10.05.2007
This Week in Politics
Poor Fred Thompson. The media spotlight's been on him for months, breathlessly awaiting his Grand Announcement. Now, here we are post-announcement and he's getting about as much press as Brownback. The non-excitement seems palpable in Iowa, where Mr. Thompson has to coax applause from the crowd. Where did it go wrong? The GOP base has basically anointed him the next Reagan without hearing a word. Now that they are hearing Thompson, he's coming across more Bonzo than Reagan. He won't commit, cannot articulate his positions, and is not a big fan of the meet and greet. Mr. Thompson needs to get focused and start taking chances. He needs to be out there speaking his mind, grabbing headlines. It may be risky to actually talk about issues, but that's kind of what we expect from candidates for President of the United States.
But, as my Republican friends like to remind me, it's still early.
Yes, the GOP is a mess. 9/11 remains the front runner, despite the veiled threat by James Dobson to vote for a third party if he wins the nomination. Mitt Romney is raising alot of cash, but he's Mormon (not that there's anything wrong with that). As I have written before, do not count McCain out. Even though Dobson and his ilk despise the man, McCain has the broad appeal of 9/11, without all the personal baggage. I firmly believe McCain will be a strong candidate well into 2008.
Meanwhile, there is relative peace in the Democrat camp. Hillary continues to improve in national numbers, crushing Obama by a mind-boggling 33 points in the latest polls. I must admit I do like Hillary, but I like Obama even more. He's the one candidate on the Dems side that attacks issues and discusses them, whether it helps or hinders his candidacy. The bottom line is that he is confident in what he speaks of and is quite erudite. So what if he talks hypotheticals, that is what voters want to know. What would you do if___?
Plato would approve of Obama, as he is the philosopher-king of this election.
Back to Hillary for a moment. Peggy Noonan wrote today about the Bush/Clinton fatigue factor. While there is some truth to the dangers of handing the Presidential reigns over to family dynasties, I am having a hard time digging up a Noonan column on Bush's campaign in 2000. I find it convenient that this piece comes out over Hillary's efforts. When Jeb runs in 2012, I will be looking for Noonan's opinion then.
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