Due to scheduling changes forced by Hurricane Gustav, President Bush, Sen. Fred Thompson, and Sen. Joe Lieberman were the only primetime speakers featured Tuesday night at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul. Tuesday’s theme was changed from “Reform”, to “Who Is John McCain?”, and all three of the major speakers took different approaches in introducing Sen. McCain as the official GOP Nominee.
I’m pretty sure that it wouldn’t have been very good anyway, however, it would have been close to impossible for President Bush to deliver a good speech via satellite. Although it would have been favorable if President Bush hadn’t spoken at all, I’m sure that both the RNC and the McCain campaign realized that it would have been somewhat inappropriate to deny a sitting president the chance to address the delegates at his own party’s national convention. However, thinking about how bad it could have turned out, President Bush actually carefully treaded through. I’m not sure whether he thought his speech would help McCain or not, but President Bush made it very clear who he thought should be his sucessor. I’m pretty sure that President Bush thinks that his legacy might find redemption under a McCain presidency. Whether this was the case or not, George Bush’s speech Tuesday night didn’t help or hurt McCain’s chances.
Those who are familiar with my views know that I greatly admire Fred Thompson for his abilities as a conservative thinker and communicator. That being said, I would have been very disapointed had he bombed during his convention speech. Fortunately, however, he did not. In fact, not only was Sen. Thompson’s speech the highlight of the night, it was also the best speech that I had ever heard him deliver. Using a mixture of biographical references, personal stories, and attacks on the democratic ticket, Sen. Thompson made a very convincing case for why the American people should elect John McCain as their president this November. It is clear to me that if Sen. Thompson had been this impassioned at this time a year ago, then we would certainly have a different candidate as our party’s nominee.
The final speaker of the night was Sen. McCain’s close friend, and the independent democratic Senator from Connecticut, Joe Lieberman. Although no one would consider Sen. Lieberman as an amazing orator, he did a very good job highlighting Sen. McCain’s bipartisan and reformational credentials as a senator. Sen. Lieberman also communicated very effectively that John McCain will govern according to the loyalty that he holds to his own convictions and country. Although I appreciated Sen. Lieberman’s speech, I couldn’t help but think about how the Democratic Party would never be caught dead allowing a Republican to address delegates at their national convention.
Oh well, I guess that is just another example of how Republicans are more open minded, and more willing to reach across party lines to accomplish great things for the American people.
I know that many former Huckabee supporters blame Fred Thompson for Huckabee losing, but I don’t. I respect Fred Thompson a great deal. His great commitment to the concept of federalism really influenced who I am as a conservative. His campaign was a great disappointment, but I can bet that most Huckabee people would rather have him as a nominee right now than McCain. That being said, some people might find this interview interesting. Sen. Thompson speaks out about the election for the first time since he dropped out, check it out.
Wave Goodbye Republicans, because your only hope in reuniting the Reagan Coalition has just passed. Indeed, Fred Thompson’s departure from the presidential race deserves to be lamented. Even though I’ve been supporting Gov. Mike Huckabee for about 5 months now, I have always thought that Sen. Thompson was the only “full spectrum” conservative in the race.
This blog wasn’t in existence when I supported Fred Thompson. From March to October of 2007, I was downright zealous about Sen. Thompson’s candidacy. I could be quoted as saying that he was “a man for the times”, and a “master communicator”. However, I began to question sometime around August whether he was really serious about becoming President. By September, the proverbial camel’s back was nearly broken. Three actions by Sen. Thompson caused me to switch my support to Mike Huckabee: One, he announced that he was against a constitutional amendment outlawing abortion, Two, he was against the Federal Marriage Amendment, and Three, he did not show up at the PBS African American Republican Presidential forum, which I attended, and was my only chance to see any of the candidates in person. (For the record, Mike Huckabee was in attendance, and I also met and talked to a blogger by the name of Kevin Tracy, who should probably be given credit for introducing me to the blogosphere.)
Anyway, Sen. Thompson has ultimately proven to be an ineffective presidential candidate. He generated more support among conservatives as a potential candidate than as an official candidate. Sen. Thompson’s less than enthusiastic campaign presents us with an unfortunate question, Did the voters reject Fred Thompson, or did Fred Thompson reject the voters?
In spite of his shortcomings, Sen. Thompson still needs to be respected for his solid conservative ideology. Sen. Thompson obviously cares a great deal for the problems facing this country, and I would think that he could be very effective in a cabinet position. However, the most significant thing about Sen. Thompson was that he was the only candidate that every wing of the Republican Party could accept. That chance is now gone. Now we will see how the GOP will cope without Fred Thompson.
