Fred

Fred Thompson made his first visit to Des Moines earlier today. We were lucky enough to participate in a limited admission Q&A with Fred earlier today.

At the outset, I must confess, it is quite tempting for me to say “I’m with Fred” because I’ve pretty much been with a Fred my entire life. My Dad’s name is Fred(erick) and my middle name is Fred(erick)-yes, I am a “Teddy Freddy”, which explains my pugnacious nature-so I will have to make a concerted effort to avoid identifying with a lawyer named Fred.

Thompson is studiedly subtle and disarming. His resume and life story provide an interesting road to the White House. Hardly a legacy Fred, as bespeaks his name, is a bootstraps kind of guy who has achieved much on merit alone for around 35 years in public life.

It appears that Fred is in the opening stages of the “get to know ya” part of the campaign. His themes remain philosophical and general. Three dominant goals appear: rebuild the military so as to win a long war with global terror; reenergize the economy with tax cuts and regulatory relief; and, federalize solutions to social problems. The philosophical one iron allows Thompson to target dead center on the Republican ideological fairway. It also echoes the simple and irresistible appeal of Ronald Reagan’s surprising landslide against Jimmy Carter, which is not to say Fred is Dutch, of course. When Fred discussed solutions with any specificity he tended to focus on the common sense aspect of problem solving.

Specific bytes of evidence emerged over the course of about forty five minutes with Fred this morning. Eight Army divisions are clearly not enough; three percent of GDP on defense is insufficient; our corporate tax rates are higher than Scandinavian rates, creating a difficult problem for American goods in the international markets are three such examples. Such an approach leaves the listener believing that every point is supported by fact without boring through excess detail. Is a tough balance and Fred appeared able to pull it off.

Ag Secretary Bill Northey led an impressive turnout of Party officials and legislators at the event. The Republican leadership present provided a broad cross section of the Party, also serving evidence that the larger body of Republicans remain uncommitted to any one of the contenders. No one with whom I spoke came away unimpressed so the field is still open to a Thompson candidacy.

Fred promised many more trips to Iowa in the near future so hopefully more people can have a chance to view the late comer to the Hawkeye state. All of us Iowans have a lot of responsibility on our shoulders this year so everyone who plans to attend their caucus should get out and see the contenders in person; they are typically different in person than they are on television.