Why I'm With Fred

Now that my finals are over I can begin to give my full attention to something other than passing my classes. I believe the time has come to throw my support behind one of the men running for the Republican nomination for President.

I decided right after 2004 that I would not be one of those people who endorsed way too early and got it wrong. I consider myself a completive man who takes the proper time in order to make the proper decision. After researching the past and present views of the candidates, their ability to successfully run for the office, and other factors important to me I have decided that former Senator Fred Dalton Thompson is the person that I think is best suited to win our nomination and the Presidency.

First off let me say this, I did not arrive at this decision because he is on TV and movies and I think he’s the next Reagan, nor because my best friend has also decided to endorse Fred, nor because he shares the same first name as my father and grandfather. I came to this decision on my own about two months or so ago after I had the opportunity to meet the man.

What first drew me towards Fred was the complete lack of someone in the race that I could truly get behind. I have many friends, who are with many candidates, and I respect all of them and their choices, but none of them were for me. I will go into why later. When many like me let their dissatisfaction known the call went out for another candidate, one we could unite behind, and that led to the idea of getting Fred to get into the race. That is one of his best qualities to me, he didn’t seek this nomination since the ballots were still being counted in 2004, he got into this race because we wanted him…because we needed him.

Now I am usually the first to point out the historical aversion this country has to electing Senators, in fact only 2 people, Harding and Kennedy, have been elected directly from the Senate. However of the 42 men who have been President, 15 have spent some time in the Senate before the Presidency. Why I don’t think this is an issue for Fred is that he is not a career Senator or politician for that matter. He was an attorney before becoming an actor, actually by accident. He was asked to play himself in a movie about a case, and kept being cast in parts. After years of successfully acting he ran for Al Gore’s vacated Senate seat in 1994 and won, was reelected in 1996, and after serving his time he went back to his career as an actor as opposed to becoming entrenched in Washington. This is the ideal of what we want from our leaders, for them to remember where they came from and not to become career politicians.

In Hollywood, FL at the Young Republican National Convention I had the opportunity to meet Fred and to hear him speak on the issues. I appreciated what I thought was a very common sense way of looking at the problems facing us today. Upon doing more research on him he also appealed to the libertarian in me with some of his Senate record, where he was the 1 on a number of 99-1 votes that sought to expand the size of the federal government. The concept of federalism, and moving the balance towards the states and away from the federal government, is something that hits right at the core of my belief system. I always am of the belief that if you want something done right, the last place to look is the federal government. Fred took the same Con Law classes I am taking, and he understand the swings in power the courts gave the federal government and how we are overdo for a swing against the federal government.

Of course he has his flaws like we all do, some Republicans might not like his voting record on campaign finance reform, and his ACU rating is 86, however no one is perfect and I believe it is the flaws where we find the true nature of a man, and in Fred’s case I find his true nature to be someone who is willing to take a stand based on what he believes is right, not based on what is polled to be popular or what is politically expedient.

Now as I stated I looked through all the other candidates and found them not to be what I was looking for. Back in 2000 I was a McCain supporter, because he was a straight talker who had no problem telling the party they were going down the wrong path, now I see McCain as someone who was so desperate to get the nomination he sold himself out, he became a party yes man, and I am a conservative first, Republican second. John McCain isn’t John McCain anymore, he’s the second coming of George W. Bush, which is not what the party or the country needs right now. Rudy Giuliani was a great leader on a terrible day; however one day does not make a President. His record on social issues makes him not palatable to me as a candidate. I do believe that he would be a tremendous Commander-in-Chief, but there are other duties of the office, and it is those duties that I worry about with a Giuliani Presidency. Mitt Romney is an interesting case, he says all the right things, has the right look, and even has the Michigan connection, but I just don’t trust him. He is the consummate politician, saying what he thinks needs to be said to win a nomination, not saying what he thinks needs to be said because he believes it. Now I know if you look to the second tier you find more true conservatives, but each of them are either one-dimensional or lacked that something extra to be someone you could follow to the White House. Fred Thompson was someone Hollywood casting directors looked to when they needed someone with a strong presence to play a leader or man in power, and in this case Hollywood may actually have got it right.

I know most of you are already entrenched with a candidate, and I respect all of you for your choices. I know the next few months we are going to debate and discuss with the passion I know we all have for this game. However in the end, after the insanely front-loaded primary system tells us who our nominee will be, I hope we can all come together as friends and put the past behind us and go forward with the ultimate goal, making sure the Democrats don’t take the White House.

Now that I have laid out my case, I hope to inspire discussion and debate, and maybe even a few converts, but from now until the end I can honestly stand up and say I’m With Fred.