Monday, June 11, 2007

Excellent Piece on Fred Thompson Candidacy

Today, JB Williams wrote an excellent column on the Fred Thompson campaign, what it all means, and why he's already taking shots from both sides of the aisle.

To quote Williams on a few key statements...

- "Keep in mind that Dick Cheney had spent almost thirty years as the most bi-partisan respected man in Washington DC before becoming Vice President Dick Cheney, the most partisan hated and targeted man in Washington DC, all in a matter of a few politically charged moments.

The ink wasn't even dry on Fred Thompson's exploratory committee filing before shots were fired across his bow from both sides of the political aisle. Fear is a terribly ugly emotion… but ain't it fun."

- "Lefties hate him for being too right and Righties hate him for being, well, too right…as opposed to their recent record of being all wrong."

This is the key quote of the entire column...

"What has Thompson ever done to make so many so worried? That's easy to answer… Unlike every other contender, he is being drafted by the people, the same people who have rejected all others.

Rejection hurts, even if you're a politician. How must it feel to be the nation's "war hero" John McCain or the nation's Mayor, Rudy Giuliani, both of which have been looked at for years and drawn somewhere between a collective yawn and a "hell no" from the conservative base of their party, now certain what "compassionate conservative" means."

While I don't necessarily agree about Giuliani, I think he makes an interesting point.

Go give it a read.

(h/t to fellow Fred-head Paul Cave for the link)

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