Campaign Themes

I have been wondering what Fred's main themes will be for the campaign. He has said that he is running for a reason--the themes will tell us what those reasons are. The Atlantic Monthly is reporting that the themes are going to be: Security, Unity, and Prosperity. I like that as a campaign slogan. Among other reason it leaves him room to talk about many different things. Illegal Immigration; Iraq; Iran; Taxes; Spending. Unity was a theme that came up in his speech here in Indy last weekend. I will be interested to see how he flushes that idea out.

How About Thursday

ABC is reporting that it will be Thursday and not Tuesday when FDT announces. Fred supposedly had a conference call this afternoon with many key sponsors.

I am interested to see how many jump on the bandwagon next weekend. I am guessing that a large number of elected officials will immediately announce support for Fred. He will certainly get a boost in publicity--and maybe it will be positive rather than the junk that has come out throughout August.

UPDATE; Here is the Atlantic Monthly report that includes FDT's itenerary for the first few days.

Tuesday It Is

Redstate is reporting that the date for Fred's announcement is one week from today--September 4th. This seems consistent with the various rumors over the last two or three weeks.

Another Personnel Move

It has been announced that FDT's communication director is leaving. The first article that I read was by the AP which made it sound like a defection. But a better analysis of the announcement, as written by the Sayanything blog shows that it is really a move for someone of more experience.

This is largely the reason for the delay in FDT's announcement--he is trying to get the right staff in place before the engage in the actual campaign.

Fred In Indy - Videos

The good folk over at Hoosier Access were at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference this last weekend and have posted video of Fred's speech at the conference. Here is the link.


A comment made by the members of Hoosier Access was that Fred was "quite somber". Listening to the speech, it sounds like he has a somber, and realistic, message.

Guns, 2nd Amendment and Federalism

Fred has posted an article talking about how New York is trying to impose its idea of gun control to other states through legal action. He points out that this is part of what Federalism was designed to deal with--not only keeping the Feds out of the State's business, but also to keep the States out of each other's business.

By the way, this is also the first dig that I have seen Fred do on another candidate (or two): "the same activist federal judge from Brooklyn who provided Mayor Giuliani’s administration with the legal ruling it sought to sue gun makers" and "Mayor Bloomberg sent private investigators to make “straw” purchases – illegally buying guns for somebody else. According to the ATF, NY’s illegal “stings” interfered with ongoing investigations of real gun traffickers." Another sign that the end of the beginning is coming.

Fred In Indy

As a reminder, Fred will be in Indianapolis this Saturday as part of the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference. Attend if you can!

FDT's Iowa Comments

About 15 minutes of comments from the Iowa State Fair were posted on YouTube recently.

Boston Herald Editorial

Star Parker has an editorial in the Boston Herald today that goes against the grain a bit saying that Thompson's entry into the Presidential fray will be "right on cue". Star's editorial points to people being frustrated with the early start to the political season. He also points to Broder interview that I mentioned in a previous post indicating that Fred will be very bold in how he comes out. Star references the Ali "rope-a-dope" fight against Foreman where Ali waited for the Foreman to wear himself out.

This is a refreshing breath of fresh air out of a newspaper that has been one of the ones leading the charge to try to discredit FDT.

CNN Interview

FDT was interviewed by John King of CNN on August 17th (Friday) in Iowa. They covered Roe v Wade, Gay Marriage, Iraq, coming into the race "late" and his work ethic. There is video of the interview which is quite good--actually typical Fred fare.

Interestingly Sean at the Save the GOP site interprets this as Fred supporting removing the full faith and credit clause for same sex marriages. Others have interpreted it as support for a Federal amendment banning gay marriages.

UPDATE: The reason that Saving the GOP interpreted Fred's comments as they did is that his staff verified that it was the correct interpretation. This makes a lot of sense and it compatible with his other Federalist positions.

No New Taxes?

The New York Post is reporting that while campaigning in Iowa that Fred "refused repeated requests yesterday to rule out raising taxes." They followed that statement with a refrain that FDT has said several times in the past:

"We are in the process of gradually bankrupting future generations in this country," Thompson said of Social Security and other entitlement programs that will plunge the federal government deeply into debt over the next decade.

The implication is that since Fred sees some programs bankrupting the budget and that he will not "rule out" raising taxes that he intends on pursuing a policy of raising taxes to pay for these programs.

The problem is that this concept is inconsistent with the other things that Fred has said. Fred has written at least twice regarding the Bush tax cuts. The first was an op-ed in the Wall Street Journal and the second was on the ABC opinion site that Fred started posting on. In both he was strongly in favor of the Bush tax cuts and the economic boom that they have created. He has also indicated to the Fair Tax folk that he wants to address the issue of tax reform.

Here is my take: First, FDT is not for making government larger. Second, he is not for higher taxes. Third, he is for fixing our tax system. By the way, in order to fix the tax system, it will REQUIRE raising some tax while another is lowered. If you look at any of the Fair tax proposals, they include raising sales taxes in order to lower or eliminate income taxes. If he were to promise not to raise taxes and then implement some reform, the "promise" would then come back to haunt him in the future.

Border Security

FDT has an article on the current state of our border security. It seems that we implemented an initiative to increase border security guards by 6,000 last year by using members of the National Guard. As part of that plan, we are about to reduce that number by 3,000. They were supposed to be replaced with new U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents, but the recruiting has not be enough to do it. FDT suggests keeping the National Guard there until the replacements have been hired and trained.

Why is Fred Running?

David Broder in the Washington Post has written an op-ed about Fred and the risks that he is willing to take in the upcoming election.

FDT has indicated that he is running for a reason and not just to have the office. I have assumed that he would let us know as he begins his formal campaign. I have also assumed that his reasons revolve somewhat around "federalism" since that has been a consistent theme in his writings over the last three months. With this interview with Broder, I think we begin to get a picture over those reasons. Here are a few quotes:

In a two-hour conversation over coffee at a restaurant near his Virginia headquarters, the former senator from Tennessee said that when he joins the battle next month, he "will take some risks that others are not willing to take, in terms of forcing a dialogue on our entitlement situation, our military situation and what it's going to cost" to ensure the nation's future.

...

The approach Thompson says he's contemplating is one that will step on many sensitive political toes. When he says "we're getting a free ride" fighting a necessary war in Iraq with an undersized military establishment, "wearing out our people and equipment," it sounds like a criticism of the president and the Pentagon.

When he says he would have opposed adding the prescription drug benefit to Medicare, "a $17 trillion add-on to a program that's going bankrupt," he is fighting the bipartisan judgment of the last Congress.

When he says the FBI is perhaps incapable of morphing itself into the smart domestic security agency the country needs, he is attacking another sacred cow.

...

"Nobody in Congress or on either side in the presidential race wants to deal with it," Thompson said. "So we just rock along and try to maintain the status quo. Republicans say keep the tax cuts; Democrats say keep the entitlements. And we become a less unified country in the process, with a tax code that has become an unholy mess, and all we do is tinker around the edges."

Fair Tax?

FDT has written a letter to the Fair Tax folk indicating that "fundamental overhaul of the tax code" should be a FDT priority in the Presidency. He considers the Fair Tax a good place to start the discussion, but it seems clear that he does not think that the Fair Tax proposal is the final conclusion of the matter.