Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson: Out of Nowhere to Somewhere
Fred Thompson hasn’t won anything yet except possibly the attention of a lot of political nay sayers. Still in the last month his entry into the political campaign for the Republican Party’s nomination for the presidency in 2008 , Fred Thompson has dispatched those peddling conventional wisdom and positioned himself smack in the middle of a real scramble to be the Republican standard bearer. For those who have been laboring in the political hinterlands for every available vote for the last year or more, Fred Thompson’s rapid rise to second place in Republican Polls has to cause considerable head scratching . He’s not number one yet, but Fred Thompson really has come out of nowhere to somewhere
Fred Thompson , May 29, 2007, With the Republican campaign for the nomination for the presidency in 2008 well under way, on May 29th Fred Thompson ‘s name was still not on the list of those who had declared their candidacy. In fact Thompson on the 29th of May, 2007 was still under contract to work on the well visited television show “Law and Order. Sure Thompson was not a man who lacked for political experience. He has a background that includes a law degree, employment as a lobbyist and a stint a a U. S. Senator from Tennessee.
Fred Thompson’s candidacy as little as six months ago was still only a rumble, a rumor and for some just a curiosity in the Republican Party. Certainly Fred Thompson was not without some name recognition as a former U. S. Senator from Tennessee and lots more face recognition for his role on television’s “Law and Order” but his seeming reluctance to enter the political frey early on caused many to simply put a potential Thompson run on the back burner and there it was sitting on May 29. His name though mentioned seemed always to be said in passing and among candidates he was nowhere to be found.
Fred Thompson, After May 29, 2007. On May 30, 2007, in a less than subtle signal to potential supporters, Fred Thompson asked to be released from his work commitment to “Law and Order” and then the following day, before the dust had settled, announced that he was forming an exploratory committee to take a look at his potential as a presidential candidate in 2008. Some felt that the third part of the drama would be quickly rolled out and that Thompson would announce himself as a candidate within the month.
At the end of June Thompson was still, at least to the vast number of American voters “nowhere”. He had floated his name, he had formed his committee but the final step had not been taken. Pundits, if they talked about Thompson, said scant little about his views but were more interested in faulting his seemingly half-hearted approach to running for the highest office in the land.
Summer passed and still Thompson had no official word around which followers could rally. Some event believed Thompson might, after some reflection, be preparing to simply walk away from the presidential contest. A candidacy if there was one at this point was floundering in nowhere land.
Fred Thompson, Sept. 5, 2007. For regular observers of “The Tonight Show” , Sept 5, was certainly a show to remember. It was on that night and in that rather apolitical setting that Fred Thompson announced that he was indeed entering as a candidate for the Republican nomination for the presidency. Thompson went on to direct viewers to check out his website where they might discover a full 15 minute speech in which he presented his candidacy to the American people.
Finally Sen. Fred Thompson was officially in the race. Still political prognosticators offered that with such a late beginning it was highly unlikely that Thompson would receive much notice or stand much of a chance, especially against the triumvirate of candidates leading the way in the Republican race. It certainly seemed that a man who had, for so long, showed only marginal interest in the campaign , was unlikely to cause much of stir at such a late date.
Fred Thompson, Oct. 3,2007. With only a month of campaigning under his belt Fred Thompson has rather dramatically moved from “nowhere” to “somewhere”. In a current poll conducted by ABC the top four candidates were Giuliani, Thompson, McCain and Romney – in that order. What in Sept. had seemed an impenetrable threesome – Giuliani, McCain and Romney – had in 30 days been invaded and rearranged by someone out of nowhere.
It’s true that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani currently owns a very comfortable lead over all other candidates . At a solid 34% of the voters polled, Giuliani has established a solid base that he hopes will carry him into and through the rough days of the presidential primary and on to the convention. Sen. John McCain is able to claim only 12% of those polled, well off the pace set by Giuliani and former Massachusetts Governor, Mitt Romney is hanging on at 12%.
Thrust into the battle and coming out in a very respectable second place in the ABC poll is Fred Thompson. He has spent less, talked less, done less than all o of the others and yet somehow he has quickly and efficiently placed himself a full five points ahead the members of the Republican big three. He’s not challenging Giuliani quite yet, but his position in the polls says quite clearly that Republican voters are not so enamored with the choices of Giuliani, McCain and Romney that they are not willing to take a look at other possibilities.
In the Democratic Party’s contest for the presidential nomination Clinton, Obama and Edwards sit at the top of a very large group of contenders. While there are blips on the party radar as now Dodd, now Richardson, now Biden make a move that briefly lifts them in the polls and estimation of party regulars, there is nothing that really compares with the reluctant campaign of Fred Thompson. He is truly the man who has come out of “nowhere” to ‘somewhere”.
