Fred Thompson and John Edwards recently gave twin speeches that consisted pretty much of whining that it’s too haaard to run for president. What a surprise.
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UPDATE: Dear Lord, there’s another website elevating this loser to mythical status? Don’t get me wrong; I appreciate their stated intentions, but the cult stuff, even after their hero endorsed McCain, is getting to be too much. Also note: it’s a little vague as to whom exactly these people are, but you can still donate! Lovely. (Hat tip: Try 2 Focus)
Conservative Standards 
And where exactly is the whining? Both raise a valid point that in the focus today isn’t on the issues. There is a lack of focus on substance. If there was a focus on and in-depth discussion of the issues instead of 30 second soundbytes is there any doubt that McCain and Obama wouldn’t be where they are in this race?
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In other words, if the voters had bothered to pay attention, it woulda been obvious that The Exalted Fred Most High was the only choice?C’mon. Thompson made a big point about campaigns being “dog & pony shows” that were beneath him (gotta love that ego!). He took a gamble by doing things differently, and it didn’t pay off. Nobody forced him not to follow McCain & Romney’s campaign models.By contrast, you don’t hear Giuliani pouting that the Florida strategy failed. In fact, he even poked fun at himself over it on Saturday Night Live.I’m honestly not trying to dislike Thompson. I’d much rather have him than McCain. But every time I’ve tried to warm up to him, he finds new ways to come across as petty, arrogant, and dishonest.
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He did take a gamble on new media but Fred’s point was that the “dog and pony” show doesn’t focus on the issues that are important. Even though the gamble didn’t pay off it showed how uninformed the average voter really is because they let the media decide for them instead of doing the research themselves. Despite that I would even venture that it wasn’t the strategy that failed it was the failure to get Bill Lacy on board earlier than August 1 as campaign manager. As for the Thompson Coalition it’s about promoting the values and ideals put forth by Fred. Similar to the purpose of the Reagan Coalition and what the Gipper stood for.
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I’d agree that they let the media shape the narratives of the candidates – to a degree. But certainly not to such a great degree that a strong candidate with a sufficient organization and the willingness to get his message out to as many people as humanly possible & in as many venues as possible couldn’t have overcome it.And y’know what? If Thompson’s comments in the above story were isolated, I’d probably agree with your read of them. But taken in the context of Fred’s propensity to be a pompous you-know-what everywhere he went, they come across instead as the latest in a string of sour grapes.
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