Report: Fred dropping out; Update: Confirmed; Update: What went wrong? Update: The man who stopped Huckmentum
posted at 2:18 pm on January 22, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Ambinder says so and Carl Cameron is reporting it on Fox now. Stand by for updates.
Update: Cameron says it could come tonight or tomorrow. He’s already informed his campaign headquarters, in person.
Update: The website hadn’t been updated in four days. The “Fred File feed” is already offline.
Update: Here’s the official statement via his web guy, Jon Henke:
McLean, VA - Senator Fred Thompson today issued the following statement about his campaign for President:
“Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people.”
Update: The problem in one word: Not laziness but disorganization. Karl’s been doing yeoman’s work at Goldstein’s place lately tracking how Hillary managed to eke out wins against Obama despite the fact that he’s well-funded and light years more charismatic than she is. Read this post and follow the links to the Las Vegas Sun and, especially, to Zak Exley to see what it takes. The media likes sexy/dopey pop-psych narratives about election-eve crying and racial jabs, but organization matters — a lot, a rule Fred always seemed to believe he could ignore by counting on his True Conservative status to carry him through. Again I point you to this Mark Steyn post, or to MM’s tale of how his people couldn’t pull it together to get 500 signatures in Delaware. If the lesson (or one of the lessons) of Ron Paul’s newsletter fiasco was that you can’t trust a guy to manage a country if he can’t manage his own vanity publication, how can you trust a guy who can’t figure out how to get on the ballot in all 50 states?
So I’m chalking it up to disorganization. The alternative, that Bush killed the Reagan coalition dead and left Thompson types inviable no matter how efficiently their machines might run, is simply too terrible to contemplate.
Update: He served up the red meat, says Geraghty, but he didn’t char-grill it.
Update: I fear this news calls for anti-humpbot.
Update: Mitt’s race to lose now in Florida?
Update: I flagged these links after the South Carolina but we’re in obit mode here so let’s bring them back. What’s the legacy of Fred’s campaign? Disappointment and disorganization, yes, but something else too:
The reaction from Marvin Katzen, the McCain supporter who told us earlier in the evening that he was looking for vindication from the 2000 loss to tonight’s win: “Thank God for Fred Thompson.” Katzen credits McCain’s victory to the fact that Thompson split the conservative evangelical vote with Mike Huckabee in Upstate.
“While well behind and tied for third place with Romney, Thompson did make gains,” wrote Thomas Edsall, “and the data suggest that the 6 points Thompson picked up came out of Huckabee’s hide.” Huck’s own people admitted as much. It falls to Romney to finish McCain but Fred can claim a moral victory in having dispatched the demagogue.
Update: If you believe ARG, and you probably shouldn’t, McCain’s lead in Florida is now large enough that picking up Fred’s supporters won’t matter to Mitt.
Update: A wistful eulogy from Spruiell.
Update: Rich Galen, a now former Fred advisor, is pushing his man for veep.
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Hope he didn’t break his back. On a mountain.
fourstringfuror on January 22, 2008 at 4:46 PM
I’ve always loved that quote.
sulla on January 22, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Not only that, but it’s just a matter of time till the Kos Kids et al start quoting Harald’s bigotry as proof that HA caters to antiMormonism. Hard to wash that stain off.
a capella on January 22, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Monica?
fourstringfuror on January 22, 2008 at 4:47 PM
I’m against banning HH - whether real, or a plant from the left, who wishes to have Huckabee as an opponent in the general, it’s like having Huckabee himself in the HA salon.
Entelechy on January 22, 2008 at 4:47 PM
I’m hoping this is the legacy of the Michigan primary. I.e. Romney comes out with a strong deregulation message, lower tax rates on businesses, and investment in science and technology. All sprinkled with Reagan’s beloved optimism.
Spirit of 1776 on January 22, 2008 at 4:48 PM
…not seeing anything on the wire.
MadisonConservative on January 22, 2008 at 4:48 PM
On the Headlines.
fourstringfuror on January 22, 2008 at 4:49 PM
MadisonConservative on January 22, 2008 at 4:48 PM
Cavuto right now
stlpatriot on January 22, 2008 at 4:49 PM
Precisely. Would Mitt’s team do it??
JiangxiDad on January 22, 2008 at 4:49 PM
And yet the only hell the YMCA catches is from Village People blowback.
oof. Lemme rephrase that…
sulla on January 22, 2008 at 4:50 PM
Spirit of 1776 on January 22, 2008 at 4:48 PM
+ 1 to the clear-thinking, fair-minded, and polite Sirit of 1776.
Entelechy on January 22, 2008 at 4:50 PM
I’m with you. But not from the left methinks.
JiangxiDad on January 22, 2008 at 4:51 PM
That’s a weak argument..I never said anything anti mormon or any opinions about mormonism just simple facts. Not opinons.
The only people who disagree with what I said are people who don’t know anything about Christianity or mormonism.
That said I’m sick of debating about mormonism.
My entire agrument was Romney is unelectable in the general election so we shouldn’t run him.
HaraldHardrada on January 22, 2008 at 4:52 PM
Yeah, we can funnel some more money to one of Murtha’s campaign contributors. They’re into science and technology.
Or we could stop with the special interest spending and corporate welfare and let the market invest in tech as they’ve been doing since before the days of Edison.
Hollowpoint on January 22, 2008 at 4:52 PM
Plus the “You’re a cult! No, you’re a cult.” interplay is amusing.
Pablo on January 22, 2008 at 4:52 PM
2008 Presidential Primary Pollster Report Card
bnelson44 on January 22, 2008 at 4:53 PM
So where’s “The Christian Church” edict that identifies LDS as a cult? There’s gotta be a link for that, probably on The Christian Church’s website. Kick it, Harald.
Pablo on January 22, 2008 at 4:54 PM
Boy, its gotten ugly here.
Ignoring that … so who am I supposed to vote for?
I no longer have a clue. I’m rooting for Hillary on the Dem side so I’ll have a reason to go to the polls. At least I could get excited about voting against somebody.
I really can’t believe Fred could fail to get any traction against this particular pack of front-runners, none of whom are particularly conservative, and all of whom are about as squishy as it gets.
It’s like a bad joke. Romney, Guiliani, and McCain? Are the Republicans planning to put up a candidate?
Sigh. Who do I vote for? Seriously.
Professor Blather on January 22, 2008 at 4:54 PM
“facts”. You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.
sulla on January 22, 2008 at 4:54 PM
Wow…he is dead.
So much for the Joker. Looked like it was going to be his first good movie role, too…
MadisonConservative on January 22, 2008 at 4:55 PM
This is a good point. This time in our history is probably even more important than we realize. We will remember this period, I guarantee you that. This site is a bastion of the exchange of ideas, and I don’t want it soiled by bigotry.
JustTruth101 on January 22, 2008 at 4:55 PM
Nah, he’s not a plant. There is, unfortunately, a strain of so-called Christians that thinks exactly like Harald. I’ve run into them many times, and it’s this group Huck is going for.
I do find comfort that in the last two primaries Mitt’s won more Evangelicals than Huckster.
Vanceone on January 22, 2008 at 4:56 PM
Saying mormonism is a cult is just semantics. Look of cult in Webster and I quote “1: formal religious veneration : worship
2: a system of religious beliefs and ritual; also : its body of adherents
3: a religion regarded as unorthodox or spurious”
Wouldn’t that make all religions a “cult” as a formal religious veneration?
Either way it doesn’t affect my vote.
Luckedout on January 22, 2008 at 4:56 PM
HH, your “entire argument” is in the wrong thread. Furthermore, no one at HA rails against Mormons like you do. If you can’t stand the heat, get out of the kitchen.
fourstringfuror on January 22, 2008 at 4:56 PM
Ms. E…..yep….same picks in order here. Not much else to do.
(leaning heavily)
Limerick on January 22, 2008 at 4:56 PM
And failing that, maybe it’s here. Bring the light, Harald, not the heat.
Pablo on January 22, 2008 at 4:56 PM
That’s fine, but our investment in space has had significant effect in our daily lives. I think it is to our advantage to maintain a technological edge in a manner that buttresses national security concerns. You are free to disagree, but I see it as a hand/glove issue for nat/sec.
Spirit of 1776 on January 22, 2008 at 4:57 PM
I heart Fred and Jeri Thompson
myamphibian on January 22, 2008 at 4:57 PM
If you are not sure who to vote for now, go here:
http://www.glennbeck.com/content/articles/article/196/4794/
resqgal on January 22, 2008 at 4:58 PM
I seem to recall you were settling on the lying POS Romney, last time you visited.
JiangxiDad on January 22, 2008 at 4:58 PM
Homeless Fred supporters are mad at me because their ship sank… It’s ok folks,there’s always 2012 for fred to run another half @#$ed campaign.
HaraldHardrada on January 22, 2008 at 4:59 PM
Start here:
http://www.ontheissues.org/default.htm
bnelson44 on January 22, 2008 at 4:59 PM
hararara typed he wouldn’t be a mormom bigot anymore, so perhaps this is how free speech works…we discuss, debate, and see what comes out. I withdraw my vote to ban for now.
JustTruth101 on January 22, 2008 at 4:59 PM
He may be a double agent working for Hillary.
Has anyone ever seen him and James Carville at the same time?
MB4 on January 22, 2008 at 5:02 PM
HaraldHardrada — get real. None of the Thompson supporters are going to go for Huckster Hound. Mitt yes. Rudy — if necessary. McCain — no. The Hound — NEVER!
SunSword on January 22, 2008 at 5:02 PM
Sorry, friend. Romney is the only one I know I won’t be voting for. If it’s him, I’m staying home.
Very helpful. Thanks.
Professor Blather on January 22, 2008 at 5:02 PM
IMO his strategy backfired. He waited too long to declare and couldnt capitalize on his early popularity. I see the same thing happening to Guiliani. I guess Ill have to throw in with Romney.
MBFlyerfan on January 22, 2008 at 5:04 PM
Actually Blather appeared just as HH receded. Got me suspicious. Although I think you are just talented enough to pull it off yourself.
JiangxiDad on January 22, 2008 at 5:04 PM
Jeri Thompson in 2012, anyone?
aero on January 22, 2008 at 5:05 PM
Depends on how important you think the biggest single transformational mistake this century will be. Mitt is the last candidate standing that will veto Shamnesty ‘09. If that passes, we get an instant 10% increase in permanent population - up to 30 million law-breakers who must undergo a strict one business day background and health check. And then 30 million more behind them, because no fence (and we need one!) will stop the next 30 million.
Every other policy/tax/etc. issue can be reversed - this one cannot.
fred5678 on January 22, 2008 at 5:06 PM
Pablo, Professor, and the ones who’re here more often…Voltaire w/b proud of the salon (yes, I know some of you are religiuos and can still appreciate Voltaire).
It doesn’t matter what we know, or don’t about either. We’re not opposed to Huckabee because of religion, but because he uses it as his entire premise for running - just get that into you - we’re electing a CiC, not a RiC.
Your diagnosis.
Quit, then - my prescription.
Heh, I feel exactly like this about Huckabee.
Entelechy on January 22, 2008 at 5:07 PM
This sucks.
TexasDan on January 22, 2008 at 5:07 PM
Huckabee is the ONLY candidate who will prevent amnesty for illegals.
I’m not buying Romney’s claims…he ran a santuary mansion ask Rudy.
HaraldHardrada on January 22, 2008 at 5:08 PM
Suppose HH is Begala?
Entelechy on January 22, 2008 at 5:08 PM
Well Hell, guess I better pull up my FRED sign out of the front yard.
Buzzy on January 22, 2008 at 5:09 PM
Yes, I think he will as well. Does he have the ability to lead us into war and be successful?
JiangxiDad on January 22, 2008 at 5:09 PM
Guess AP will have to go back to kicking the “Godbags” around to draw page views.
TBinSTL on January 22, 2008 at 5:10 PM
Oh, there are legitimate reasons for the government to spend money on R&D- (argueably) NASA, defense projects, etc. But so the auto industry can make better cars? Not so much.
Hollowpoint on January 22, 2008 at 5:10 PM
On all aspects of the immigration issue, Huckabee/McCain are the absolute worst of the bunch. None are perfect, heck, not even good, but these two are the real scumbags.
Entelechy on January 22, 2008 at 5:10 PM
The food sucks tho, at least at my end of the room.
JiangxiDad on January 22, 2008 at 5:11 PM
Wait a second…I NEVER said McShame was good on immigration!
HaraldHardrada on January 22, 2008 at 5:11 PM
Can’t… breathe… laughing… too… hard… can’t… stop… laughing.
Hollowpoint on January 22, 2008 at 5:11 PM
Maybe if we ignore him he’ll go away.
Buttercup on January 22, 2008 at 5:11 PM
If Professor Blather is HH, I’ll take a poison pill.
I agree on the 2nd, but doubt it very much.
Entelechy on January 22, 2008 at 5:13 PM
In fact he has the tancredo plan.
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=26
http://www.mikehuckabee.com/?FuseAction=Issues.View&Issue_id=4
Read it and weep when you realize you have been trying to take down the only candidate who will prevent amnesty.
HaraldHardrada on January 22, 2008 at 5:14 PM
Yes. Especially with Hunter as SecDef and Thompson maybe as a Cheney-like VP.
Anyone who thinks McCain (Kennedy-McCain-Bush-Shamnesty), Rudy (sanctuary for only certain categories of illegal aliens), and Huck (pushed for in-state tuition for illegals and never wrote the required letter to ICE in his last 20 months in office to start 287(g) training) are worthless on illegal immigration.
fred5678 on January 22, 2008 at 5:14 PM
I didn’t say auto industry. I said investing in science and technology. One of the places which would be immediately beneficial obviously, is energy independence…which would affect the auto industry, sure, but also would help us with our national interests. If that’s a no go for you, that’s fine, we’ll simply disagree.
Spirit of 1776 on January 22, 2008 at 5:15 PM
But the coffee in any Voltaire gathering is sublime. There still is such a place in Paris, btw.
Entelechy on January 22, 2008 at 5:15 PM
Good riddance to Fred Thompson and his little buddy, “Jihad Spence”!
Part of Jihad Spence’s impressive accomplishments include sharing nuclear secrets with none other than Syria and Iran.
I’ll especially miss Fred’s strong stance on immigration and Anchor Babies…NOT! If we’re gonna smoke out McCain and Huckabee, we’d better be prepared to do it to the entire field of Re-pubic-ans.
Levinite on January 22, 2008 at 5:16 PM
There’s no need to ban HH. Just stop feeding the troll. It will be more entertaining watching him overheat when nobody will respond to his posts. Don’t feed the troll.
Mallard T. Drake on January 22, 2008 at 5:22 PM
McCain, Rudy, and Huck all have their hearts with the illegal aliens. And they kept that stance in the last debates against Fred and Mitt, who both argued against the three of them. If a candidate campaigns hard for illegals, rewards of residency, etc., for all his years in office, no 11th hour crib sheet of a policy can be believed.
Note McCain, et al, correctly state that their policy is not amnesty, only because it includes a modest fine. But the “Three Amigos” offer a REWARD of residency, in-state tuition, blah blah blah.
fred5678 on January 22, 2008 at 5:22 PM
It had nothing to do with disorganization.
It had everything to do with the face of the Republican Party.
The conservative movement is dead within the Republican Party. We have been hijacked.
Sir Andrew on January 22, 2008 at 5:23 PM
Please. Huck thinks you cannot be a good Christian if you don’t support illegal immigrants. He’ll use the same excuse to legalize them as he used to raise taxes in Arkansas. “It’s not my fault. The Courts made me do it”.
jaime on January 22, 2008 at 5:26 PM
You didn’t, but Romney did. He was specifically promising to revitalize the Michigan auto industry with “investment”.
Hollowpoint on January 22, 2008 at 5:28 PM
Fight crack.
thirteen28 on January 22, 2008 at 5:31 PM
with the dumb moves NASA is pulling on space exploration and global warming, I’d rather see R&D $$ go to private industry, energy independence is a worthy national security goal
your antipathy for Romney is remarkable, he’s the only guy running who has actually turned companies around and made them profitable in the whole bunch…you know..the real world where companies need to make a profit…capitalism..a core conservative value?????
windansea on January 22, 2008 at 5:32 PM
Thompson already said he would not be VP, he would not want a cabinet position. Sounds like he would be Pres or nothing. He as chosen Nothing.
Now, I have no horse in the race. Can’t see any others either. If this country is headed for hell in a hand-basket, I just as soon see a Dem holding the handle.
Jimmybob on January 22, 2008 at 5:34 PM
Physically perhaps.
JiangxiDad on January 22, 2008 at 5:35 PM
Seriously, guys, stop replying to you-know-who. JUST. DON’T. REPLY. I know the temptation is strong. But if you feed the troll, Fred will appear out of nowhere and punch you in the face. He’s got nothing to do now but ride around aimlessly in his spiffy campaign bus, so don’t think he won’t punch you!
aero on January 22, 2008 at 5:36 PM
I’d like more R&D money to be spent by the government so the auto industry can make better cars. That doesn’t necessarily mean that the money has to go to the auto industry, though.
Big S on January 22, 2008 at 5:37 PM
That would be a very important qualification if we lived in a Communist country with a centrally planned economy. But we don’t.
The government doesn’t “invest” money, the government spends money- money taken at gunpoint, not earned.
Hollowpoint on January 22, 2008 at 5:37 PM
And which other industries are deserving of taxpayer money being spent with the specific purpose of benefitting them? Why stop at the auto industry?
Hollowpoint on January 22, 2008 at 5:40 PM
Lud love me! Such conjecturing could drive a man insane
And I’m the one to set this gossip quite to rest
The HaraldHardrada is certainly not me
Indeed! Just as I’m not really the Queen of Spain!
The HaraldHardrada is nothing but a obnoxious pest
No, the reverend Huckabee says that HaraldHardrada’s Chuck Norris in disguise
Who kicks night and day
Doing movie stuff and other nonsense, don’t you know
He’s a Jihadi from Saudi Arabia?
They say he has an enormous mouth
And that he tends to over speak and sometimes chew his own feet
I’ve heard he’s fussy with his religion
And says his prayers in a darkened corner in the nude
Is he Carville? Or just Begala?
At least we know he’s got a hell of a moutha!
Who is the HaraldHardrada?
Percy on January 22, 2008 at 5:41 PM
At least Democrats drop atomic bombs.
Sir Andrew on January 22, 2008 at 5:41 PM
No way
bnelson44 on January 22, 2008 at 5:41 PM
is there any candidate running who has had to answer to private investors and compete in the real world of capitalism and also turned a state government’s finances around?
there can be only one…the Mittwakening
windansea on January 22, 2008 at 5:41 PM
Mitt Romney? That’s my choice?
I just listened to the guy on Glenn Beck’s show (we get it in the afternoons where I am). His first instinct is to send the government in to help the auto industry and all those poor people who didn’t bother to read the fine print on their mortgages and couldn’t manage to figure out the definition of “adjustable”.
That is not a man I want for my President. Not even a little.
Jimmie on January 22, 2008 at 5:43 PM
This Romney argument is a little bit off. At Bain, nobody made him buy out a particular company and turn it around; he and the other executives got the luxury of identifying specific companies that could be made profitable given a few relatively easy fixes, and acquiring only those that met a certain set of standards. Unfortunately for him, that luxury does not exist in the U.S. government. While he may have a good understanding of the economics, there is no evidence that he’d be able to apply them in a situation as constrained as he would be stepping into. If you want a “turnaround artist” who actually has experience doing such things in government, vote Giuliani.
Big S on January 22, 2008 at 5:43 PM
By talk radio?
By the blogs?
No, it was disorganization and the fact that you guys think everyone who disagrees with you is a RINO. And now many of you want to bolt the party. So I say, who is the RINO now?
bnelson44 on January 22, 2008 at 5:44 PM
yep, that’s why I like Romney, he’s an actual capitalist
name the other actual capitalist in the raced on either side
windansea on January 22, 2008 at 5:47 PM
Clearly you skipped the day that they taught what the word “capitalist” means at school.
Hollowpoint on January 22, 2008 at 5:49 PM
I’m talking about the granting of research dollars to institutions such as universities that do the basic research upon which much of our technological development is based. I do academic research myself, and the way it usually works is that someone will propose a project with limited goals (e.g. better fuel formulations, lubricants, or understanding the heat conduction properties of a new material that they have created), and will tack on some ideas as to how certain industries, the military, etc. might use their new developments. Scientists within the field evaluate grant applications in order to make sure money isn;t wasted on dumb ideas. In many cases, even the best ideas are long-shots, and would be a bad investment for private capital, but when they pay off, they tend to do so very well. Also it’s not always easy to see the implications of specific research before it gets started. Therefore, such labs depend on government grants (from the Department of Energy, for example), in order to do it.
Big S on January 22, 2008 at 5:50 PM
If you have to run to the dictionary to look up a four-letter word to try and prove your point, a) you’re engaging in semantics (maybe you should look that one up too) and b) you probably wouldn’t pass a literacy test 60 years ago to earn the right to vote in the first place.
Sir Andrew on January 22, 2008 at 5:53 PM
yep, that’s what capitalists do, and he did it very well
Rudy did a good job in New York, so did Mitt in Mass, and he didn’t have a bazillion dollars in Govt aid after 9/11 like Rudy did. Rudy is smart and tough, a great executive, bbut he has a lot of baggage the dems will exploit, tougher to do against Romney.
windansea on January 22, 2008 at 5:54 PM
He’s a maharajah from Bombay?
No way!
He claims tall ancestors from Norway
And to be an investor in LA
That all he knows, to be Christian
And all for Huckabee to be wishin’
Of all the places, he don’t say
In LA!
If his claims remotely would sound sane
I indeed would be the Queen of Spain.
And you made me laugh tears, beautiful one. Only love,
Entelechy on January 22, 2008 at 5:56 PM
I didn’t call anyone a RINO. Don’t put words in my mouth.
Sir Andrew on January 22, 2008 at 5:56 PM
I hope Hillary lets you continue to be clever after she becomes Empress.
JiangxiDad on January 22, 2008 at 5:57 PM
Pure Enlightenment Grasshopper
myamphibian on January 22, 2008 at 6:01 PM
You do realize, that 9/11 happened just a few short months before the end of Rudy’s tenure as Mayor. He was there for over 7 years before that, cutting taxes, balancing budgets, cleaning up crime, moving people off of welfare, and fighting against the New York Times and a 9:1 Dem:Rep city council to do it. I’ll also not that NYC sends more to the federal government in taxes than it gets in return, so ignoring those post-9/11 funds, your second point is incorrect.
Romney has plenty of baggage too, some of it valid (blatant flip-flopping) and some of which should not matter but does in the eyes of many (is religion). Every politician has baggage, and Rudy’s really no worse than the rest of them.
Big S on January 22, 2008 at 6:03 PM
Sorry, Shirotayama! I didn’t mean to accuse you of stealing - I meant to say it was so good I”M STEALIN’ IT FROM YOU!!!
RushBaby on January 22, 2008 at 6:03 PM
heh
dirty capitalists!
windansea on January 22, 2008 at 6:04 PM
Gee, I wish somebody would give me $37 billion. Unfortunately, I’m not a famous governor’s son.
Big S on January 22, 2008 at 6:06 PM
Exploit? How about the obvious religious bigotry from the left AND THE RIGHT about the guy being a Mormon? Personally, I think Rudy’s baggage (e.g. his “Ross Gellar Syndrome” in regards to marriage) isn’t quite the universal kiss of death that Mitt’s Mormonism plays; so it would seem.
Levinite on January 22, 2008 at 6:07 PM
Me, too. ;-)
aero on January 22, 2008 at 6:08 PM
I feel your pain and I want to help.
According to his rhetoric, Mitt is the closest thing to a true conservative in the race, but he is fake and a political opportunist. He has no moral compass and likely to stray from conservative principles when they are no longer politically convenient.
McCain is a social conservative, is strong on the war but is not particularly fiscally conservative. He has voted 50 times to raise taxes. He is also a strong willed individual, but his picture is in the dictionary next to the word moderate. He marches to the beat of his own drummer and will gladly compromise conservative principles whenever they get in the way of passing legislation — even if the legislation is disastrously bad — McCain-Kennedy, McCain-Feingold, etc. Finally, he was the co-author of the legislation that gave us the Z-Visa for illegals.
Rudy is equally strong on the war as McCain, maybe even stronger because he is not weighted down by a personal experience with torture. Rudy is an extremely competent executive and will make the difficult call when necessary to keep us safe. Rudy is by far and away the strongest fiscal conservative in the race. He believes in smaller government and lower taxes, because he actually made it work in NYC. He is a little quirky, his personal life is a mess and he has been seen in drag (not as a fetish, but as a joke). However, he has always been quirky and it has never impaired his ability to get results. His positions on social issues are not Paleo-conservative, rather they are nuanced. Opposed to abortion, but pro-choice. Opposed to gay marriage, but pro-civil unions. Believes the second gives an individual right, but subject to restrictions based upon compelling state interests. However, most of these issues are beyond legislation and in the realm of the SCOTUS and on that, Rudy shares a strict constructionist philosophy with Scalia, Alito and Roberts and has promised to appoint similar justices. He has even appointed similar lawyers such as Ted Olson to his judicial advisory board to telegraph to the voters what his nominations would look like — and from a conservatives viewpoint, they look good. On immigration the sanctuary city meme is nonsense, don’t listen to it. Rudy can be plenty tough on illegal immigrants, just ask the Haitians. He has promised to secure the border and identify all non-citizens. However, he doesn’t promise to deport or force by economic compulsion 12 to 30 million illegals back to Mexico. That is unrealistic and would be cruel as it would destabilize the Mexican economy making matters far worse. No, he has made no statement on the issue, but there seems to be some path to citizenship in store for some. But then again, that too is in line with Fred. So, with Rudy you get a guy who is strong on national security, crime (of course), fiscal conservatism and is an extremely energetic and competent executive. However, you get a guy with quirks who may not share all of your social conservative ideals. However, he is no where near as bad as some on these boards portray him and he has committed to the right kind of judges which is the most important factor on that front anyway.
If I were you, and I am totally unbiased, I would go with Rudy.
tommylotto on January 22, 2008 at 6:08 PM
And just what the hell is Carl Cameron doing reporting this before Fred makes it official?!
Can’t the man have enough respect to let Fred make his own announcement?
Sir Andrew on January 22, 2008 at 6:08 PM
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