The suspense is over. Fred Thompson will not be running for the Republican nomination. Instead he will star in a new reality show this fall for the Fox Network, “Presidential Survivor,” in which the former Senator/actor will play a candidate and simulate all the drama and color of a real campaign--making stump speeches, issuing position papers and debating real candidates in guest appearances.
“After studying all the options,” Thompson announced today, “I have decided I can best serve my country, not by seeking the Highest Office but by giving the American public a true picture of what they should be looking for in a President and how.”
By signing for the series, Thompson will avoid the rigors of campaign travel, fund-raising and having Mrs. Thompson keep firing staff members. In addition, he will be able to collect residuals from re-runs of “Law and Order.”
If the ratings are high enough, Fox executives said, the series will run until next spring, at which point Thompson can decide whether to declare for the nomination in real life or sign up for another TV season.
Showing posts with label '08 presidential nomination. Show all posts
Showing posts with label '08 presidential nomination. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 28, 2007
Saturday, July 07, 2007
Fred Thompson's Brief Honeymoon
Media cycles are getting shorter. After weeks of blowing kisses at the unannounced candidate who is front-running in Republican polls, reporters are piling on.
Last week’s sighing over his track record with the ladies as a bachelor has turned into clucking over the drawbacks of having a “trophy wife.”
On one coast, the New York Times reports that Thompson’s supporters “have been wrestling with the public reaction to Jeri Kehn Thompson, whose youthfulness, permanent tan and bleached blond hair present a contrast to the 64-year-old man who hopes to win the hearts of the conservative core of the Republican party. Will the so-called values voters accept this union?”
On the other coast, the Los Angeles Times reveals that the former Senator-actor “accepted an assignment from a family-planning group to lobby the first Bush White House to ease a controversial abortion restriction.”
Suddenly, the earthy, straight-shooting country-boy candidate is being re-cast as a dirty old man who talks out of both sides of his mouth about the sacredness of unborn life.
Welcome to 21st century Presidential politics, Senator. After they love you to death, the harpies will turn on you. Ask John McCain about “media payback.”
But don’t be discouraged. The next cycle will undoubtedly be devoted to debunking some of the debunking.
Last week’s sighing over his track record with the ladies as a bachelor has turned into clucking over the drawbacks of having a “trophy wife.”
On one coast, the New York Times reports that Thompson’s supporters “have been wrestling with the public reaction to Jeri Kehn Thompson, whose youthfulness, permanent tan and bleached blond hair present a contrast to the 64-year-old man who hopes to win the hearts of the conservative core of the Republican party. Will the so-called values voters accept this union?”
On the other coast, the Los Angeles Times reveals that the former Senator-actor “accepted an assignment from a family-planning group to lobby the first Bush White House to ease a controversial abortion restriction.”
Suddenly, the earthy, straight-shooting country-boy candidate is being re-cast as a dirty old man who talks out of both sides of his mouth about the sacredness of unborn life.
Welcome to 21st century Presidential politics, Senator. After they love you to death, the harpies will turn on you. Ask John McCain about “media payback.”
But don’t be discouraged. The next cycle will undoubtedly be devoted to debunking some of the debunking.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Fred Thompson: Re-Defining Dirty Old Man
One objective in the actor-politician’s pre-announcement positioning, if I may use that word, was a preemptive move to deal with his reputation as a, to use an old-fashioned euphemism, ladies’ man.
In a closed-door meeting in April, Thompson admitted to House Republicans that, as a bachelor, he was less than celibate.
"I was single for a long time, and, yep, I chased a lot of women," he said, "and a lot of women chased me. And those that chased me tended to catch me."
Now that he is, if I may put it this way, coming out, that potential negative is being converted into an asset. Today the Washington correspondent for the British Sunday Times gushes about “the legions of former girlfriends who still adore him and who want him to be president.”
Bedfellows make strange politics.
In a closed-door meeting in April, Thompson admitted to House Republicans that, as a bachelor, he was less than celibate.
"I was single for a long time, and, yep, I chased a lot of women," he said, "and a lot of women chased me. And those that chased me tended to catch me."
Now that he is, if I may put it this way, coming out, that potential negative is being converted into an asset. Today the Washington correspondent for the British Sunday Times gushes about “the legions of former girlfriends who still adore him and who want him to be president.”
Bedfellows make strange politics.
Friday, June 22, 2007
McCain: Dead Man Walking
The party’s penchant for capital punishment of any candidate guilty of right-wing heresy has put John McCain on Republican Death Row, short of cash for appeals and dropping in the polls like the victim of a hangman’s noose.
McCain’s candor about campaign reform, global warming and immigration seem to have sealed his fate with the GOP faithful, who not only continue to flirt with Giuliani but are sniffing the after-shave appeal of Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.
What amounts to McCain’s political obituary is in the Washington Post today under the byline of Bush’s former speech writer, Michael Gerson, who credits him with
“a kind of nobility that seems unique in the current presidential race.”
And, Gerson might have added, unseen in American politics since his former bosses stole the White House in 2000.
McCain’s candor about campaign reform, global warming and immigration seem to have sealed his fate with the GOP faithful, who not only continue to flirt with Giuliani but are sniffing the after-shave appeal of Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson.
What amounts to McCain’s political obituary is in the Washington Post today under the byline of Bush’s former speech writer, Michael Gerson, who credits him with
“a kind of nobility that seems unique in the current presidential race.”
And, Gerson might have added, unseen in American politics since his former bosses stole the White House in 2000.
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