TV Candidate
"Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson placed first with 95 out of 306 total ballots cast."
Report of presidential straw poll at the Wisconsin Republican State Convention
(May 13, 2007 Milw. Journal Sentinel)
Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, who had addressed the Convention and probably knew every delegate by name, came in second with 84 votes. National polls accord the Tennesseean a respectable third place among eleven candidates, most impressive since he has yet to formally enter the race. How does he do it?
No, Fred Thompson is not really the District Attorney of Manhattan, he just played the role for five years on television. As DA Arthur Branch, he has become famous for reciting lines like "OK, Jack, offer him 'Man 2', but he's got to elocute and give up McDougal!" Ironically, one of his rivals for the GOP presidential nod, Rudolph Giuliani, really was a New York (federal )prosecutor.
The nation got its first look at Fred Thompson in 1973, when he was the counsel for the Republicans on the Senate Watergate Committee. (Coincidentally, Clinton was then on the Democratic legal team for the same investigation.) His impressive appearance, coupled with a deep voice and excellent elocution, brought him to the attention of Hollywood, where he appeared in dozens of films, most notably Die Hard 2, No Way Out, and The Hunt for Red October.
When a special election was held in 1994 to fill a vacant US Senate seat in Tennessee, Fred entered the race and won easily. He was elected to a full term in 1996. As Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in 1997, he dramatically claimed to have found evidence that China had bribed the Clinton Administration, but could not prove it. (1) No important legislation bears his name. Bored with the Senate, he declined to seek re-election in 2002 and nabbed the DA role on "Law and Order" that has made him famous. (2)
About 150 people have served (or are now serving) in the US Senate since Fred Thompson was elected in 1994, and the vast majority of them (e.g. Baucus, Landrieu, Miller, Kyl) are virtually unknown to the American public. What most people know about Fred Thompson is his TV persona, not his real-life Senate term. His popularity is a direct consequence of the blending of politics and entertainment that has a major impact on public affairs in this country.
There is nothing new about celebrities winning elective office. California elected actress Helen Gahagan Douglas (3) (star of She) and singer Sonny Bono to Congress, dancer George Murphy to the Senate, and actors Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger as governors. Wrestler/actor Jesse Ventura was elected Governor Minnesota on the Reform ticket, beating both the Democratic and Republican nominees.
Today, size matters big-time in politics . Unusually tall men like Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry seem to dominate presidential contests; its no wonder that Michael Dukakis (5'8") lost. On that score, Fred Thompson leads the field at 6'6", although Mitt Romney is close behind. Although wealthy, he is known to campaign in rough clothes at the wheel of a red pick-up truck. The image is "rough and tough." That worked great in Tennessee, but he may modify the image slightly on the presidential campaign trail
Fred Thompson is well-positioned to win the Republican nomination. His conservative stands are long-term, unlike Giuliani and Romney, and he is five years younger and more telegenic than McCain. Now that he has quit his TV show and will start campaigning, don't be surprised to see him move toward the top of the polls.
If only Americans in the previous century would have shown a similar preference for actors in the presidential race! If so, instead of Abe Lincoln, we might have elected the most popular actor of his day-----John Wilkes Booth.
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(1) TRB from Washington byJonathan Chait in The New Republic, May 7, 2007.
(2) Thompson actually began the role while he was still a US Senator in the Fall of 2002.
(3) Rep. Douglas, wife of actor Melvyn Douglas, lost the 1950 Senate race to Richard M Nixon.
Report of presidential straw poll at the Wisconsin Republican State Convention
(May 13, 2007 Milw. Journal Sentinel)
Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, who had addressed the Convention and probably knew every delegate by name, came in second with 84 votes. National polls accord the Tennesseean a respectable third place among eleven candidates, most impressive since he has yet to formally enter the race. How does he do it?
No, Fred Thompson is not really the District Attorney of Manhattan, he just played the role for five years on television. As DA Arthur Branch, he has become famous for reciting lines like "OK, Jack, offer him 'Man 2', but he's got to elocute and give up McDougal!" Ironically, one of his rivals for the GOP presidential nod, Rudolph Giuliani, really was a New York (federal )prosecutor.
The nation got its first look at Fred Thompson in 1973, when he was the counsel for the Republicans on the Senate Watergate Committee. (Coincidentally, Clinton was then on the Democratic legal team for the same investigation.) His impressive appearance, coupled with a deep voice and excellent elocution, brought him to the attention of Hollywood, where he appeared in dozens of films, most notably Die Hard 2, No Way Out, and The Hunt for Red October.
When a special election was held in 1994 to fill a vacant US Senate seat in Tennessee, Fred entered the race and won easily. He was elected to a full term in 1996. As Chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee in 1997, he dramatically claimed to have found evidence that China had bribed the Clinton Administration, but could not prove it. (1) No important legislation bears his name. Bored with the Senate, he declined to seek re-election in 2002 and nabbed the DA role on "Law and Order" that has made him famous. (2)
About 150 people have served (or are now serving) in the US Senate since Fred Thompson was elected in 1994, and the vast majority of them (e.g. Baucus, Landrieu, Miller, Kyl) are virtually unknown to the American public. What most people know about Fred Thompson is his TV persona, not his real-life Senate term. His popularity is a direct consequence of the blending of politics and entertainment that has a major impact on public affairs in this country.
There is nothing new about celebrities winning elective office. California elected actress Helen Gahagan Douglas (3) (star of She) and singer Sonny Bono to Congress, dancer George Murphy to the Senate, and actors Ronald Reagan and Arnold Schwarzenegger as governors. Wrestler/actor Jesse Ventura was elected Governor Minnesota on the Reform ticket, beating both the Democratic and Republican nominees.
Today, size matters big-time in politics . Unusually tall men like Ronald Reagan, George HW Bush, Bill Clinton, Al Gore, and John Kerry seem to dominate presidential contests; its no wonder that Michael Dukakis (5'8") lost. On that score, Fred Thompson leads the field at 6'6", although Mitt Romney is close behind. Although wealthy, he is known to campaign in rough clothes at the wheel of a red pick-up truck. The image is "rough and tough." That worked great in Tennessee, but he may modify the image slightly on the presidential campaign trail
Fred Thompson is well-positioned to win the Republican nomination. His conservative stands are long-term, unlike Giuliani and Romney, and he is five years younger and more telegenic than McCain. Now that he has quit his TV show and will start campaigning, don't be surprised to see him move toward the top of the polls.
If only Americans in the previous century would have shown a similar preference for actors in the presidential race! If so, instead of Abe Lincoln, we might have elected the most popular actor of his day-----John Wilkes Booth.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(1) TRB from Washington byJonathan Chait in The New Republic, May 7, 2007.
(2) Thompson actually began the role while he was still a US Senator in the Fall of 2002.
(3) Rep. Douglas, wife of actor Melvyn Douglas, lost the 1950 Senate race to Richard M Nixon.
posted by Gerald S Glazer at 10:45 AM
1 Comments:
Your conclusion implies that we now have an Abraham Lincoln in the race, so which one is Abraham Lincoln?
Your analogy however is quite accurate and has been stated many times before especially with regard to Bill Clinton. No one is smoother or more charismatic than Clinton and his charisma is the reason he always won his races as well.
It would have been better if you had simply addressed your conclusion directly instead of linking it with Thompson. The issue of the effects of charisma on our political system and its relationship to media is a very important issue that goes far beyond Thompson and Thompson is really a relatively poor example of this. Clinton or Reagon are far better models for the issue.
You also downplay the real issue with regard to Thompson, the fact that he is one of the few true conservatives in the field who have not been tarnished by Iraq.
Also of course just because someone has great charisma doesn't necessarily mean that he is or would be a poor leader. Both Reagon and Clinton were very good leaders even though they won on the basis of their charisma.
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