We’ll miss ya, Fred

I’d like to thank everyone who stopped by with the news yesterday.

The wife woke me up to let me know about it right after the announcement. My exact words are difficult for me to remember, but she says that I said “Tuesdays have always been as disappointing as Mondays for me.” before I passed back into the ether-world of dreams.

I really liked Fred Dalton Thompson. He was the first Politician I felt I could maybe, possibly, agree with on more than 75% of the issues. I know that having a beer with him would be a highlight any of us would never forget. Sadly, having a beer with Fred Thompson in the not too distant future is quite probably going to be a whole lot easier than if he’d gotten close to the White House.

Of course, I did always have a fear that having a guy I liked in the Oval Office would make me complacent and lazy, since constant vigilance is impossible if the danger is invisible.

So now that he has announced his withdrawal and has declined to offer an endorsement to any of the other candidates, as well as speak about his unwillingness to show for the Veep slot, I know not of what I’ll be doing on February 19th, Washington’s Primary Day.

I can vote in either of the party’s primaries, and am tempted to grab a Dem ballot and fuck around a bit: I can vote for Hillary, whose negatives are so large, she cannot win a majority in the general (especially if Bloomberg enters the race). Or I can vote for Obama, whom I think is actually the stronger Dem candidate, since he is the lesser evil of the two frontrunners in the party (he has to be since HRC actually IS evil and he is just rotten eggs).

Or I could go for Edwards or Kucinich, the latter of which actually got a majority of the vote in the Island county primary in 2004.

In closing I’d like to thank Fred for swinging the debate to the right a bit, though probably not enough to run past SuperTuesday. I’ll be there for you again, sir, when needed.

I’d also like to post up a number of quotes on the subject from others who said it better than I just did.

Midwesterner @ Samidata

There was a popular meme that Fred didn’t want it badly enough. The emphasis should be on ‘badly’. No, he didn’t sit up, offer his paw and roll over on command. He didn’t heel and he didn’t beg. It is true. He didn’t want to be president badly enough to, well … behave badly. Good for him. No honest and sane person would actually want that job. He offered himself as a candidate but could not bring himself to lie about wanting badly to be president. He did not plot and start his campaign years in advance. Our loss.

Eric @ Classical Values

Those who most want to be president are those who least deserve to be elected. The best presidents are those who are forced or persuaded by others into accepting the job.

All the more reason he would have been a great president.

The whole thing is just a damned shame.

Mountain Man @ The Flashing Light

Well, since Fred has decided to drop out of the race, I don’t know what I’ll do. None of the other candidates are good enough, so it would seem. But November is a long ways away. I think we’ve missed a great chance to push things in the direction of what the founders had in mind.

Fred, I wish you all the best and thank you and your family for trying to make this a better country.

Marc Corallo in this WaPo article

His legacy is one of missed opportunities, broken promises and an unfortunate disdain for the process,” said Corallo. “His legacy is also one of having been the only candidate seeking the Republican nomination who was willing to talk real substance, take a true, consistent conservative approach to every issue, of actually challenging the notion of big government, championing federalism and being honest about the looming entitlement train wreck that is going to bankrupt our kids. He was a lackluster candidate who would have been a great president.

So long, Fred. Not goodbye, just so long.