Why Republicans want Thompson...it's his stature...his physical stature...

[SaveElmer]

They want him because he is tall and they hope he will intimidate Hillary (assuming she is the nominee)...

Optics. "Can you imagine what debates are going to be like with great big Andrew Jackson-looking Fred and Hillary on her stubby little legs, stamping her feet?" Thompson, if elected, would be the tallest president ever. Republicans are not just looking for the usual John Wayne-type signifiers as they go about selecting a candidate, but thinking about who can best loom over Hillary Clinton and make her look like a shrill, small, silly little woman. Thompson's booming voice will make her "sound like Madame Defarge."

http://www.prospect.org/csnc/blogs/tapped_archive?month=08&year=2007&base_name=post_4590

I say bring him on...

[Name removed]

1. Deleted sub-thread

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[Mojambo]

2. Bin Laden's a pretty tall cat, no?

Maybe they could tap him.

Of course he might have trouble affecting that southern drawl that the knuckledraggers so love, but he IS tall.

[Colobo]

3. Don't worry- Obama won't be intimidated by Fred.

[Ishoutandscream2]

4. Thompson is an idiot. Hillary or any other one of our candidates

would expose him as such at the very beginning. Again, bring it on!

[bunkerbuster1]

5. Who are they kidding?

Fred Thompson looks like shit. He looks like Hillary could kick his ass.

[MrSlayer]

6. He's really ugly though.

Doesn't that take away from him? Besides, you don't get to "loom" over your opponent in the debates. They side by side the picture so they look even.

[HereSince1628]

7. They are looking to run the biggest prick they can find.

I think it's called Clenis envy.

[rurallib]

13. probably feed him Viagra to make him even taller

[partylessinOhio]

8. Did you see Thompson on the news today?

He looks old, haggard and sick. I immediately thought he might not be far behind Tony Snow.

I wonder why would he do this - run for president?

[Colobo]

9. He has this "I'm Grandpa and I do things the old fashioned way"

that Republicans love. Republicans like "father figures"- normative, protective figures.

[nickinSTL]

10. How tall is he?

Bill's pretty tall, so I'm guessing Hillary isn't easily intimidated by height...

If this is the best they've got...they'd better be controlling the voting machines if they want to win :tinfoilhat:

[Colobo]

11. Isn't he 6'4?

[tularetom]

12. He looks like he's always stifling a burp or is ready to puke

I had a prof in college who made the same kind of facial contortions that fugly freddy makes. It was distracting as hell.

There is nothing impressive or fatherly about this sad ol asshole trying to make a transparent appeal to the hicks.

[valerief]

14. No, it's his Aqua Velva. The GOP will sell him in Odorama. nt

[C_U_L8R]

15. But he's shaped like a potato

and as ugly as one too

[morningglory]

21. With the man boobs pokin' out of his knit shirt.

[C_U_L8R]

25. dayamn... i didn't need that image in my head

uck!!
porky old republican man-boobs...
ewwwwwww

[Tellurian]

16. Thompson is a slow moving, Bunyanesque, pariah...

a polished glad hander from way back resuscitated out of mothballs as a token (R) candidate. He's capable of holding a Bourbon in one hand while slipping a knife in with the other. He'll do his best to unnerve Hillary by his towering presence, but he is more self conscious of his lummoxing height than Hillary is of her derringer like petiteness .

[Sonicmedusa]

17. No, it's because the Pukes think he going to save them

From all those hard working brown people who spread pine straw on their gardens, raise their children for them and cook their meals.

[trayted]

18. I disagree, as usual. They want him because they are desperate, and don't have a clue about him

They are projecting their "hopes" onto his name, even though he's the least skilled of any of the current ones that they have running.

Once he enters the race, he'll flame out quickly, and it's already started with more of them actually being able to put a "current" face to the name, not a made-up, Law and Order face.

[Tellurian]

19. Thompson isn't a newbie to politics..

"Thompson was admitted to the State Bar of Tennessee in 1967 and worked as an assistant U.S. attorney from 1969 to 1972.<10> He was the campaign manager for Republican U.S. Senator Howard Baker's successful re-election campaign in 1972, which led to a close personal friendship with Baker. He later served as co-chief counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in its investigation of the Watergate scandal, (1973–1974), and afterwards wrote a book about it.<11> Among the cases Thompson has handled in his private law practice are personal injury claims and the defense of individuals accused of white collar crimes."<12>

"Throughout the 1980s and early 1990s, Thompson worked primarily as an attorney, with law offices in Nashville and Washington, DC. His work included serving as special counsel to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in 1980 and the Senate Intelligence Committee in 1982, and a wide variety of other legal work.<9> Some of his clients have been foreign corporations, such as a German mining group and Japan's Toyota Motors Corporation.<13> Thompson has also served on various corporate boards; for example, in the 1990s, he did legal work for the engineering firm Stone & Webster, while serving on its board of directors."<14>

Thompson was also a US Senator from 1994 to 2003.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fred_Thompson

[trayted]

30. Neither is Dick Cheney, yet a large portion of the public doesn't have a clue who the current VP is

Less people in North Carolina know who John Edwards is than who Hillary Clinton is. Believe me, I know. When stupid people ask me if I'm supporting Clinton or Obama, and I say I support John Edwards, they are like "who?"

You know who Thompson is.
I know who Thompson is.

Joe Biden has been in DC for over 20 years. Think more Democrats know who he is than Clinton?

Everything Clinton and Giuliani get right now is based on name recognition, and Thompson's an unknown to most GOP voters. They are projecting their "hopes" on to him.

[defendandprotect]

20. Kerry was taller than Bush -- so they ADJUSTED the TV cameras on split screen . . . .

to make them the same size -- !!!

I don't recall what they did when they were full screen, except I remember you didn't see anything that would show you that Kerry was taller.

This is important to these people --

[Harry Monroe]

22. He looks like...like...ummmm...

Frankenberry!!!

[Norrin Radd]

27. Frankenberry minus the healthy pink glow.

[tanyev]

23. "Andrew Jackson looking".

Seriously? 'Cause I just don't see it.

[NJCher]

24. BFD

Hillary's 5'8 1/2 and with three-inch heels, that puts her pretty close to six feet. Then Thompson would only be four inches taller than she.

A lot of how height is perceived depends on how the person carries their height. Hillary's posture is always impeccable and she carries herself well.

It's probably a moot point, though because I agree that during debates they make the candidates appear of equal height.



Cher

[Manifestor_of_Light]

26. Hillary is pretty tall. At least from my perspective.

I met her in 92 during Bill's first campaign.
I hate discrimination against short people, and the fact that many tall men enjoy intimidating smaller men and women!!!! AGGGHHHH!!!

I'm five foot three and female, so a number of people have assumed I'm just a stupid little female they can intimidate. I do NOT find tall men attractive now. They're mostly control freaks because they can get away with it.

I wished I was tall but it didn't work out that way. Both my parents were quite a bit taller than I am. The grandparents were even taller than the parents. Don't know what happened.

Go Dennis!!!

[NJCher]

32. wanted to be tall?

Don't know what happened.

Maybe this: tallness is a recessive gene.



Cher

[Enthusiast]

28. He really does look unhealthy.............nt

[saltpoint]

29. Fred's a big guy but he's not an agile big guy. Jim Brown was a big guy,

and Jim Brown was an agile big guy.

Thompson's clumsy-of-muscle and thick-of-mind. I think we've already seen the hesitancy and uncertainty and awkward first steps. He keeps close to his own gravity on an NBC set, but a director and a light crew are telling him exactly where to stand and what to say.

In real life he has to do that on his own and he doesn't have the wherewithal. Or the instinct for it. Or the experience at it.

He's not sure-footed. He's just big-footed.

[DU GrovelBot]

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[tigereye]

33. he just seems gross and intolerant...

[Cha]

34. rick lazio and mr potato head

sure didn't intimidate her. Just like repukes to think about intimidation instead of the issues or policy.

It must suck to be a repuke in the 21st century.