82Marine89
10-08-2007, 11:47 PM
All he has to do is not fall asleep.
All he has to do is not throw up.
All he has to do is not drool.
Has there ever been a major presidential candidate with lower expectations on the eve of his first debate than Fred Thompson?
Though he is second in the national polls, the reviews of his campaigning thus far have been savage.
He has been portrayed as a goober, a hick and a doofus. No, I take that back. He has been portrayed as a lazy goober, hick and doofus.
He has been portrayed as a guy who does not really want to run for president but is being pushed into it by his wife. (Which, even if true, would not be the first time in campaign history.)
He is depicted as the kind of man who would rather be sitting in a double-wide, sipping on a Yoo-hoo, eating a Moon Pie and watching “Jackass: Number Two” on DVD rather than occupying the Oval Office.
Never has there been an opportunity for any candidate to surprise his critics more.
There will be a two-hour debate Tuesday in Dearborn, Mich., sponsored by CNBC, MSNBC and The Wall Street Journal. It will focus on economic issues. The moderators will be Chris Matthews and Maria Bartiromo.
And all Thompson has to do to win is to exceed (very low) expectations.
Could he actually bone up for it? According to a Sept. 30 New York Times story, he is capable of rigorous study. As a senator, he “pored over legal tomes,” brought a “lawyer’s sensibility to his deliberations,” focused on “green-eyeshade issues like budget and regulatory reform” and was a “stickler for preparation.”
But is this the same Fred Thompson who has been campaigning for president recently? The Fred Thompson who, while campaigning in Florida, didn’t know the details of the Terri Schiavo case or that some people want to drill for oil in the Everglades?
Clearly, there are two Fred Thompsons. There is one who gets his game on and one who slacks off.
Which one will show up on Tuesday?
When Arnold Schwarzenegger first ran for governor of California, his staff told me he spent long, grueling sessions getting information “downloaded” into his head.
Schwarzenegger knew people thought he was too stupid to be governor, and he knew he wasn’t. All he had to do was exceed their expectations. He did not have to be some technocratic, know-it-all genius. He just had to be reasonably bright.
And he was. Schwarzenegger surprised many by doing just fine in a televised debate in 2003, surged in the polls and won.
If Fred Thompson gives an unexpectedly good performance Tuesday — if he is reasonably bright and energetic — he could jump to the head of the pack.
But if he comes across as an ignoramus and a slacker, it could be the end of his campaign.
As the only new face on the stage, he will be a large target. And it could go like this:
Matthews: So, Sen. Thompson, tell us where you stand on SCHIP.
Thompson: I don’t really know about SCHIP, Chris. I am more of a Chips Ahoy! man. They are some kind of delicious.
Matthews: SCHIP is the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. It is not a cookie.
Thompson: Well, Chris, Chips Ahoy! is not just a cookie. It is the chocolate chunks everybody wants.
That would not be good. That would be bad. After nearly seven years of George W. Bush, voters may have a heightened desire for competence and a grasp of the issues, rather than a warm personality and a folksy smile.
I interviewed Thompson last week, and I asked him if he was prepping for the debate.
“I’ll have to do a few things to get ready for that, that’s for sure,” he told me. “I am probably a little rusty on my sound-bite delivery. Unfortunately, that is kind of what it boils down to. But hopefully I will be able to hang with them.”
And that’s all he has to do. Hang with them. Or else he will surely hang alone.
LINK (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6244.html)
All he has to do is not throw up.
All he has to do is not drool.
Has there ever been a major presidential candidate with lower expectations on the eve of his first debate than Fred Thompson?
Though he is second in the national polls, the reviews of his campaigning thus far have been savage.
He has been portrayed as a goober, a hick and a doofus. No, I take that back. He has been portrayed as a lazy goober, hick and doofus.
He has been portrayed as a guy who does not really want to run for president but is being pushed into it by his wife. (Which, even if true, would not be the first time in campaign history.)
He is depicted as the kind of man who would rather be sitting in a double-wide, sipping on a Yoo-hoo, eating a Moon Pie and watching “Jackass: Number Two” on DVD rather than occupying the Oval Office.
Never has there been an opportunity for any candidate to surprise his critics more.
There will be a two-hour debate Tuesday in Dearborn, Mich., sponsored by CNBC, MSNBC and The Wall Street Journal. It will focus on economic issues. The moderators will be Chris Matthews and Maria Bartiromo.
And all Thompson has to do to win is to exceed (very low) expectations.
Could he actually bone up for it? According to a Sept. 30 New York Times story, he is capable of rigorous study. As a senator, he “pored over legal tomes,” brought a “lawyer’s sensibility to his deliberations,” focused on “green-eyeshade issues like budget and regulatory reform” and was a “stickler for preparation.”
But is this the same Fred Thompson who has been campaigning for president recently? The Fred Thompson who, while campaigning in Florida, didn’t know the details of the Terri Schiavo case or that some people want to drill for oil in the Everglades?
Clearly, there are two Fred Thompsons. There is one who gets his game on and one who slacks off.
Which one will show up on Tuesday?
When Arnold Schwarzenegger first ran for governor of California, his staff told me he spent long, grueling sessions getting information “downloaded” into his head.
Schwarzenegger knew people thought he was too stupid to be governor, and he knew he wasn’t. All he had to do was exceed their expectations. He did not have to be some technocratic, know-it-all genius. He just had to be reasonably bright.
And he was. Schwarzenegger surprised many by doing just fine in a televised debate in 2003, surged in the polls and won.
If Fred Thompson gives an unexpectedly good performance Tuesday — if he is reasonably bright and energetic — he could jump to the head of the pack.
But if he comes across as an ignoramus and a slacker, it could be the end of his campaign.
As the only new face on the stage, he will be a large target. And it could go like this:
Matthews: So, Sen. Thompson, tell us where you stand on SCHIP.
Thompson: I don’t really know about SCHIP, Chris. I am more of a Chips Ahoy! man. They are some kind of delicious.
Matthews: SCHIP is the State Children’s Health Insurance Program. It is not a cookie.
Thompson: Well, Chris, Chips Ahoy! is not just a cookie. It is the chocolate chunks everybody wants.
That would not be good. That would be bad. After nearly seven years of George W. Bush, voters may have a heightened desire for competence and a grasp of the issues, rather than a warm personality and a folksy smile.
I interviewed Thompson last week, and I asked him if he was prepping for the debate.
“I’ll have to do a few things to get ready for that, that’s for sure,” he told me. “I am probably a little rusty on my sound-bite delivery. Unfortunately, that is kind of what it boils down to. But hopefully I will be able to hang with them.”
And that’s all he has to do. Hang with them. Or else he will surely hang alone.
LINK (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1007/6244.html)