Just who is Fred Thompson?

Born in Alabama and raised in Tennessee, Thompson, the son of a used-car salesman, had no family ties to big-time politics or Hollywood, but his charisma — and luck — eventually helped him succeed in both. After putting himself through college at Memphis State and law school at Vanderbilt, he spent several years in private practice and as a prosecutor and then went on to Washington in 1973 to work on the Watergate investigation. His foray into acting began accidentally. Film director Roger Donaldson interviewed the young lawyer while doing research for a movie about a corruption case and offered Thompson the chance to play himself. His political career also took advantage of good timing. When Al Gore vacated his Senate seat, Thompson entered the race for it and won handily, after driving his trademark red pickup truck all over Tennessee.

Even before his Law & Order depiction of district attorney Arthur Branch, Thompson nearly always played variations on the same character — a straight-talking, tough-minded, wise Southerner — basically a version of what his supporters say is his true political self. And he is often cast as a person in power — a military official, the White House chief of staff, the head of the CIA, a Senator or even the President of the U.S. It could be called the Cary Grant approach to politics. As the legendary actor once explained his own style and success, “I pretended to be somebody I wanted to be, and I finally became that person.”

Thompson is most often compared to Ronald Reagan, and the comparison is apt. Neither would be mistaken for an intellectual, but both got plenty of mileage out of regularly concealing their smarts. Both placed an emphasis on grand, classic American themes, and both offered a folksy way of describing the holy trinity of conservative dogma (lower taxes, less government and a strong national defense).

So now that you know a little bit about Fred what do we think?  I think that Fred Thompson represents what alot of americans picture in their president a strong silent decisive type, or as Tony Soprano would say, “a Gary Cooper type”.  He doesn’t make any excuses or apoligies for the U.S., he simply says in a confident low tone, ”lets get it done”  which is really what many Americans want to hear, there is so much wasted time and money being squandered in Washington D.C. that people have had enough.  Add to the fact that his acting career has made him very recognizable and that alone builds trust no matter what his politics are, its sad but true.  I mean the guy hasn’t even officially announced his candidacy and already the polls are showing him as a front runner in the Republican party.  Even the offshore gambling spots have him as a heavy favorite to win the presidency at +300(risk $100 to win $300), this is a huge statement to only give 3 to 1 odds on a guy that hasn’t announced if hes running.  This is either a huge overstatement by the handicappers or there is actually the support out there for him that he can go the distance.  In the end I don’t believe that Thompson can win based on his politics, after looking through his voting record it is filled with contradictions in voting, which can be summed up by Thompsons statement that he is a social conservative.  I think thats kinda like a moderate conservative which in that case he would share Bush’s politics.  But that would be suicide to be likend to Bush right now.  So just what kind of president would Thompson make?  And why is he soo popular? Let me know. 

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