

WHO IS FRED THOMPSON?

Personal:

--born August 19, 1942 in Sheffield, Alabama
--married Sarah Lindsey in 1959 at age 17
--had 3 children with Sarah, 1 whom died in 2002 from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs
--divorced from Sarah in 1984 after 25 yrs. of marriage, it was reportedly amicable and according to sources she will help with his campaign for president
--married Jeri Kehn in 2002
--had 2 children with Jeri, one just born in 2006
--he has non-Hodgkin's lymphoma but is in remission, it is reportedly indolent, and the lowest of the three grades of NHL, he has said it should not affect his life expectancy
--is a member of the Church of Christ

Schooling:

--Florence State College
--Memphis State University--Degree in philosophy and political science
--Vanderbilt University Law School--JD Degree
--admitted to the State Bar of Tennessee

Law & Political Career:

--assistant U.S. attorney from 1969 to 1972
--campaign manager for Republican U.S. Senator Howard Baker's successful re-election campaign in 1972
--co-chief counsel to "Watergate Committee" from 1973 to 1974
--maintained law offices in Nashville and Washington, D.C. for the rest of the 70's
--special counsel to Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander in 1980
--special counsel, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1980-1981
--Special counsel to the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence 1982
--member of the Tennessee Appellate Court Nominating Commission 1985-1987
--worked as a corporate lobbyist in Washington, D.C. from 1975-1992
--elected in landslides to be the U.S. Senator from Tennessee in 1994 and 96

Acting Career:

Most well known for his role in the movie Die Hard 2 and the TV show Law and Order. To see the rest of his acting career go here.

Where he stands on the issues:

--against abortion
--against same-sex marriage
--for school vouchers
--for abstinence education
--for drilling in Anwar
--for Presidential line-item veto
--against gun-control
--for national missile defense system
--for personal social security accounts
--for tax cuts
--strong supporter of the war on terror
--against the current immigration bill, for securing the borders first, for a comprehensive post on his immigration stance, go here
My only 2 qualms:
--supported McCain/Feingold
--voted yes on funding the National Endowment for the Arts (I guess we have to give him this one since he's been an actor)
For a comprehensive list of where Fred Thompson stands on the issues, go here!!

My favorite thing about Fred that I have seen so far is his willingness to be candid and not nauseatingly, politically correct. He has supported Scooter Libby without hesitation, he took on Michael Moore and he seems to have the same core today that he had 30 years ago.

There are a plethora of articles and blog posts out there on Fred Thompson. I have yet to encounter a conservative in the blog world that isn't impressed with him. Below are just some of the many pieces on him.

Sources:
My previous posts on Thompson
Patrick's long list of Fred posts
Astute Blogger posts on Fred
Conservapedia
Wikipedia
Hawks for Thompson
The Next Reagan?
Key Bush Backers rally to Fred Thompson
Peter Robinson interview with Fred
Republican Thompson to meet with Thatcher

Support for Fred Thompson:
I'm with Fred
The Fred Thompson Report
His articles for National Review Online
Maine for Fred Thompson

Winning America Back with Sarah Palin, JC Watts and Fred Thompson!!

I had a great time at the Independence Events Center this past Saturday at the Winning America Back Conference!

I got to hear some great speakers:

~~Jeri Thompson
~~Fred Thompson
~~Marjorie Dannenfelser (President of the Susan B. Anthony list)
~~Kris Kobach (Constitutional Scholar)
~~JC Watts
~~Sarah Palin

Also, both Darla Jaye from 980 KMBZ and Chris Stigall spoke and did question and answer sessions. I have heard Chris speak many times and am a huge fan and am always impressed. Yet, I had never really heard Darla Jaye much, and I have to say I really enjoyed her.

Fred Thompson did a better job than I expected and I really enjoyed getting to see him in person. He reminds me of Dick Cheney with his dry wit and he was very endearing and had great things to say.

Kris Kobach really blew me out of the water. He has been so demonized by the left (which is what the left does when they are scared of someone) that I didn't know what to expect. He knew exactly what he was talking about (without a teleprompter) and he was so captivating that you enjoyed every minute of it. I hope Kansas is smart enough to vote him in as their next Secretary of State.

I am such a huge fan of JC Watts that I was really looking forward to getting to hear him speak. However, I was fortunate enough to snag a VIP ticket the day before the conference which enabled me to get my picture with Sarah Palin. I was ecstatic, but that ended up meaning I was in line for that while Watts was speaking. I got to hear the end of his speech and the Q&A, but it was worth it to meet Sarah and the 1st Dude and to get my picture with her.

Sarah Palin did a great job in her speech and was so encouraging. One of her best lines:

“You don’t need an office. You don’t need a title. And, you don’t need a TelePrompter to make a difference.”

Related Links:
~~Thousands Line Up to See Sarah Palin in Kansas City
~~Fred Thompson on Obama: When His True Thoughts & Feelings Come Out, That Concerns Me More Than Anything Else (Video)
~~Republican Congressional Candidate Stephen Broden: “Michael Steele, You Are Wrong!” (Video)
~~Sarah Palin: You Don’t Need an Office, Or a Title, Or a TelePrompter To Make a Difference (Video)
~~Winning America Back Conference With Sarah Palin
~~Pastor Stephen Broden on Michael Steele: “Michael Steele is Wrong.”
~~Key to U.S. prosperity is energy security, Palin says during speech in Independence
~~I will post pics of the event soon

Bush and Presidential Nominees Coming to KC for VFW

President Bush, Fred Thompson, John McCain, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama are all coming to KC next week. They are coming for the six-day national VFW convention that will be held at Bartle Hall. It will run from August 18th to the 23rd. President Bush's date to speak is still to be announced but Hillary Clinton and John McCain will speak on August 20th and Fred Thompson and Obama will speak on August 21st. I will be out of town but it wouldn't have mattered since the convention won't be open to the public.

Also, speaking will be my Governor Matt Blunt and our new KC Mayor, Mark Funkhouser.

The VFW last met in KC in 1999 when Bill Clinton was President. Before that it goes all the way back to 1931 when Harry Truman was a judge and was the general chairman of the convention.

The VFW makes up an important voting block since 91% of veterans vote in presidential elections and when you combine them with their families they make up approximately 75 million Americans.

The VFW members will also get free tours of our World War I Museum which is the nation's only World War I Memorial and Museum.

Source:
KC Star--Bush and presidential wannabes to address VFW convention at Bartle Hall

Mike Meets Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson came to Mike's neck of the woods yesterday and Mike got to meet him and ask a question. Check out his excellent post. He also was interviewed by a local news station, to read the article go here!

Thursday's Thoughts

--I loved the above cartoon about McCain. It says it all for me!!

--Patrick had a ton of good posts yesterday. I am going to link to several of them. The first is his shocking find that explains A LOT about the nature of Fred Thompson's campaign. It also makes the critics of Fox News for not giving Fred enough coverage look pretty silly.

--Duncan Hunter endorses the Huckster. Unfortunately, I was warned this might be coming down the pike. The Hunter campaign guy that I had on the radio show told me that the only candidate he had favorable things to say about were Huckabee. I think this was a huge mistake. First, Huckabee probably won't get the nomination so he just shot himself in the foot for being on the short list for VP. Second, Hunter stood for core conservative principles. To endorse Huckabee violates everything he stood for and ran on. It is a huge disappointment for me.

Also, Hunter's reasons for not supporting Romney and Rudy were pretty ridiculous. When the campaign guy said he had some bad news about both of them I braced myself for some really negative news only to be left scratching my head.

--Many think Huckabee is done, I'm afraid to get my hopes up just yet. Patrick found 2 very enlightening articles on him that were very good. One quote that I found very striking was this one:

"He's very good at what he does, but beyond the surface glitter of his rhetoric, there's no there there. This is not a man who can (or would want to) discuss the finer details of Kirkean conservatism; even though he is a seminary-trained preacher, he has little patience for, nor interest in, the complexities of theology that underlie Christian social thought."

This is the exact impression I get of him. Even on religious issues he doesn't seem to have any depth. Many pro-Huckabee people site his views on creationism. I applaud him for those but what was astonishing is when he was grilled on his views he started to back down and waver. It was almost as if he didn't know for sure exactly what he believed, this coming from a preacher who should be an expert in the field. Yikes!!

Also, when you see that he sided with the liberal wing of the Southern Baptists you can see that there isn't any there there.

--The group accusing Bush of Iraq lies is a Soros funded group, shocker!! Gateway Pundit has an excellent post and round-up of it all.

--I'm done with Laura Ingraham. I left this comment at Wordsmith's blog:

I've gotten to the point where I can't listen to Laura Ingraham anymore. I stopped listening to her for awhile because of her incessant Bush bashing. I decided to give her another chance the other day, I kid you not, I was listening for less than 5 minutes and she started trashing Bush. Nope, I'm done with Ingraham for a very long time, probably for good. Its not even that she's bashing people I really like such as Bush and Rudy but she is just so negative.

The reason Rush and Sean Hannity are so popular is because they are so optimistic and positive. Who wants to listen to someone who constantly trashes good people on their own side? I now put her a distant second after Michael Savage as a negative talk show host that I have no desire to listen too.

Also, you hit the nail on the head when you said that she doesn't speak for me. Exactly!! I was actually shocked when Rush promoted her book about what the people want. To me it is a book written by a whiner who has no positive solutions.

She came here to KC a couple of months ago and someone tried to give me free tickets. I let them know I had no desire to go see her.

The Case Against Mike Huckabee

Sorry for the lack of visiting lately at everyone's blogs. It is Christmastime and I'm busy with Christmas Cards, baking cookies, running errands, finishing up school, planning my daughter's birthday party and the list goes on.

For those of you who want to hear about another candidate besides Rudy, it looks like the Hunter campaign responded to my email and I may be able to interview a representative of his on the radio show in the near future.

If anyone has any Fred Thompson contacts let me know, I would love to interview someone from his camp as well.

I hate to be a broken record but here is another article that does a good job of showing why Huckabee would be a disaster. I don't agree with some of what Bainbridge says but he makes a lot of good points. His conclusion was right on the money:

In sum, Mike Huckabee may be a “different” kind of Republican. He’s also the wrong kind.

Happy New Year 2011!

Some of my favorite posts from 2010!!

1) A Conversation with President George W. Bush in Kansas City!!

2) Lunch with Condoleeza Rice!

3) 2010 Election Victories!

4) Women in the Civil War!

5) Ronald Reagan's Faith

6) I Heart Paul McRyan!!

7) Two Rock Star Republican Governors!!

8) Inspirational Woman #1--Liz Bohannon!

9) 2010 Clay County Republican Lincoln Days!

10) Winning America Back with Sarah Palin, JC Watts and Fred Thompson!! and the Pics

11) A Review of "I Am Nujood, Age 10 and Divorced"

12) Taking Our Country Back w/ Sean Hannity and Karl Rove in KC!

13) Sudan--Global Day of Prayer!

14) Remarkable Women Profile #1--The Iron Lady--Margaret Thatcher!

15) Scott Brown makes history-wins U.S. Senate Seat in MA 52% to 47%


Previous Posts:
2009
2007

Winning America Back--Part 2-Pictures!

Darla Jaye does Q&A with Fred Thompson!


Marjorie Dannenfelser (President of the Susan B. Anthony list)


Kris Kobach (Constitutional Scholar)


Chris Stigall (710 KCMO Talk Show Host)


JC Watts


Darla Jaye (980 KMBZ Talk Show Host)


Singer Jon David


Sarah Palin


Chris Stigall with Q&A for Sarah Palin


Some of my friends and I at the conference!

ConservaLib Consulting

I have said many times that my liberal buddy James needs to apply to be a writer at Saturday Night Live. He comes up with the most hilarious skits and his latest one is no exception. It is a must read and I guarantee you tears while laughing it is so funny.

(*Disclaimer--The following is just a comedy skit and does not necessarily reflect our real comments or thoughts. Also, James' language is "colorful" so you've been warned.)

Here is the beginning of his post:

"With such a difficult and challenging election cycle upon us, politicians are scrambling to find experienced campaign consultants to help navigate the treacherous road to the White House.

The current candidates have found the consultation of established political pundits lacking in creativity and disconnected from the true concerns of the average American.

To fill the void of insightful political punditry, two overwhelming intelligent, immensely creative, and at times violent bloggers have joined together to form a new political consulting firm.

ConservaLib Consulting and Public Relations Inc., founded by Liberal blogger, James Manning and Conservative blogger, Dee Vantuyl, brings a fresh approach to political consulting and public relations manipulation. Between them, they have assaulted Presidents, fought with the press and James Manning has even gotten his ass whooped by the President’s mother.

This unique experience enables us to provide insight to a campaign that other consulting firms cannot. The proof is in the results of candidates who didn’t follow our advice."

He goes on to share how he and I critique the following candidates: Kucinich, Biden, Ron Paul and Fred Thompson. Make sure to read the entire post by going here!

One of our previous adventures--LMC Ambassador/Butt Kicker