I had originally decided not to post about this again, since I have just about beat this issue to death and it has been commented on over at RedState already, but I came across a critique of the article from someone whose judgement I trust on the matter, whereas my opinions in regards to Thompson is usually seen through the eyes of a supporter, which means that I’m not exactly objective when it comes to things like this. I am really tired of having to deal with this garbage, but the Politico won’t give it a rest, and have apparently declared a journalistic jihad on the Thompson campaign.
However, leave it to Politico to post another hit piece on Thompson. That makes 3 prominent pieces picked up by the media in the last two weeks. First, we had Roger Simon’s hackjob about the firehat. Secondly, we had Jonathan Martin and Michael Allen dropping a bombshell the night before the caucus that was untrue. Today, we have Ben Alder’s piece which accuses Thompson of giving the impression that he is resigned to defeat.
Michael van der Galien, who has been critical of Thompson in the past, came across the video of the event that was described in the article and commented on the obviously biased reporting (no surprise). I have a lot of respect for van der Galien, and he usually can cut straight through the garbage.
Here is what he said on today’s piece at the poligazette:
Fred Thompson Becoming Passionate
Michael van der GalienFirst watch this video at the Jawa Report of Fred Thompson talking to his supporters after he finished third in Iowa. Then read this report at the Politico.
I’ve seldom seen anything as obviously slanted as that. I’m not sure what problem the Politico has with the former Senator, but it’s clear that the guys there want to make him look as bad as possible.
This was one hell of speech, in front of very passionate supporters. Nothing like what the Politico wants to make you believe. In fact, I’m convinced that if more people saw this video, support for Thompson would increase significantly.
Note that this isn’t the first time that the Politico has gone after Thompson either. As RedState points out, they published an article yesterday saying that he would drop out if he didn’t win 15% of the vote, but that’s not true (as we can say today).
Again, watch the video, he speaks in a very different tone than Politico would have you to believe and the crowd is far more enthusiastic as well.
I’ve just about had it with this garbage. I was listening to POTUS08 on XM Radio last night during the caucus, and they had two reporters from the Politico giving some commentary. I had never heard two supposedly “professional” journalists speak so unobjectively about a subject (in this case, Senator Thompson) before.
It is very disturbing that the mainstream media relies on journalists who exhibit such unprofessional behavior, and it’s making me madder and madder. They were completely dismissive of Senator Thompson, and reported unsubstantiated garbage as if it were fact over the radio. These reporters obviously have something that they are not reporting. They obviously have some sort of stake in the election, and are not open with it.
My personal theory? They are trying to make some serious cash on intrade, and they think they can influence the outcome with their reporting. But that’s just a theory…
Of course, they’d probably take offense that I would publish a theory without any proof, but what goes around, comes around. At least my theory is probably more realistic than Erick’s, who thinks that “Crack Whores Run the Politico,” but that’s what you get when you disguise speculation as journalism.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Fred Thompson’s 1% percent in NH must be what you get when you run a boring–I mean PASSIONATE campaign.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:04 pm
Peter, chill. Fred is my #2 – drop it buddy.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I would have to agree with #1 Tommy. I waited for months for Thompson to jump in. He waited too long and he has proved his inability, period. Where is his passion? The most passionate ting I have ever heard him say was…”No hand shows.” While that was good, he has to be passionate at all times. If he doesn’t like politics, he should stop wasting time and money, and drop out. The presidency involves politics, everyday!
January 4th, 2008 at 6:06 pm
Fred’s my zero.
Chill man, no need to get worked up over a loser like that.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
TO, what is his strategy? SC and FL ?
January 4th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
I just saw Fred on Fox; He said his whole strategy all along has been waiting for SC. He said he knew he would not be competitive anywhere else before then.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:10 pm
Tommy…
JD Hayworth is blaming McCain camp for the Politico story and the continued anti-Fred comments!
January 4th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
[...] also be sure to read this post at Race42008, by Tommy Oliver. Share and Enjoy: These icons link to social bookmarking sites [...]
January 4th, 2008 at 6:20 pm
JD Hayworth has never been a fan of McCain. JD lost his congressional race in 2006 because he was an awful campaigner.
Anyways, FDT is my #2… but now that is just an afterthought. If the MSM says Romney is done if he doesn’t win NH on Tuesday then so is FDT. He can’t make it to SC. Poor guy – he just got bad advice from the get go and he’s just a guy trying to make a go of it.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:21 pm
Ilfigo,
That’s the rumors, but I wasn’t going to accuse him of it yet. Now, things might change. JD is saying that? Woah! I always liked him a lot!
January 4th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Tommy,
I thought you’d appreciate seeing this from NewsBusters…
Politico Continues Hatchet-Job on Fred Thompson
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/bill-hobbs/2008/01/04/politico-continues-hatchet-job-fred-thompson
January 4th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Here’s another, but from The Jawa Report…
The Politico: A Team of Journalists, or a Team of Hacks?
http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/190643.php
January 4th, 2008 at 6:32 pm
Aron,
I greatly appreciate it.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
JD is accussing the McCain campaign for the Politico story, despite FDT being his friend, JD says McCain would be willing to stab him in the back esp. right before Iowa where FDT was vulnerable!
Sad…even friends aren’t protected from JMac’s wrath?
January 4th, 2008 at 6:37 pm
I would like to see a Romney-Thompson alliance to put away McCain & Huckabee. I would be really happy with a Romney/Thompson ticket. I wasn’t very impressed with Thompson at first, but after watching some of his interviews, I think he really believes in conservative principles. Romney is the guy who can get it done though. I don’t think Thompson is strong enough on policy or (sorry) passion, but I believe he’s a true believer in conservative principles. Watch the debates and he talks about conservative principles, though not policy.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
The Politico: A Team of Journalists, or a Team of Hacks?
January 4th, 2008 at 6:38 pm
The constant, substanceless, “Fred can’t win” posts here are getting tiresome.
Conservatism works every time it’s tried. Fred is the most consistantly conservative candidate on every single issue, period.
That used to count for something in this party.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
Tommy,
its so obvious whats happening here. The media continue to smash the 2 best conservatives. Fred and Mitt. And who do they prop up? Of course the 2 most liberal candidates McCain and Huck.
No surprise here to those of us looking at this rationaly.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:43 pm
I agree Romney-Thompson would be a strong ticket on the general!!
January 4th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
I’m starting to get the same vibe as some of you guys are. so much for loyalty. I’m going to do a little more snooping around on this. Thanks for letting me know what JD said. I admired him a lot.
Aron,
Thanks. Bill Hobbs is great, and a nice Tennessee guy too.
January 4th, 2008 at 6:45 pm
Tommy…use your sources to get FDT to endorse Romney…Let FDT screw his ex-friend that screwed him!
JD also said that FDT mentioned somewhere today that he had an idea who was behind the Politico story
January 4th, 2008 at 6:52 pm
Fred has really impressed me since that last Iowa debate.
I think this weekend we may see an alliance form of sorts.
We know Huck and jmac are in bed together. Will Fred and Romney team up to take them out?
The two Reagan guys against the two dividers. I would like that
January 4th, 2008 at 7:02 pm
I got back from Des Moines a couple hours ago. I heard Mitt speak about 7 times over the last couple days, and one thing I’m confidant of, is that he is in this thing for the duration. He took a good beating, but most people would lose a tug of war with 9 people on the other end of the rope. Sooner, or later, they have to turn on each other.
January 4th, 2008 at 7:22 pm
I was talking to the Fred rep at my precinct caucus last night. We were both shaking our heads about the Huckaboom. It surprised me when he made a couple of negative comments about McCain as well. When I cautioned him about doing that, since McCain was Fred’s bud and all, he rolled his eyes and made a comment to the effect of “maybe Fred’s but not Fred’s supporters. Romney’s most of our second guy.”
While I wasn’t real excited about another VP who wouldn’t be running for Pres in 4 or 8 years, I’ve come around to the idea that a Romney/Thompson ticket may be the best way to save the party from it’s liberal wing.
January 4th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Just as I predicted Fred is back, BIG TIME! His Virtual Front Porch Strategy and stealth momentum strategy is working brilliantly…remember the old fable about the tortoise and the hare? Fred is an experienced campaigner with gravitas up the wazoo who knows how to pace himself.
The three most inspiring and powerful rallying cries of the campaign belong to Fred, hands down:
1. “No Hand Shows”
2. “Saddle Me Up”
3.”We’re going to have a ticket to the next dance.”
January 4th, 2008 at 8:09 pm
On #24. Maybe Fred is staying in the race to take away support from Romney (and thus help McCain)
If things work out though, Romney will be gone in a few days.
January 4th, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I don’t think Fred would accept a VP spot, no matter who selected him.
January 5th, 2008 at 9:56 am
It should be no suprise that mccain wills tab anyone in the back for personal gain. everybody in the senate knows this to be true.
he wants to be prez more than anybody in the race, except maybe hillary.
January 9th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Could you take down JIm Gilmore? He’s long out and is about to get hammered in Va Senate race.