Fred Thompson Drops Out; Grandpa Fred, We Hardly Knew Ye!

By: Lowell
Published On: 1/22/2008 3:40:56 PM

The breaking news is that Grandpa Fred Thompson is dropping out of the Republican race for President.  His incredible passion and energy and...well, oh, forget it...will be missed!

UPDATE by The Grey Havens: Aww... Granpa Fred, we hardly knew 'ye. No, really, I mean, we hardly knew ye at all.  We never saw you on TV, barely in debates.  You had one shining moment, in Nevada which quickly faded into hazy memory.  You didn't work.  You didn't raise money.  You didn't embody the legacy of Reagan as promised.  You didn't bring much-needed charisma to the Republican nomination, as promised.  In fact, Fred Thompson didn't, for all we can see, do really anything except prevent Mike Huckabee from winning South Carolina.

So, the rich, hollywood lobbyist with the trophy daughter wife won't have a chance to pretend to some down-home good-ol boy roots.  You won't have a chance to give speaches in a flannel shirt from the back of a rented, beat up old red pickup the way you did when he faked your way into the Senate.  Of course, your Virginia team, George Allen and Bob McDonnell, will long remember your verile presence and powerful man musk, but the rest of us will struggle in years to come to remember anything beyond the promise of a candidacy that wasn't.   Your one lasting contribution to the American economy may endure:  you made it ok to take Metamucil again, and for that, America always be grateful.  


Comments



Cheap shot... (SaveElmer - 1/22/2008 4:02:23 PM)
What was the point?...and if Obama had nodded off in public would we see that on the front page too?


Sometimes, you just gotta catch some ZZZZZZsss (The Grey Havens - 1/22/2008 4:04:52 PM)



Umm... (TurnPWBlue - 1/22/2008 4:37:40 PM)
You betcha we'd see all kinds of video of Obama nodding off during an MLK remembrance.


Ha. (Lowell - 1/22/2008 4:38:36 PM)
Thanks for the laugh, so true! :)


Here? (SaveElmer - 1/22/2008 4:42:55 PM)
Doubtful


Humor is everywhere (pvogel - 1/22/2008 4:06:34 PM)
Dont take everything so badly, elmer.
They all have been campaigning 24-7 for weeks.

I am surprised that more sleepers have not been found yet.

Bottom line,   anybody but republicans worx for me!



My guess is they wouldn't get front page treatment here.. (SaveElmer - 1/22/2008 4:09:47 PM)
At RaisingObama


Yeah... (ericy - 1/22/2008 4:26:15 PM)

There is plenty I could bust on Bill about, but falling asleep during a long speech isn't one of them.


It's more funny than anything else (Lowell - 1/22/2008 4:27:43 PM)
All these old men, Thompson and Clinton, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz..........


Having said that... (Lowell - 1/22/2008 4:32:38 PM)
...in all seriousness, I am pretty peeved at Bill Clinton right now, along with Ted Kennedy, Rahm Emanuel, Tom Daschle, James Clyburn, and many others.  He's not acting presidential, and his attacks on Obama are hurting the Democratic Party.  It's pathetic that he's tarnishing his legacy in this way.


Tarnishing His Legacy? (Ben - 1/22/2008 4:42:43 PM)
Give me a break.  After the millions of people he helped as President you will throw that kind of trashy rhetoric at him because he is supporting his wife?  Lowell, you should apologize for that- not campaigning in the way you want him to can never tarnish what he did for so many people as President.


I have no problem with him supporting his wife (Lowell - 1/22/2008 4:52:52 PM)
I have a big problem with the rhetoric he's been using against Barack Obama. That's why Ted Kennedy, Rahm Emanuel, Tom Daschle, James Clyburn and others have been urging him to tone it down.


which legacy? (Alter of Freedom - 1/23/2008 12:27:39 AM)
Is it the legacy of being the "first" Black President...how pathetic to laugh and promote such foolishness even if rhetoric out of the Clinton camp in a race where there is a legitimate African- American running to represemt our nation.  


I find it curious Obama suuporters are primarily the ones calling Bill unpresidential... (SaveElmer - 1/22/2008 4:49:37 PM)
The new front in their effort to remove Bill from the playing field...

It's a bogus criticism...and you have to admit coming from an avowed Obama supporter of very dubious objectivity...



Ted Kennedy, Rahm Emanuel, and (Lowell - 1/22/2008 4:53:49 PM)
James Clyburn are Obama supporters?  That's fascinating, where did you hear that?


Show me where any of them said Bill was being unpresidential... (SaveElmer - 1/22/2008 5:07:00 PM)
That is a term dreamed up by Obama supporters...


No, it's from a Newsweek (Lowell - 1/22/2008 5:19:27 PM)
article:

Prominent Democrats are upset with the aggressive role that Bill Clinton is playing in the 2008 campaign, a role they believe is inappropriate for a former president and the titular head of the Democratic Party. In recent weeks, Sen. Edward Kennedy and Rep. Rahm Emanuel, both currently neutral in the Democratic contest, have told their old friend heatedly on the phone that he needs to change his tone and stop attacking Sen. Barack Obama, according to two sources familiar with the conversations who asked for anonymity because of their sensitive nature. Clinton, Kennedy and Emanuel all declined to comment.

Also, see here for Tom Daschle's comments.



A reporters interpretation of comments from an unidentified source... (SaveElmer - 1/22/2008 5:26:02 PM)
And Daschle endorsed Obama some time ago...


How does an inappropriate comment make anyone "unpresidential" ? (Tom Counts - 1/23/2008 6:44:23 PM)


Clairification: "Inappropriate" isn't the same as "unpresidential. (Tom Counts - 1/23/2008 6:46:44 PM)


Clyburn also advised Obama to grow a thicker skin...nt (SaveElmer - 1/22/2008 5:12:30 PM)


I agree with Clyburn. My father was a man with a tough skin and a tender heart. (Tom Counts - 1/23/2008 6:48:27 PM)


More of the FT legacy (The Grey Havens - 1/22/2008 4:30:39 PM)

h/t dailykos



I expected better (Ingrid - 1/22/2008 4:51:32 PM)
Bill should stay awake during speeches on what is one of the most meaningful of national holidays. After all, wasn't he "the first black president" of the U.S.?


Bad News About Thompson (HisRoc - 1/22/2008 4:51:41 PM)
You realize, of course, that now we have no chance of having a First Lady with bodacious ta-ta's?
:)


Ha! (elevandoski - 1/22/2008 6:51:52 PM)
Richard Viguerie on Fred Thompson's Withdrawal From the Presidential Race: How Can They Tell He's No Longer Campaigning?


;) (HisRoc - 1/22/2008 7:03:40 PM)


George Allen hasn't lost his touch (True Blue - 1/22/2008 7:36:07 PM)

Cough, cough.