Perfectly Plastic

I don't want a perfectly plastic president, and with that in mind, I have a few thoughts about Fred Thompson and his announcement in Des Moines yesterday.

1) Where was the crowd? Apparently, only about 200 people showed up for the announcement, though his campaign claims the attendance was 400. Campaign math requires dividing any estimate of crowd size, coming from the campaign, by 2. I believe that I could get more than 200 of my family and close friends to show up if I were announcing a run for school board, much less, president. This was at least an organizational failing on the part of the campaign. Jay Wagner blogged, "But the room itself might be able to handle 50 at most." This was not exactly a Fred frenzy.

2) The Iowa Independent live blogged the event, and I was struck by this note:
2:23: "Thompson still seems to have his audience riveted. A women just collapsed in the audience--I'm not sure what happened but it hasn't had any impact on the former senator's flawless delivery." I don't want a president who can have a women collapse in his audience and be unmoved and able to stay entirely on script. Can you for one minute imagine John and Elizabeth Edwards ignoring that women?

3) Finally, this is foreboding. "People are also amazed at the custom-made stage that Thompson will use to make his announcement. It is built to resemble granite and has large video screens built into it."

Folks, George Bush, III has put on Ronald Reagan's clothes, and he's running for President. They are about to engage in political theater that will make the 2004 RNC look like a high school play. He is the greatest threat to a Democrat winning, and is already running on the line that he can stop Hillary. National polls indicate that paired up against her, he just might be right. John Edwards on the other hand, continues to beat him and all the GOP candidates in head-to-head match ups.

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