Are you ready for the Thompson/Edwards debate?
posted at 9:34 am on March 6, 2008 by Allahpundit
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Symbolically, it’s Fred’s cowboy hat (he only wears his own, you know) versus that winter coat Silky’s hypothetical little match girl can never seem to afford. Is it a debate, though? The description only refers to them “speaking” but Tony Snow will be there as “moderator,” which I assume means mano a mano. They’ve got plenty in common to talk about — personally, that is — but on federal spending and the economy, which is what this event will presumably focus on? Not so much, not so much.
The Manufacturers’ Association of Northwest Pennsylvania is mixing a Democrat and a Republican again for its annual event.
Democrat John Edwards and Republican Fred Thompson, both of whom failed to gain traction in the 2008 presidential race, will be the featured speakers at the association’s 103rd annual event on June 18.
In June 2007, the association booked at Tullio Arena the husband-and-wife team of Democratic strategist James Carville and Republican adviser Mary Matalin…
Adding to the political flavor, former White House Press Secretary Tony Snow will moderate.
Anyone going? We simply must have video. Exit question: Whose southern folksiness will prove more authentic to the blue-collar audience? Don’t underestimate the effect of Silky peppering every other sentence with a reference to his father being a mill worker.
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I disagree with sparrowblog. Edwards is a fine actor – he just doesn’t have any movie experience.
Slublog on March 6, 2008 at 9:37 AM
Silky’s dad was a millworker? Damn, if he’d only let that cat out of the bag he’d be wrapping up the nomination right about now.
BuzzCrutcher on March 6, 2008 at 9:41 AM
And they aren’t interested in VP? Yeah right.
Pay-per-view event.
(I never should have promised Allah I would not use the ‘g’ word again….it is fighting to be free)
Limerick on March 6, 2008 at 9:42 AM
I suspect the Manufacturers Association of NW PA consists more of the owners and management that Silky’s kind like to sue, rather than line workers. His reception there might be as chilly as that poor coatless little girl.
BuzzCrutcher on March 6, 2008 at 9:44 AM
lol buzz, :)
wish this would be televised.
trailortrash on March 6, 2008 at 9:45 AM
I have no problems with Right-Said-Fred, but I honestly, sincerely, would like to offer Silky Pony a nice hot cup of SHUT THE HELL UP, and then have him ride off into the sunset once and for all!
pilamaye on March 6, 2008 at 9:46 AM
Saaaweet! Unfortunately, John’s schtick will probably find an adoring audience, whilst Fred’s straight talk and fact-based analysis will simultaneously confuse and bore.
He’s still the man. When I first saw this, I thought the VP candidates had been announced, and I was quite excited.
joewm315 on March 6, 2008 at 9:47 AM
Is it just me or does it look like Fred could just take one swipe and be done with this pansey silky poney?
Winebabe on March 6, 2008 at 9:49 AM
Don’t underestimate the effect of Silky peppering every other sentence with a reference to his father being a mill worker.
Don’t underestimate the sons of mill workers flipping Silky the bird.
Saltysam on March 6, 2008 at 9:51 AM
In my case, the grandson of a paper mill worker.
Bigfoot on March 6, 2008 at 9:52 AM
I’d rather it was between Elizabeth and Jeri. For a couple of reasons(Groucho leer and cigar waggle).
a capella on March 6, 2008 at 9:55 AM
Somewhere, FrankJ’s head just asploded.
doubleplusundead on March 6, 2008 at 9:59 AM
Silky is purtier than most of the actresses Fred’s worked with.
Sugar Land on March 6, 2008 at 9:59 AM
Hmm…Erie is a bit of a drive, but that would be interesting to see.
doubleplusundead on March 6, 2008 at 10:01 AM
I expect the exchange to be cordial. Neither is being seriously considered for the VP slot so the gloves will likely stay on.
natesnake on March 6, 2008 at 10:09 AM
This is interesting.
I received a rather forward looking letter from Friends Of Fred 08 yesterday – I’d donated to his campaign and, I suppose, am on their mailing list.
Anyway, I’ll have to get it and re-read it because it sounded as if he was continuing or starting another campaign.
Or, as speculated above, he’s gunning for the vp.
BowHuntingTexas on March 6, 2008 at 10:09 AM
That reminds me…I wonder what George Allen does in the winter, now? I have this picture of him hanging around the men’s grill at the country club in Arlington, having lunch, and playing gin, pounding bourbon and water until he passes out in the leather chair. Sleeping through dinner.
Jaibones on March 6, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Are you kidding? Any southerner who has to keep reminding you that he is a southerner, is not a southerner. Thompson himself worked in manufacturing, yet he doesn’t have to remind his audience every few minutes that he’s still one of the people. He just is.
Thompson will wipe the floor with Edwards’ finely-coiffed pate.
fourstringfuror on March 6, 2008 at 10:10 AM
Is Fred Thompson that desperate for attention and a speaking fee that he will share the stage with a two time loser like John Edwards? Edwards is toast politically now. He got nowhere in 2004 when he ran for president, he lost for VP in 2004 and he whipped in 2008. Why give the man a platform? All Edwards is going to do is repeat the same cliches about his being the son of a mill worker and he rose from dirt poor poverty to be the trial lawyer millionaire with the great houses. Why not Edwards just slink on back to Mayberry where he go to Wally’s filling station and have some pop with Goober while his SUV gets filled up with super premium. Maybe on his way home, John can go over to the courthouse and say hello to Otis.
Larraby on March 6, 2008 at 10:11 AM
Larraby on March 6, 2008 at 10:11 AM
LOL
Yeah, I’d rather see Fred debate Carville.
Saltysam on March 6, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Edwards line about his dad being a millworker is tantamount to George Jefferson being the son of a share cropper…
Theworldisnotenough on March 6, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Right… because clearly the problem with the conservative movement is that we have too many people advancing conservative principles.
Thompson speaking at a private event isn’t going to somehow resurrect Edwards’ political career. Hopefully Thompson (and others who ran but didn’t win) will continue to be active in debating conservative philosphy.
Hollowpoint on March 6, 2008 at 10:19 AM
Amen.
Theworldisnotenough on March 6, 2008 at 10:22 AM
OOOOhhh….This should be interesting..
Sir Andrew on March 6, 2008 at 10:26 AM
Is it in a cage, 3 or 5 rounds?
Can they use foreign objects or does Fred have to beat him to death with his bare hands?
HotAirExpert on March 6, 2008 at 10:29 AM
So true. And if only John Kerry had informed us he was a war hero.
Squiggy on March 6, 2008 at 10:31 AM
I am hoping this means a few bonus Fred Thomson Facts! Get to work Frank J.
KelliD on March 6, 2008 at 10:33 AM
I cannot say exactly where that tingly feeling is, but just know that teh Fred! is the cause. I am thrilled to have Fred! back and putting the spotlight political issues in a conservative frame!
FRED! WE CAN…
ihasurnominashun on March 6, 2008 at 10:39 AM
Bleh – it’s on a Wednesday.
Locals Only
rhodeymark on March 6, 2008 at 10:51 AM
I’d tune in. :D
PolitiNOOB on March 6, 2008 at 10:51 AM
I still *heart* Fred Dalton Thompson. Can’t WAIT to see the video!
RushBaby on March 6, 2008 at 10:58 AM
Won’t last one round; Fred’s glare will set Edward’s precious hair on fire and it will be all over.
Larraby, Fred is interested in the political debate involved; the discussion that needs to be had in this country of which version of America should be believed in. He has nothing to gain and he certainly does NOT need the money. Fred, like I, remember how important Reagan’s GE speaking tours were to keeping conservatism alive after Goldwater.
michaelo on March 6, 2008 at 11:00 AM
RushBaby on March 6, 2008 at 10:58 AM
I’m sure their will be some choice morsels for us to chew on.
The problem I have is this is more like a professional wresting match. Fred is in another class, and placing him across such a mental midget is beneath his intellect, IMHO.
Saltysam on March 6, 2008 at 11:07 AM
I wonder if Edwards gets depserte during the non-debate debate he’ll bring up Dick Cheney’s daughter
LordDaMan on March 6, 2008 at 11:14 AM
One of my all time favorite Edwards stories was the piece in one of the weeklies last year. John Kerry went to Edwards to ask him to be on the ticket, and Edwards was so honored that he told him something he had “never told a soul before.” He crawled into his son’s casket and hugged him after he died and promised to fight the good fight or something.
Kerry was shocked.
Edwards told him the same exact story word for word a year earlier.
Mattpat11 on March 6, 2008 at 11:14 AM
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1626498-2,00.html
Here’s the story. It’s a real insight into what a snake oil salesman Edwards is.
Mattpat11 on March 6, 2008 at 11:17 AM
Fred will strip the bark off of Silky.
This won’t even be close.
lodestonejames on March 6, 2008 at 11:42 AM
Edwards’ dad was a mill worker…………I hadn’t heard that before.
Seriously though, Fred! should piledrive this little wimp into oblivion.
omnipotent on March 6, 2008 at 11:43 AM
Fred!
infidel on March 6, 2008 at 11:56 AM
Fred! should use this classic Reagan line.
but then add, “I will call him an ignorant, populist, liberal, socialist dumbass.”
Dr.Cwac.Cwac on March 6, 2008 at 12:13 PM
Allah, don’t you mean a “mee-uhl wuh-ka”?
BirdEye on March 6, 2008 at 12:21 PM
Just about any day with a dose of Fred! is a good day! Our NC primary is May 6, and I still plan to write in a vote for him. Fred! will slap Silky around as well as Cheney did in 2004, if not better.
bookman on March 6, 2008 at 12:23 PM
Funny, I thought the same and was intrigued/upset. Intrigued because I didn’t think McCain was that smart; and upset because then I’d have to vote against Fred (because McCain is still the danger at the top of the ticket).
gekkobear on March 6, 2008 at 12:32 PM
Seeing that picture again brings back the memory of when we had hope for this election.
Rose on March 6, 2008 at 12:32 PM
No.
But I’d pay money to see the Thompson/Edwards no-holds-barred cage match.
!Fred
29Victor on March 6, 2008 at 12:45 PM
I’m the proud daughter of a mill worker, and now the proud wife of a mill worker. I have NOTHING in common with silky. As for a McCain/Thompson ticket, can you imagine the arguments in the back room? McCain throwing one of his famous fits and Thompson calmly announcing that McCain is a crapweasel.
speed911 on March 6, 2008 at 1:51 PM
speed911,
While Thompson and McCain have differences over a number of policies, I don’t think their relationship would devolve into personal acrimony that easily. Both of them are old professionals, and Thompson did not put the boot into McCain the way he did with Huckabee. I suspect there will be a negotiated settlement and both gentlemen will abide by it.
Today the WSJ is reporting that McCain may be significantly tougher on foreign policy that Bush. (Please hold whinging about the border; take it as written.) We are at war, and even though this is a different kind of war, this campaign is about prosecuting the war. If G.W. Bush did one thing right in his presidency, it was making sure he had the people in place to take care of matters at 3 AM when the situations of legend occurred. For the last seven years, the 3 AM calls were most outgoing and precision guided.
Patrick_Lasswell on March 6, 2008 at 2:37 PM
Can you say “prove-by-doing job interview?” It will be, for Fred at least. I think I recall Edwards burning his bridges with both the HRH and B.O. camps when he left the race, didn’t he? But given that McCain’s got the nom locked, a McCain/Thompson ticket is one I could very easily vote for, instead of voting against the Donkeys. Don’t know that I could say the same for most of the other Republican former-candidates shoveled at us this time around.
Blacksmith on March 6, 2008 at 3:04 PM
Thompson: “Boooooy, I oughta smack you.”
ThePrez on March 6, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Three talk-circuit A-Listers. That is NOT going to be a cheap ticket!
eeyore on March 6, 2008 at 5:37 PM
AP is still frightened of cowboy hats.
Montana on March 6, 2008 at 7:28 PM
Dang I miss Fred! He’s a good man with a lot of great conservative ideas. I hope he continues to stay in the debate. I really do.
kerrhome on March 8, 2008 at 2:17 PM
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