Fred Thompson: Lazy as charged

[brooklynite]

WAVERLY, Iowa — When is retail politics not retail politics? When candidates refuse to get off their big buses and go do it.

Fred Thompson rolled into this small town on the Cedar River in north-central Iowa on a giant brown bus Tuesday. He also had a van, an entourage of guys with earpieces and a press aide.

Thompson’s public schedule said: “Fred Thompson Tours Downtown Waverly and Drops by Waverly Democrat.”

...snip...

It was no big deal. We waited for Thompson outside the conference room and after a few minutes he emerged, left the newspaper office and headed straight onto his large, brown bus.

But what happened to the “tour of downtown Waverly” that was on his schedule?

Cancelled. Not going to happen. He was not going to walk the streets of Waverly in search of voters.

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1207/7474.html

[bigscott]

1. PLEASE

nominate him! I would actually enjoy the election season!!!:woohoo:

[Vickers]

2. That's just the librul media making up LIES LIES LIES about Freddie!

I heard on Faux News that he jogged around the town THREE TIMES, and then he delivered a baby and helped build a barn.

[rAVES]

3. hurrumph hurrumph hurrumph hurrumph zzZZZzzZZzZzZZZzzzz

[Hydra]

4. He's the one who's been tapped

But I don't know if his job is to win or lose. This primary season is such a Kabuki.

[Happyhippychick]

5. Who's Fred Thompson?

[brooklynite]

6. One more graph that captures the moment...

Later in the day, I sent an e-mail to Anelia Dimitrova, asking her about the private meeting she had with Thompson at the newspaper office.

She e-mailed me back that Thompson “was so vague that I would be hard-pressed to write a story. Simply put, there is no news peg other than he came to the newsroom with his model wife and a beehive of staffers. When I asked him specifically what he would do as prez for farmers in Bremer County, he resorted to glittering generalities.”

[democrat2thecore]

7. Yep! Thompson is a lightweight - by any measure. -nt

[William769]

8. He also wants to be "saddled and mounted".

[BrotherBuzz]

9. Now, if downtown Waverly had a gun shop....

[Tactical Progressive]

10. That's because nobody brought a saddle

He wants to get saddled and have the voters ride him, which William769 pointed out here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x3864124

Giving rides to potential voters is certainly a strange campaign tactic, but it shows that Thompson is willing to try new and different approaches.

[FredScuttle]

11. "Grandpa" Fred Thompson in '08: I Need A Nap

The kind of energy and verve we need for the 19th century!