Fred Thompson and the Reagan Republicans
10 June 2007First posted at fredthompsonnmo.wordpress.com, and I’m reposting it here:
Fred Thompson and the Reagan Republicans
By: Tommy Oliver
Much has been made of the comparisons between Fred Thompson and Ronald Reagan. For the record, I don’t think there will ever be another Ronald Reagan. Senator Thompson will have to be his own man to win the hearts of the electorate. However, I believe that Senator Thompson is a Reagan Republican in ideology and manner. Thompson has the opportunity to reshape the GOP, much like Reagan did in his 1976 primary challenge to Gerald Ford, tilting the party back to its conservative nature. Thompson, as opposed to the other candidates, preaches the philosophy of smaller government first and foremost. He has stated this over and over again.
People have recently made arguments that Senator Thompson is Bush’s candidate. He does have some ties to the Bush team, but so does every one of the major candidates running in the GOP primary. What I find interesting though are the many ties Thompson has to former Reaganites, and the examples given in the following passages.
Howard Baker, the former Senate Majority Leader and Reagan White House Chief of Staff, is the most obvious example, but the are others:
Mack Mattingly:
“Early Thompson supporters like Mattingly are Reagan Republicans to the core. They don’t talk about reducing the cost of government; they obsess about it. They’re skeptical of the influence of special-interest groups, and of government intervention in our lives. These are not “neocons,” but rather the last lions of the Reagan era. They’re soft-spoken, but passionate.
Mattingly was elected U.S. senator from Georgia in 1980, in a brutal campaign against legendary Democrat Herman Talmadge. That same year, incumbent President Jimmy Carter fared poorly across the nation in his re-election bid, but did carry his home state of Georgia. On the same ballot, Mattingly won and became the first Republican senator from Georgia since Reconstruction.
Six years later, Mattingly was caught up in a national downdraft that sent many of his fellow freshman Republican senators home. But during his six years in Congress, Mattingly’s affability and attractiveness helped him make friends among Republican leadership. President Reagan recognized him in one of his State of the Union addresses as the chief protagonist in one of the poignant dramas of the Reagan era — the fight for the budget line-item veto.”
“Tom Collamore, a former vice president of public affairs at Altria, has been leading the behind-the scenes organization efforts for a Thompson presidential candidacy and will be intimately involved when (not if) the former senator decides to announce a bid.
Collamore joined the Reagan administration in 1981 as special assistant to Commerce Secretary Malcolm Baldrige. He was named staff secretary to Vice President George H.W. Bush in 1985 and was part of Bush’s transition team when he won the White House in 1988. Collamore was then named assistant secretary of Commerce in 1989. In 1992, Collamore joined Philip Morris Cos., which became Altria in 2003.”
Indeed, several former top Reagan aides, led by Michael Deaver, are helping Thompson shape his campaign. Like the Man from General Electric, they insist, Thompson is not only an actor.”
Richard Allen and David McIntosh:
“Thompson has been talking foreign policy with Richard Allen, Ronald Reagan’s first national security adviser, who has agreed to serve as an adviser. He has also met with former U.N. ambassador John Bolton, who has spent time with other GOP candidates as well and remains uncommitted.
McIntosh, who in 1982 helped start the Federalist Society, the well-known national organization for conservative lawyers and students, is widely regarded as a serious conservative thinker and someone who is in touch with the ideas that animate movement conservatives. McIntosh says Thompson is a conservative’s conservative. “When I first talked to Fred, I thought either he’s a better actor than anyone I’ve ever met, or this is really him. Having spent more time, I know he’s a real conservative.”
Fred Thompson might not be Ronald Reagan the 2nd, but they were both believers in an ideology above all else: lower taxes and a smaller national government. Reagan governed by principle, and there has yet to be any evidence that Thompson would not do the same.
Loading ...
