Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

This is the March 16 edition of The Daily Fred, with links to the best recent Fred Thompson news and blog coverage and commentary... 

...The Nashville City Paper reports a strong endorsement for Fred Thompson's possible presidential candidacy from most of the Republicans in the Tennessee state legislature. Sixty of the 62 Republicans in the Tennessee General Assembly signed a letter urging Thompson to run.

...Meanwhile, the Nashville Scene misrepresents Thompson's position on abortion and Roe v. Wade. ("Political Notes," fourth item: "Fred Fever.") Compare the Scene's story with what Thompson actually said last Sunday on Fox News with Chris Wallace...

The Scene wrote: Thompson is soft pro-life. He’s against abortion but doesn’t really want to do anything about it. He’s not even sure it’s a good idea for the Supreme Court to overturn Roe vs. Wade.

Here's the relevant exchange between Wallace and Thompson on that issue:

WALLACE: Abortion.
THOMPSON: Pro-life.

WALLACE: Do you want to overturn Roe vs. Wade?
THOMPSON: I think Roe vs. Wade was bad law and bad medical science. And the way to address that is through good judges. I don't think the court ought to wake up one day and make new social policy for the country. It's contrary to what it's been the past 200 years. We have a process in this country to do that. Judges shouldn't be doing that. That's what happened in that case. I think it was wrong.

Thompson thinks Roe v. Wade was "bad law" and the way to deal with "bad law" is with "good judges." In other words, he believes Roe v. Wade ought to no longer be the law of the land - it should be overturned.

...Hartford Courant columnist Jim Shea breaks down the presidential race like its the NCAA college basketball tournament, rating the strengths of each player in the game. On Thompson, he writes: Fred Thompson: Big-time player. I've got him on the bubble right now, baybeeeee, but if he gets into the game, he could be huge.

...Gannett News Service political columnist Chuck Raasch says folks who think Thompson is getting into the race "late" have no sense of historical perspective.

We are still nearly 20 months - repeat, 20 months - from the 2008 election. What we assume as rock solid today could be gone tomorrow. ... This is why it is almost laughable to hear analysts pooh-pooh Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee as a Johnny-come-lately should he decide to jump into the Republican presidential primaries.

There are other reasons to doubt Thompson's viability. For one, the running room seems to be on the cultural right, where Thompson is liked but not necessarily loved. As a senator, he was known more as a government reformer than anti-abortion crusader. But if he decides to run, he won't win or lose because he failed to get in 20 months ahead of the election. Indeed, Thompson may be raising a few eyebrows today precisely because of disgruntlement over Republican presidential candidates already auditioning for the job.

...The Mountain Press thinks Thompson would be a tough candidate to beat:

First of all, he's going to wait until the field narrows, and it will in the coming months as candidates find they can't raise the money needed to run an effective campaign. That will give him time to discreetly look for money sources and see if he can raise what he would need to be a viable candidate. He is a southerner who is right on the issues that matter to many conservatives... 

...Matt Keller at DraftNewt.org thinks Thompson is a "second-wave" candidate. I'll let him explain what that means and why it's a good thing. 

Listen to Fred: National Review is posting the text and link to the audio of Thompson's commentaries on the Paul Harvey News & Comment radio show, where Thompson is currently filling in for the legendary radio newsman.  Thompson's Thursday commentary looked at pacificism in the age of Islamist terror.

...Las Vegas blogger Jim Rose thinks Thompson's radio commentaries would be just fine as the President's Weekly Radio Address.

Left Hook: The leftwingers are already trying to figure out how to defeat Thompson. Blogger "Jonathan" at The Daily Kos writes:

Fred Thompson is a threat. But his strengths also make him vulnerable. It's important to keep that in mind, and not hesitate to use it if (I believe "when") he gets the GOP presidential nod. 

The Kos blogger doesn't like Thompson because Thompson doesn't like the idea of rolling over for our enemies.

...COgirl at Hang Right Politics, says Thompson is "a smart guy who sees the Democratic anti-war crowd as the surrender monkeys they are," adding, "I hope he decides to run."

...DaveG at Race 4 2008 says Fred Thompson would transform the GOP race.

Thompson brings to the table the position papers that would make Reagan crack a smile. But Thompson also exudes a Cheney-style gravitas that is complimented by a charm and warmth that the vice president has always lacked. As such, a Thompson run could prove very dangerous to the other candidates in the field and could shake up the entire topography of the race on the GOP side.

The problem each of the candidates not named Rudy Giuliani faces is the inability to consolidate enough first-choice votes to actually win primaries. Rudy’s ability to consolidate around 35 percent of Republicans behind him in every poll may not seem like much in raw terms, but in a multi-candidate field where no candidate is able to even come close to those first-choice numbers, Rudy has the potential to win big.

If Sen. Thompson were able to amass a comparable number of first-choice supporters upon entering the race, the dynamics of the race would change overnight, and many candidates who are now considered potential threats to Rudy would basically be knocked out of the race to make way for a battle of the behemoths.

Fred08.com is an unofficial website "dedicated to encouraging a true American statesman - Fred Thompson - to run for President in 2008." Says Fred08.com: "We need Fred's vast experience, conservative values, and common sense approach." Plus, they have lots of cool photos and an audio link to Wall Street Journal columnist Dan Henninger discussing Fred's candidacy on the Laura Ingraham Radio Show.

See Fred Thompson In Action: Fred Dalton Thompson's first movie role came in the 1985 film Marie, starring opposite Sissy Spacek, Jeff Daniels and another future silver-screen president, Morgan Freeman. Marie tells a true sngtory from Thompson's life. In 1977, Thompson, an attorney, took on a Tennessee Parole Board case that ultimately toppled Tennessee Governor Ray Blanton from power on charges of selling pardons.

Thompson represented Marie Raghianti, a state employee who blew the whistle on Blanton. The scandal became the subject of both a book and a movie titled Marie. Thompson was asked to play himself in the film after the producers were unable to find a professional actor who could play him plausibly. The film launched Thompson's film career.