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.

Tommy and the Jews

"I"m in the private sector, and for the first time in my life I'm earning money. You know that's sort of part of the Jewish tradition, and I do not find anything wrong with that."
Former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson, speaking to a meeting of the
Religious Action Center of Reform Judaism. (1)

" A life of wealth and honor...."
Jewish prayer for the coming month

Before the end of the meeting Thompson added ..."If anybody took what I said wrong, I apologize." Since what the former governor said was neither false nor negative, I see no reason to apologize, although the demands of "political correctness" have impelled quite a few people to do so recently.

Although some Jews find it embarrassing to note, it is a fact that Jews earn more and have more than other Americans. This is also true in other countries with a free-enterprise system in which Jews are able to compete on a fair basis. Any list of the most successful businesses in the Milwaukee area since World War II would have to include MGIC, Manpower, Jack Winter, Astronautics Corporation, Fleet Mortgage, Towne Realty, Robert A Polachek Realty (now CB Ellis), Guaranty Bank, Stein Optical, Master Lock, Miller Compressing and Sampson Enterprises. All of these firms were founded and run by Jews, a group that never exceeded 3 percent of the population. Jewish professionals, such as doctors, lawyers, and accountants have also been among the leaders in their fields in this metro area.

As Thompson correctly noted, Jewish success in business stems from the traditions of Judaism, which have always had a healthy, positive outlook on acquiring wealth, as cited in the Rosh Chodesh prayer above. The Talmud considers Abraham's wealth, which was passed on to Isaac and then Jacob, as a sign of G-d's favor. Vows of poverty, still used by some Catholic orders, have no place in Judaism. In fact, the Talmud terms poverty as not much better than death. If you want to send your children to Jewish schools, eat kosher, and live near a synagogue, you need quite a bit of money.

Tommy Thompson, now seeking the 2008 Republican nomination for President, was simply trying to link his new affluence with that of his audience of Reform Jews. He also referred to Israel Bonds as "Jewish Bonds" and spoke favorably of the Jewish Defense League (JDL). The ex-governor apparently did not know that many Jews are uncomfortable with references to Jewish wealth and that Reform Jews hate the JDL.

Was this a "Brainwash Moment" like the one that sank Michigan Governor George Romney's 1968 campaign for the GOP nomination? (2) Probably not, since Reform Jews (the most liberal demographic in the US) would not have backed Thompson anyway. He has certainly pleased members of Milwaukee's orthodox community(3), but they are not influential in the national Republican Party. As a modestly-funded ex-governor of a medium-sized state, whose career as Secretary of Health and Human Services was undistinguished (4), Tommy Thompson was never a major contender for the 2008 Republican nomination.

If, despite everything, Tommy Thompson does emerge as the GOP nominee next year, I will admit that I was wrong. But I will not apologize.

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(1) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, April 17, 2007, page 3A.

(2) Gov. Romney's campaign tanked after he told TV reporters that he had been "brainwashed" by US generals in Vietnam. His son Mitt, now also seeking the 2008 nomination, has so far avoided the term "brainwash."

(3) Tommy Thompson signed the legislation creating Parental School Choice vouchers, which account for nearly half the income of the Yeshiva Elementary School in Milwaukee. In 1995 Rabbi Ben-Tzion Twerski prevailed upon the Governor to persuade Marty Stein (1937-2006) to accept the Congregation Beth Jehudah Avir Yaakov Award. Thompson also spoke at the Banquet honoring Stein and Pillar of Chesed honoree Cissy Glazer.

(4) Clueless during the 2001 anthrax crimes.