Fred Certain: Conservatives hate new ideas, so they love Thompson

[dorkulon]

--snip--

So, conservatives are hard-headed. Not a big shock. But how does someone who doesn't like new information choose a new president? Easy—they get a guy who won't give them any information. A guy they can endow with whatever qualities they want. A guy like Fred Thompson.

Regardless of the brain study, conservatives like to flap about how they “think” and liberals “feel.” But the strangely robust support for Thompson seems to be entirely based on feelings. Thompson is six foot six, has a deep, folksy drawl and a leathery, masculine face, and he is reassuringly familiar due to his many roles on TV and in movies. He has already played the president three times. Some think he waited too long to get in the race, but by hanging back, Thompson has let conservatives and the media form an image of him in his absence. This is truly what the press loves to do, and it has paid off. Thompson, who seems a lot less cocksure and virile live than he does on a soundstage, was branded the new Reagan before he gave his first stump speech.

In the time it took Thompson to enter the race, Guiliani's daughter endorsed Barack Obama, and Romney equated his sons' work for his campaign to serving in Iraq. McCain fell off the face of the earth, and Tom Tancredo advocated bombing Mecca. All the while, the absent Thompson grew in popularity. Last Thursday, while the rest of the GOP contenders debated, Thompson announced on the Tonight Show. Again, his numbers went up, while pundits fretted that he was too late, too lazy. But Thompson's got the right idea. With conservatives, the less you challenge their preconceptions, the better you'll do. The less he says, the better.

--snip--

Of course, conservatives aren't the only ones susceptible to the soothing certainty of dogma. But it's their virtual inability to change their minds, regardless of the facts, that makes them so much more dangerous. We see it manifested in the ridiculously drawn out disaster in Iraq—rather than adapting to what's actually happening, Bush clings to his original, demented hallucination of a shining beacon of democracy. Another man might have reassessed and revised his goals by now. But Bush refuses to learn anything. Just this past week he was in Australia, talking about how we're “kicking ass” in Iraq. And conservatives love this about him. He is steadfast, firm, resolute—all synonyms for “doesn't change his mind.” This is a shitty, stupid trait to be exalting. This sick, authoritarian vision of “leadership” that worships unthinking stubbornness is a true danger. The idea that a leader of people should think about something once, make a decision, and then never reconsider it, is simply insane.

But that's where we are. And now here come Thompson and Guiliani, ready to pick up the mantle for ill-considered forcefulness and self-serving bullshit, ready to talk about “kicking ass,” and more convincingly than Bush ever could. It doesn't really matter if they're good Christians, as long as they make Christians feel good. As long as they don't challenge us. As long as they don't ask us to adapt, evolve, learn, or think, because that's not what conservatives do.

http://www.smirkingchimp.com/thread/10099

[aquart]

1. But neither is as pretty as Mitt.

Who would be shoe-in except for his underwear.

[dorkulon]

3. Nah, Mitt's too on the nose

He reeks of fakery. Too much game-show-host.

[Kermitt Gribble]

2. I'm betting Thompson will be the Puke's nominee.

I worked for a small company with 4 employees a few months ago. My boss and one other employee were Reagan republicans. The "Ronnie saved the world" types. They supported romney until there was mention of Thompson running, then it was all about how Thompson was going to "get this country back the way it should be", which according to them, is pre civil rights era. You wouldn't believe how excited they were about ole Fred.