Thompson and McCain
Written by Sam on May 6th, 2007
Fred Thompson fervently backed the Iraq war, railed against an expanding federal government, took stands that occasionally annoyed his party and rarely spoke about his views on social issues during his tenure as a senator from Tennessee or in his writings and speeches since leaving office.
In short, the man some in the GOP are touting as a dream candidate has often sounded like the presidential hopeful many of them seem ready to dismiss: Sen. John McCain Ariz.
With some in the party clamoring for an alternative to their current field of presidential contenders and Thompson’s allies hinting strongly that he will run, 400 conservatives flocked to Newport Beach, Calif., on Friday night to hear the actor-turned-politician-turned-actor address the annual dinner of the Lincoln Club of Orange County, a group that credits itself with pushing Ronald Reagan to run for governor of California in the 1960s. Thompson delivered a vision of cutting taxes, reducing the size of government, overhauling Social Security and staying in Iraq until “there is some semblance of stability.”
He also called for “reform-minded, change-minded leaders,” a profile that McCain — whom Thompson described as “a man of the highest integrity and courage” in 1999 when he co-chaired the Arizonan’s presidential run — has worked hard to lay claim to over the past decade. Thompson was one of only four GOP senators to back McCain’s bid in 2000, and a former aide to the Tennessean said McCain “was far and away his best friend in the Senate.”
This is an interesting point that the author brought up. There are a lot of similarities between McCain and Thompson and they worked closely together in the Senate. I know that Thompson even supported the notorious Campaign Finance Reform. Why then is there so much animosity towards McCain, but so much encouragement from the same people for Thompson to run in his place? I’m playing devil’s advocate here.
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I’ve never understoond the hatred for McCain. He’s terrible on campaign finance reform, the tax cuts, immigration. I mean, I absolutely despise him because of his stance on amnesty, but Republicans are willing to give lots of other party members (like Bush or Brownback) a pass on this issue.
I’m especially confused because as the American Conservative pointed out in its recent cover story, war has become the sole issue for the GOP. On this issue, McCain is absolutely fearless.
McCain broke with the party enough times that he got the College Republican types mad at him. However, he also was a point figure on enough left wing issues (like the McCain-Kennedy) that he got the more right wing types mad at him. Finally, he alienated the more independent or liberal Republicans on the war. The man doesn’t have a constituiency left.
That said, I don’t understand how every Republican I talk to has sworn a blood oath against McCain and will never vote for him, but thinks Romney, or Giuliani, or some other phony is going to save us all and accepts everything they say at face value. What gives?
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I agree. The only way I understand it is that McCain’s political career is so much more known and covered. Since Rudy or Thompson are not as well known and we don’t know exactly what they would do in the white house, people can project their hopes onto them. For example, a pro-lifer can support Rudy because they can hope he will appoint pro-life judges. A tax hawk can build of Romney’s campaign message that he will be a tax cutter.
The difference is that hope doesn’t stick to McCain in the same way. His maverick streaks eat into it as does the fact that we know so much about him. Its harder to give the benefit of the doubt to him when you know him so well. McCain has been highly written about in the press since even before the 2000 race. It is safe to say that during that time he has done several things to piss off the various groups that make up the Republican party.
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I’m going to get into a lot of trouble with the people on this blog, but I like McCain overall. I know, I know, he’s been labeled a RINO, and there are certainly some issues that make me want to pull out my hair - such as campaign finance reform - but what I see and hear when he speaks is someone who votes his conscience no matter what, and I can respect that.
He hasn’t changed stances that I can tell to make himself more popular, like some others are accused of doing. Or, if that was his intent if / when he changed a stance, he apparently did a really poor job of it.
In essence, I think what you see is what you get with him, and as long as he’s doing what he believes is right, I can deal with that (probably because he’s conservative on issues dearest to me, like cutting spending and supporting the troops) far better than someone who changes political stances to pander to the conservative vote. Would I vote for him? Over Rudy or Mitt, I would.
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I pretty much agree Holly. I prefer McCain to Rudy and Mitt. If Thompson gets in though I will be backing Thompson.
BTW, Huckabee needs to stop wasting his time with the presidency and run for Senate in 08.
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Reasons why McCain shouldn’t win in no particular order
1. LibMedia’s lapdog
2. McCain/Feinegold
3. Voting aginst Bush tax cuts while being a “fiscal conservative”
4. Gang of 14
5. Old as dirt
6. Against pork except when it is in Arizona.
7. MIA at CPAC
8. The Border
I will think of some more later.
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I agree that more unites McCain and Thompson than separates them. There are several key differences, however. Whereas McCain was hostile to the religious right (remember his “agents of intolerance” and “forces of evil” comments in 2000?), which consequently still distrust him, Thompson seems indifferent. Similarly, as a federalist and not an ideologue, Thompson is more inclined to favor market-based solutions over McCain’s regulatory instinct.
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I didn’t know Thompson was for campaign finance reform, that’s a pretty darn big drawback.
McCain’s rules make it illegal to run a television ad mentioning a candidate by name and asking you to vote against them, 60 days before the general or 30 before the primary. You have to be braindead to think this is constitutional.
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McCain-Feingold was argued before SCOTUS recently, wasn’t it? What came of that?
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McCain loves the media too much. His presidency would be lead by polling numbers.
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Good point MikeC…This explains why McCain is the most fervent supporter of the war in Iraq…because it is SO popular, especially with the media types