Bluey Blog - Official Blog of Robert B. Bluey

Fred Flops

My high expectations for Fred Thompson were met with bitter disappointment tonight after listening to a boring and uninspiring speech that was more appropriate for someone running for president of the Rotary Club rather than president of the United States.

Thompson’s address to the Mackinac Republican Leadership Conference had the potential to top Rudy Giuliani’s moving speech last night. Instead, things went bad right from the start. Moments before Thompson took the stage, Rep. Tim Walberg gave a quick speech blaming last year’s GOP losses on Republicans who had fallen asleep. It gave Thompson a punch line; he told the audience that he hoped that he wouldn’t put them to sleep. Then he did just that. It was like watching Bob Dole — without the Viagra.

The speech seemed very disorganized and lacked focus. Thompson clearly wasn’t following a script — or if he was, it was a poorly written one. He spent more time talking about his life story and résumé (already covered in this wonderful commercial) than about policy issues. When he finally got into them — he prefers to discuss principles, not issues, by the way — attendees were ready for their dinner.

If I had to pick one highlight from the speech, it was Thompson’s focus on his family. He repeatedly cited his children as the inspiration for his candidacy. That’s where Mitt Romney succeeded this afternoon. Even though David Freddoso and Emily Zanotti gave Romney bad marks, I appreciated the fact that he made family values an important part of his speech. It was disappointing not to hear a peep from Giuliani, Ron Paul, Duncan Hunter or John McCain.

Speaking of McCain, who followed Thompson tonight, he was his usual self, focusing his entire speech on the Iraq War and broader war against Islamic extremists. He effectively used humor to talk about himself and then shifted to tough talk toward terrorists. He managed to get a standing ovation about halfway through when he called on Columbia University to rescind its invitation to Iranian leader Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. In my humble opinion, McCain finished a close second to Giuliani this weekend.

If Thompson is fortunate, his speech won’t hurt his standing in the much-anticipated Hotline straw poll. Because of all the pre-speech buzz that captivated Mackinac Island, I doubt he’ll suffer too much short-term fallout. After all, just a few hours ago I referred to him as a “rock star” because he could hardly take a step without admirers and the press chasing him wherever he went.

There’s still hope for Thompson, but he’ll have to improve his stump speech. One observer told me afterward that Thompson might be afraid to rely too much on his acting skills, which is why he comes across as laid back and dull. I’m not sure why we’re not seeing more passion, but I worry that it’s a problem that should have been corrected more than four months after those concerns were first raised.