Fred Thompson bombs in New Hampshire

[ck4829]

When Fred Thompson made his debut on the presidential stage here this week, he left some Republicans thinking he needs more work before his nascent campaign matches the media hype it's gotten in advance.

The former Tennessee senator with the baritone drawl showed up Thursday in New Hampshire, the site of the first primary voting, and gave a speech that lasted only nine minutes, skipping over hot-button issues such as Iraq and immigration to invoke platitudes about freedom and strength.

He left more than a few Republicans disappointed.

The star of the TV series "Law and Order" had won cheers the day before in South Carolina, another early-primary state, in his first trip there since he'd signaled that he'll soon jump into the race for the Republican presidential nomination. But South Carolina and Tennessee are neighbors, while New Hampshire tests whether Thompson's got more than regional appeal. So far, the answer's quite unclear.

...

``It was short,'' said Richard Heitmiller of Nashua. ``He's got a nice voice. But there was nothing there. He's for apple pie and motherhood. He's going to have to say what he's for.''

``People want to get to know him. He hasn't been here, and he gives a nine-minute speech,'' he said dismissively. As Thompson exited, people started making their way to the doors midway through a reception.

http://www.mcclatchydc.com/homepage/story/17514.html

[spanone]

1. america will learn that fred is an empty vessel.

[Jade Fox]

3. I agree......

and I love that he is the GOP's great white hope right now. :rofl:

[Warpy]

6. His talent is schmoozing small groups of people

an repeating rehearsed lines, whether as a lobbyist or on screen.

That's not quite enough to carry him through a presidential campaign.

[GoneOffShore]

11. I misread vessel as weasel

Of course, both are correct.

Not meaning to insult weasels, of course.

[Phredicles]

2. I see he's not sweating his reputation for laziness too much.

[mainer]

4. He needs a scriptwriter to make him sound intelligent.

All most people know about him is that he makes a convincing judge on Law and Order.

[napi21]

5. All that media hype may be his downfall!

For a couple of months now, the media has been pushing Freddie as the Pubs salvation candidate! I haven't heard ONE derogatory word about him anywhere but here on DU. They've built up this superstar image that ANYONE, let alone lazy Freddie, would find it almost impossible to live up to!

[ljm2002]

7. Terrific!

I just love it that he bombed in NH, let's hope it is a sign of things to come.

The thing is, the Republican field so far is just dismal. Which of course is great!

When I watched the Democratic debate the other night, it was heartening to see the strength of the field and how knowledgeable all of the candidates were. While at the last Republican debate, you had candidates scrambling all over themselves to let people know they don't believe in evolution. What a bunch of throwbacks! And the best part is, at long, long last people are starting to get wise to this bunch of pansy-ass shills who can throw our sons and daughters into the maw of Hell without a second thought, as long as they and their cronies continue to enrich themselves.

[Bitwit1234]

8. Ought to bring his Deputy Dawg cartoons

[TwilightGardener]

9. Lay off! It's HARD WORK being a Preznit candidate!

One would think that in order to counteract the "laziness" charge, he'd go overboard to give New Hampshirites their money's worth to prove it wrong. Instead, he lived up to his reputation. I'm sure he feels he can just cut some You-Tube videos and go on Fox News, instead of spending all that time in town-hall meetings and the like. But that shit doesn't fly in NH, thank God.

[Gabi Hayes]

10. Two words:

Ronald Reagan

three words

Ronald Reagan media

be afraid

be very afraid

[TwilightGardener]

13. Honestly, the more they promote that comparison, the more damage they

seem to be doing to him. I was no fan of Reagan, but this guy isn't him, and folks in NH sure found that out. I don't mind that hype at all--keep it going. It will only hurt him, in the end.

[Gabi Hayes]

15. it's early in the game, and I don't think Iowa/NH matter anymore

That's why they pushed up all the other primaries

my prediction is this: it's still Giuliani's to lose, but the way the M$M is beginning to actually report the odd negative story about him gives me pause; I didn't think, originally they'd give ANY play to negative tales, just as they ignored everything salient about Bush in 1999/2000. things have changed a little, and with the advent of Thompson who's being SLAVISHLY, one-sidedly praised by both the M$M and most pugs, I wonder if the pendulum is starting to swing towards the Creature from the Black Lagoon

be assured that the MEDIA is the real opponent, and whichever pug gets the nod will get an almost free ride in the M$M


democracy's only hope is that enough real news makes it from the internets onto TV, which is the only reality for the vast majority of news consumers

"And THAT's the way it is"

[TwilightGardener]

16. LOL! Love the Wal-Mart fashion model!

I agree that the media will "anoint" the way they always do, but I have already read some negative stuff on this guy--he is one case, I think, where the hype doesn't help. I could be wrong, and often am--but that's my instinct with Thompson. Rudy has taken a little bit of a beating, but he seems poised for a comeback of sorts, now that his abortion position is out there--still his to lose, as you say, and I think he still has the best shot with Independents. My money was on Romney, until the dog story broke--I think that will really hurt him. I actually think the early primaries make the first states even MORE important--there's no way to either halt or recover the "big mo" (depending if one loses or wins) in such a short span of time. Whoever wins the earlies, I'm predicting, will sweep the rest.

[Gabi Hayes]

17. It's fun to prognosticate, yes?

And too early to tell at this point.

remember who was the dem frontrunner, almost a shoo-in at this point last time?

what happened to him

and what caused his implosion?

that's right...the media.

one of the main reasons was that he really took them on, and they destroyed him

it's an almost unwinnable situation, unless you have lots of time, and even MORE money

smart, rich republican fascists learned that lesson very early on, starting with William Simon in the early 70s, when he realized that the media played a large role in exposing Nixon for the deranged criminal everybody (except the american people) knew.

he's the one responsible for the rise of the right wing think tanks, which, in turn, were the engine behind the "liberal media" meme, which has taken hold, perhaps never to be dislodged, over the last thirty five years

it took BILLIONS and billions of dollars to do it, but they're as perseveraant as was Nixon, and just as crazy, and look how well it's paid off for them. they've turned a semi-democracy into an almost-fascist state, and unless we can dig in and stop the momentum, time's running out

and the media is their major weapon

I'm scared shitless



http://www.press.uillinois.edu/f99/mcchesney.html

Robert McChesney argues that the media, far from providing a bedrock for freedom and democracy, have become a significant antidemocratic force in the United States and, to varying degrees, worldwide.

Rich Media, Poor Democracy addresses the corporate media explosion and the corresponding implosion of public life that characterizes our times. Challenging the assumption that a society drenched in commercial information "choices" is ipso facto a democratic one, McChesney argues that the major beneficiaries of the so-called Information Age are wealthy investors, advertisers, and a handful of enormous media, computer, and telecommunications corporations. This concentrated corporate control, McChesney maintains, is disastrous for any notion of participatory democracy.

[mitchum]

19. Exactly...also, the one trick pony "acting talents" of Thompson and Reagan...

are different. Thompson is able to project a grumpy, dour quality. Reagan's schtick was sunny upbeat optimism. That type of bamboozling is necessary in order to mask the true draconian nature of gop policy. There's a reason that Cheney wasn't at the top of the ticket...

[coco77]

12. Pat Buchanan is now on..

trying to portray him as a miracle worker.

[TwilightGardener]

14. Pat supports a neocon? Odd. What miracles did he work?

[Poiuyt]

18. Who needs a good speech when you smell like cigar smoke?