Stuff That Matters In Life

A Statement from Fred Thompson

Posted: Tue. 22 Jan 2008

Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people.

Fred Thompson, from what I understand, is the only true conservative candidate, true in the sense of down the line Republican conservative. He stands for small government,  free market with limited government regulations, personal responsibility without government handouts, etc.  I pretty much agree with everything he says.

Before I saw Thompson on TV, I was excited to hear that a strong conservative senator was going to run for President. He was the conservative hope.

But after I saw him, I did not support him.

I didn’t think he was a win-able candidate for the Republicans. His demeanor did not come across well at debates, he looked like he was always frowning. Even though he is chronologically younger than John McCain and Ron Paul, he looks older and seemed to lack energy.

In any leadership role, the way you come across is probably more important to the people than what you actually stand for. A leader has got to have charisma, a “presence”, to garner support and gain followers.

It doesn’t seem right that outward appearance should make such a difference, but it does.

I wish Fred Thompson ran a better campaign. He should’ve hired a public image consultant to reshape his appearance, like Celine Dion did.  I read somewhere that she had a total makeover to make her more presentable before she went public with her career. She had ugly teeth and she wasn’t that pretty. Even for a singer where you can hide behind the album cover, having just a great voice isn’t enough.

For Fred Thompson, he could’ve at least smiled more.