Fred Thompson for President
I've been waiting and watching during the long run-up to the actual voting in the presidential primaries, but the time has come to make up my mind. Because of my reservations about the other candidates, I was one of the people who was eager at the prospect of Fred Thompson entering the race. Then he waited so long, and got off to a very slow start. It seemed like his campaign wasn't getting off the ground. This came as a big disappointment, because everything about Fred — his voting record, his recent speeches, and his policy proposals since entering the campaign — has marked him as the most reliably conservative candidate running this year.
Happily, his campaign seems to be finally gaining some ground. While he's still a significant underdog (donate!), he seems poised to benefit from dissatisfaction with the other top-tier candidates. A lot can happen between now and the California primary, but if Fred's still in the race by then, he's got my vote.
Comments
So what do you think about Ron Paul, Don? A number of conservatives I know around here are really pulling for him. Though Thompson is a clear second.
Posted by: Sean Ahern | January 6, 2008 4:39 PM
Sean,
Ron Paul isn't a conservative, he's a libertarian. While the two camps often have common cause, there are also significant differences (on things like defense, regulation of pornography, the definition of marriage, and many others).
For a number of such reasons, I don't support Ron Paul. But my biggest reason for not mentioning him is that he has absolutely no prayer of ever becoming president. Fred Thompson might be a long shot, but he does have a shot.
Posted by: Don Roberts | January 7, 2008 10:55 AM
Ron Paul is definitely not a conservative. That he hasn't been forced out from the Republican Party is a bit of a head scratcher to me, because he hasn't modified his stances on issues in the least.
On the other hand, I don't regard the Republican Party as a conservative party anymore either, so maybe it's not such a head-scratcher after all.
Perhaps Ron Paul will get a "Colbert Bump" yet. It worked for Huckaby.
Posted by: Robert Nesius | January 17, 2008 2:06 AM