Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

Good morning and welcome to the Wednesday, April 11, edition of The Daily Fred. We begin today's roundup of news and blog coverage of the Fred Thompson campaign train with a look at how - and why - it is growing fast at the grassroots.

Writer J.B. Williams at TheRealityCheck.org says the buzz about Thompson's possible candidacy has to do with voter apathy about not just the existing crop of candidates, but apathy about candidates in general who just sound like they're reading decades-old cue cards of the same tired old political slogans of the past.

Fred Thompson stands out in the crowd like a real live candidate with a mind of his own, even when trying not to slip up and accidentally agree to run for president. And as long as he retains his traditional irreverence for Washington nonsense, he will continue to be popular among voters who can very much relate to that uncommonly outspoken irreverence.

The experts say that Fred is too late already, a year before the primaries, if you can imagine. He can’t catch up with those already out in front on the campaign fund raising trail. Are they not paying any attention at all to what is happening here?

The current fund raising leaders are Clinton, Obama and Romney, all at about $25 million each for the first quarter. How many true conservatives would it take to put $25 million into Fred’s campaign in very average Republican $200 contributions? It’s easier than they think. 125,000 conservatives can catch Fred up at $200 a man in short order and I think many are sitting on their wallets waiting to do just that.

Keep in mind - while the others are already raising funds, they are also spending funds, mostly to compete against a man who has not even agreed to enter the race yet… Ain’t that a hoot?

Fred can raise the money. But more importantly, he seems able to inspire voters who are desperate for an inspired candidate unlike all the others. He might also get people to the polls that have not been to the polls in a very long time. And that’s why Fred alone is inspiring the imagination without even being in the race.

I urge you to read Williams' whole column- I've excerpted only a small portion of it.

As if to underscore Williams' point, the latest update on how the upcoming Draft Fred Rally in Tennessee is shaping up arrived in my email this morning.

The Draft Fred Rally is gaining momentum and we are expecting a big crowd. Congressman Zack Wamp, the newly elected Lt. Governor of Tennessee Ron Ramsey, and other dignitaries, celebrities, and music artists will be in attendance. ... The word is out in 50 states. People have said they are coming from SC, FL, DC, GA, OH and counties all over Tennessee.

The Republican Chairman of Putnam County, Darrin Kirkus, has really done an outstanding job in organizing and promoting the Rally. ... Frontier, the local telephone company, is providing Wi-Fi free for the rally. This will enable the news media, bloggers and others to use their laptops at the event.

Now onto the rest of today's Daily Fred...

...A report in the Washington Times says there's good buzz about Thompson in Iowa and Texas:

Former Sen. Fred Thompson's interest in the 2008 presidential race is generating enthusiasm among many Republicans, despite some conservative criticism of the "Law & Order" star's record. "He's the biggest buzz in the state," said Iowa Republican Party Executive Director Chuck Laudner. "A lot of our people want to see him come here. They see him with star power equivalent to [former New York Mayor] Rudy Giuliani, but he's conservative."

In Dallas, conservative policy analyst Merrill Matthews said Mr. Thompson's name is on the lips of just about every conservative with whom he talks. "I get the sense they are saying, 'I really don't like the rest of the Republican field for 2008, but I'm kind of excited about Fred Thompson,' " Mr. Matthews said. "I find the same feeling in myself, but I'm not entirely sure why." 

Iowa is important because it's the first place where meaningful votes will be cast, and Texas is important because it's big and has lots of delegates and potential donors.

...A recent Vision America online presidential preference poll of more than 2,500 "values voters" across the United States indicates significant support for Thompson. Vision America says 37.6 percent of the 2,678 respondents supported Thompson for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination, while Rudy Giuliani came in second with 14.1 percent, followed by Ron Paul at 11.3 perrcent, Newt Gingrich at 10.6 percent and Sam Brownback at 7.4 percent.

...Christian Broadcasting News' Washington correspondent David Brody implies that Thompson is a liberal Republican because he helped campaign for Lincoln Chaffee in Rhode Island last year. Though if you read the supposedly damning quote, it's rather clear that Thompson was saying standard-issue nice stuff about Chaffee in pursuit of the primary goal: keeping a Republican majority in the U.S. Senate. I'm sure with a little bit of digging, readers of The Daily Fred can find examples of other Republicans, including conservatives, whom Fred has campaigned for. Brody could too, but he for some reason appears to be on a bit of an anti-Fred mission.

...Blue Collar Republican is putting together a five-part series of blog posts on Fred Thompson's Senate voting record. Part 1 is here, and part 2 is here. Warning: BCR is showing only the votes that he says show Fred is not conservative:

Fred does have a fair conservative record, but as you will see as you read these posts, he is not a Constitutional Conservative. I will not list his good conservative votes, as that is what I expected of him to do.  So I will list his not-so-conservative votes and let you, the reader, decide.  

Well, that's not fair at all, is it? Fred isn't officially running yet - this whole Fred thing is happening at the grassroots so grassroots websites like BCR should, if they are going to present a detailed look at Fred's voting record, should make it comprehensive.

...And, finally, a little bit of silliness to end today's Daily Fred, courtesy of Philip Sherwell at the London newspaper The Telegraph. Sherwell reports, ominously, that if Thompson decides to run, he'll start by disappointing "his greatest fan base" - meaning, fans of the show Law & Order - because of federal rules demanding equal airtime for candidates that would cause networks to drop daily re-runs of the popular show if Thompson runs. Is that really a big worry for Thompson? That Law & Order fans might not vote for him because he made their favorite show's re-runs go off the air for awhile? I doubt it. And those federal rules only apply to broadcast networks, not cable - so Law & Order reruns will still be available on cable. And DVD.