Slipping In Elephant Dung

Pick up a newspaper or stream through the political blogs and you will pick up the tremors predicting a possible Fred Thompson campaign for President. So called ultra conservatives have been experiencing about a three month long hard-on for Thompson, believing he is some sort of mythical Cialis for all things conservatives. I've got to be honest, I am hard pressed to figure out why. I realize my support of Giuliani gives me a myopic view of the other candidates, but lets review Fred's history.

He was an actor in some movies that I have been known to watch. Of his acting career prior to politics I see only one real obstacle: Aces: Iron Eagle III. Then in 1994 he replaces Al Gore as a Tennessee senator when Gore joined Clinton in the White House. During his eight years as a Senator, Thompson had many opportunity to lay a foundation of his core beliefs. However he didn't and instead spent a large amount of time investigating Clinton. At every turn where Fred could have stood for something, he deferred.

I am starting to think there are no real conservatives in this country with a brain. The only real reason Fred Thompson is a viable candidate is because other Republicans believe none of the declared candidates are "conservative" enough. Get a grip people. Maybe Giuliani is pro-choice, but almost all of his other actions are decidedly conservative. Plus he has a record on issues that can be referenced; both good and bad. With Thompson what I am supposed to do? Pop in a DVD of Law and Order and hope I can gleam some insight through his mannerisms? Or hope he rules over America like he rules over Cole Trickle in Days of Thunder?

Here is the hard fact for every conservative / Republican reading this: a Hillary/Obama ticket will be damn near impossible to beat in November 2008. We need a moderate Republican in order to have any chance to sway the independent voters. The next election is not going to be kind to conservatives and you can blame Bush's approval rating for that. While I support the President, the only way there will be any type of Republican leadership after 2008 is if we move back towards the center. No, that does not mean compromising our morals or principles. It means electing politicians that have the ability to appeal to moderates. And if Fred Thompson is a "true conservative" he won't be able to do that, because his political stance would be to far to the right for the average voter.

Lower taxes and smaller government are the foundations for why I am a Republican and why I support Rudy Giuliani. I consider myself a very conservative person, but I am not going to wander around looking for a mythical, non-existent, bipartisan, perfect conservative while squabbling over systematics.