At last Fred D. Thompson is in the race. He skipped the Republican
debate in New Hampshire in favor of an appearance on the Tonight Show
with Jay Leno. Did he make a mistake? I believe he did. New Hampshire
voters like their politics retail. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt
Romney is leading because of the time he has spent there. Same for Iowa,
whose caucuses are first, as to which Thompson has four months to catch
up.
The entry of Thompson helps former Mayor Rudolph "Rudy" Giuliani.
Thompson splits the conservative vote between Romney, Senator John S.
McCain, III and former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee, who is edging
toward top-tier status. Pollster Frank Luntz believes that McCain won
the debate overall, Huckabee second.
We shall soon learn whether Thompson lives up to expectations. Without
being in the race Thompson scored second in many national polls, even
tying Mayor Rudy in one national poll. Survey research tell us that
Thompson has done well because Republican voters have been dissatisfied
with the current crop of candidates, so they put all of their hopes in
Thompson. Now we must learn what Thompson is about. Reports from the
field suggest that when Thompson reads a speech he flops. When he adlibs
and speaks from the heart he does very well. Thus far his staff has been
tying his hands with written speeches. At the national meeting of the
American Legislative Exchange Council, Huckabee spoke first and wowed
the audience, with his humor, candor and principles. Thompson read his
speech. Many described it as the single worst speech they had ever
heard. The content apparently was fine but the delivery was terrible.
Many legislators came to the convention as Thompson supporters and left
supporting Huckabee. The Thompson staff put out the spin that Thompson
did so poorly because the teleprompter broke down and he had to read the
speech. The only problem with that defense was that there was no
teleprompter.
Thompson has been a United States Senator. His Senatorial performance
was mediocre. He chaired a committee that was supposed to investigate
Chinese money which had infiltrated the 1996 campaign of William J.
(Bill) Clinton and other Democratic nominees. Instead Senator John H.
Glenn (D-OH) turned the hearing so that it became an investigation of
bad Republican fundraising practices. Glenn was thereafter rewarded with
another trip into space, something he badly had wanted.
It is not entirely clear what Thompson believes. When he was Senator he
seemed to support an open-borders approach to immigration. In recent
speeches Thompson has not supported President George W. Bush's
comprehensive immigration reform bill, which was soundly defeated.