Perfect Timing

At last night’s Republican debate, candidates took lighthearted jabs at Fred Thompson for skipping another GOP forum, choosing instead to appear on Jay Leno to officially announce that he is running for the nomination. I’ve long been of the opinion that Thompson knows exactly what he is doing, in terms of his "late" entry into the game. I loved his comment last night on Leno that compared the average American’s willingness to deal with a politician to the same realization that he has to go to the dentist. We don’t like doing it, but eventually, we have to…but we’ll put it off as long as possible and go on living our lives. I think the “Thompson entered too late” line is a bunch of bunk. It’s still very early. His delay has only helped to energize more excitement about his campaign. By staying above the fray of the silly debates (and they are silly), he comes across as a more serious, circumspect and unifying individual. Thompson, as I see it, has enormous potential. Style, delivery and presence are not everything in politics, but in a tight race, these factors can tip the balance one way or another.

For once, conservative Republicans have a candidate who can communicate effectively. Bush Sr. was intelligent and could give a speech, but he came across as a boring professor who granted, may have known his material in and out but couldn’t energize other people about his message. Bob Dole was the same; he never stood a chance against the youthful, slick yet extraordinarily good communicator that was Bill Clinton. As for George W. Bush, we’re just lucky the other side offered up such reject candidates as Gore and Kerry. But let's be honest, who doesn’t cringe as Bush opens his mouth to deliver a major speech? It’s simply painful to watch. One of the first rules in effective communication is the importance of connecting with your audience and making them interested in what you’re talking about via your own passion. Like Reagan before him, Fred Thompson does this very well.

A word on the debate last night: I was unimpressed with everyone. There was a superabundance of pandering, bad attempts at humor by old people and car salesman slickness. Romney came across as a hollow game show host, circa 1985, McCain was McCain: boring, stiff, awkward, clumsy, etc. Giuliani sounded like a broken record, “I saved New York, elect me.” The other second and third-tier Lilliputians don’t stand a chance and aren’t worth a mention.

Enter Thompson

Watch his announcement.
http://www.fred08.com/index.aspx