Why Fred?

I've kept mum thus far and watched things play out a bit first, but it seems like it's all the fashion lately for blogs to have picked a candidate. I believe I've been in the Fred camp since about the spring of 2007. Why?

Back then, I was reading various articles on Townhall.com, and he was listed as a columnist. I liked what we wrote. Comparing with the announced candidates at the time, I preferred his message. All of them struck me as not being a "true" conservative, on issues here and there.

And I watched with disappointment as the launch of his candidacy fizzled. I wonder how much the mainstream media played a part in that, but not in a conspiratorial sense. The media's annointed ones all seemed to have conservative flaws that were easy for them to pick away at.

Let's consider Craig Chamberlain's article Decision Time for GOP:

Senator Thompson is putting the most detailed plans out there, and would be a formidable nominee, but his campaign never got off the ground. He is solidly conservative, on both economic and social issues, is a hawk and doesn't have the tag of being a flip flopper. It should seem that he would be the obvious choice, but he has been stagnant in the polls and doesn't seem to be going anywhere.

This has been a persistent theme about Thompson. His only flaw is that he didn't zoom straight to the top of the heap. Other than that, he's probably the best overall conservative choice. Uh, don't we have about 242 days until the Republican National Convention?

Echoes of the same general theme seem to be all over the web. You can find a similar assessment in David Limbaugh's Time to Step Up, Fred.

I find his lack of "fire in the belly" refreshing. He strikes me as one of the few presidential candidates since Ronald Reagan whose primary motivation is not personal aggrandizement but rather serving and leading the nation in very troubled and dangerous times. I see him as almost being drafted into this project, and his refusal to drool publicly over the prospect of becoming the most powerful man in the world is positively delightful.

I too find this refreshing. It's like many people having been clamoring for a different type of campaign, one about substance and ideas. And yet when this bonus item is placed atop a solid contender, somehow it becomes a negative. I mused that perhaps lying low was intentional: the brightest flame burns quickest theory.

Why Fred? The conservative movement has been adrift since Ronald Reagan left office. In the previous 4 presidential elections, the GOP has served up the "electable" candidate. Enough of this nonsense. No more RINOs for "electability's" sake.

Let's go with "the surge" and give a chance to Thompson's Retail Politics. Besides, he gets even more bonus points for jabbing at the press, as a nice follow-up to the "show of hands""tantrum".

Conservatism Wins. Fred Thompson for President