Podhoretz: "Fun With Fred"

'08: FUN WITH FRED
By JOHN PODHORETZ

March 13, 2007 -- SO now we have a Republican boomlet in the race for president, in the person of lawyer-actor and ex-Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee and "Law and Order." He's considering a run, he said on Sunday.

He'd make for a thrilling candidate, in part because he would be the first person in history to run for president after playing a president in a film about a terrorist attack (2005's "Last Best Chance"). Thompson has also appeared on film as a White House chief of staff, the director of both the CIA and the FBI, and has been the fictional representative of very nearly every service of the U.S. military.

Now, it would be foolish for anyone to dismiss the Thompson candidacy because of his career as a performer. He was and is one of the most intelligent and interesting people in American politics. His journey to the screen was the equivalent of a freak meteorological event. "When people ask me how to get into the movies," he once told me, "I tell them, 'Stand around until you get hit by lightning. That's how it happened to me.' "

Thompson became famous before he turned 30, as the counsel to the Republicans on the Watergate committee. He was the person who asked Nixon White House official Alexander Butterfield the question that changed American history: Was there a secret taping system inside the White House? Butterfield answered "yes" - and the rapid downward slide toward the Nixon resignation commenced in earnest.

After his tenure in D.C., Thompson went back to his native Tennessee and hung out a legal shingle. A few years later, he represented a remarkable woman named Marie Ragghianti - who had discovered that the state's governor was actually selling pardons to imprisoned crooks.

When Hollywood descended on Nashville to make a movie about her story, Thompson sat in on the casting sessions for the actor to play him. After a few days, the movie's casting director, Lynn Stalmaster, said, "Fred, do you want to give it a try?"

Thompson took a walk around the block, went over the script a few times, came back in and read the scene. He got the part.

Thompson was 42 at the time. He dominated the last 30 minutes of the film and stole it from star Sissy Spacek.

At the same time that his film career was taking off, he continued to practice law and was part of a team of trustees appointed to clean up and administer the enormous (and enormously corrupt) Teamsters' pension fund.

In 1994, he ran for the Senate in Tennessee and won in a walk. He served for eight years before returning to private life.

What's interesting about Thompson's bid is that he is clearly thinking of entering the race to play a part he has yet to fill on screen: as the tribune of the Right.

Two unconventional Republicans, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, are far ahead of the pack, and there's a sense abroad in the land that there's no authentic conservative in the race who has a chance of winning.

In his appearance on Sunday, Thompson specifically declared himself pro-life and an opponent of gun control - two areas in which Rudy Giuliani takes an apostate's view, as far as the Republican base is concerned.

There's something a tiny bit off about Thompson playing the right-wing card. He is a political disciple of Howard Baker, the former Tennessee senator who was one of the defining figures of moderate Republicanism in the second half of the 20th century. And as a career trial lawyer himself, Thompson stoutly opposed efforts in the mid-1990s to impose tort reform - a key issue for the Right.

It would be a terrific thing if Fred Thompson entered the race, because he's a big personality with a remarkable command of the issues and the kind of eloquence that we're only seeing right now from Barack Obama.

A Republican primary with Giuliani, McCain and Thompson duking it out would be a battle of titans - generating interest and enthusiasm that might provide a welcome contrast to the awkward conflicts among the Democrats.

The GOP doesn't have a strong hand to play in 2008, but a fascinating primary season will do wonders to bring the party's candidate into serious contention. Thompson can help that along, one way or another.

jpodhoretz@gmail.com

Fred Thompson for President?

Another Hollywood star steps forward for GOP
By Alexander Bolton
March 09, 2007

Former Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker (R-Tenn.) is contacting powerbrokers in the Republican Party to build support for a 2008 presidential campaign by his one-time protégé, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.).Baker, who Wednesday made a visit to the Senate, was asked by several Republicans about his involvement on Thompson’s behalf. “He said, ‘I am making a few calls and I think it’s a great idea,’” said one Senate Republican who heard Baker discuss his efforts to advance Thompson’s prospects.

One Republican who discussed a possible bid with Thompson described his interest and Baker’s queries as “a friendly exploration.” Baker is a close friend and mentor to Thompson. Thompson broke into national politics in a big way in 1973 when Baker named him chief Republican counsel on the Senate Watergate Committee. Thompson’s work helped to uncover the scandal that forced the resignation of President Nixon. Republicans believe Baker is coordinating efforts with Thompson, and view Baker’s emerging role as a sign that Thompson is taking steps toward launching a campaign. Thompson has told allies in recent days that he is exploring seriously a bid for president in 2008 in response to what he has described as strong encouragement from Republicans dissatisfied with the current slate of candidates. Thompson said one reason he is hesitant about running is his longtime friendship with Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.). Thompson was one of only four Republican senators to endorse McCain’s 2000 presidential campaign and was an important ally in McCain’s effort to pass campaign-finance reform in 2002.

Neither Thompson nor Baker could be reached for comment yesterday because both were traveling by plane. Thompson, who retired from the Senate in 2002 to resume his acting career, has boosted his political profile lately. He is leading an effort to raise money for Lewis “Scooter” Libby’s legal defense fund and has called on President Bush to pardon Libby, who was convicted this week of making false statements and obstructing justice.

Thompson, who once chaired the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, is now best known to Americans for his role as District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s “Law & Order” and his role in “The Hunt for Red October.” But he has remained active politically. Last year he appeared in ads supporting Sen. Bob Corker (R-Tenn.), who won a tough race against former Rep. Harold Ford (D-Tenn.).

With Thompson’s help, Libby’s legal defense fund has raised close to $4 million. Thompson has said he will soon hold another fundraiser for Libby. Rumors about Thompson running for president have filtered into Republican circles during the last several weeks. One lobbyist who recently asked Thompson about his plans said that Thompson merely smiled and replied, “I’m keeping my powder dry.”

Talk on the viability of a Thompson campaign became more voluble at last week’s Conservative Political Action Conference, an annual Republican gathering marked by the strong conservatism of its attendees. Conservatives have questioned the ideology of each of the three Republican frontrunners: McCain, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Supporters have begun comparing Thompson to President Reagan, a likeness bolstered by the latter’s acting career. Republican officials in Tennessee already have begun talking up Thompson.“I think Fred Thompson is by far the one American who could bring this country together,” Tennessee GOP Chairman Bob Davis told the Chattanooga Times Free Press last week. “There are some good folks running right now, but naturally if a conservative Tennessean like Fred Thompson chose to run, I believe there would be a flood of support from across the country.”One senior Republican strategist dismissed talk that McCain, Romney and Giuliani have too great a head start in fundraising and organization for Thompson to catch up. The strategist said Thompson has an opening since many Republicans have concerns about the other three hopefuls. Giuliani has raised concern among conservative Republicans because of positions in favor of abortion rights, gun control and gay rights.Giuliani’s lead in the Republican primary is growing, although the Iowa caucuses are still 10 months away. A new NBC/Wall Street Journal national poll showed Giuliani leading McCain by 14 points, widening a five-point lead he held in December. The same survey showed Romney garnering 8 percent support.

One Republican summarized some of his fellow party members’ concerns about the frontrunners:“They’ve all got pretty significant issues,” he said. “For McCain, it’s age and temperament, for Romney, it’s flip-flopping, Mormonism, and inexperience. Then for Giuliani you got the talk of the all the personal baggage.”Giuliani’s popular support has already driven a lot of interest among Republicans inside the Beltway, including influential players close to Bush.

About 160 GOP lobbyists and business community representatives attended two meet-and-greet sessions with the former mayor recently. And former Bush Solicitor General Theodore Olson has signed onto his campaign, as have Bush pioneer fundraisers Bill Paxon, of Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, and Peter Terpeluk, of American Continental Group.

Reuters: Obama pays 17-year-old parking tickets

Obama pays 17-year-old parking tickets
Thu Mar 8, 2007 12:58 PM ET

BOSTON (Reuters) - As he prepared to announce his campaign for the White House, Democratic Sen. Barack Obama took care of some unfinished business at Harvard University -- paying about $400 in parking fines dating back to his days as a law student.

Two weeks before the Illinois senator officially entered the presidential race on February 10, he paid parking fines he received while attending Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts, a Cambridge city official said on Thursday.

"I think it's great, we always like to collect," said Susan Clippinger, director of Cambridge's Traffic, Parking and Transportation Department.

Obama paid Cambridge $375 on January 26 for 17 parking tickets received between 1988 and 1990, she said. He paid neighboring Somerville another $45 for late fees on two parking tickets from the early 1990s, a Somerville official added.

Obama also paid a $73 auto excise tax he owed Somerville, said city spokesman Tom Champion.
The Boston Globe reported in January that he owed Somerville the money.

A spokesman for Obama was not immediately available to comment but the Globe quoted Jen Psaki of the Obama campaign as saying the senator had paid for the tickets out of a personal account.

© Reuters 2007. All rights reserved.

NH Union Leader: CA's move spells end of "retail politics"?

California schemin': The end of retail politics

CALIFORNIA WANTS a piece of the Presidential primary action, and it is willing to harm the country to get it.

On Tuesday California's legislature approved a bill to move that state's Presidential primary to Feb. 5, placing it just two weeks behind the current date set for New Hampshire's primary (though New Hampshire Secretary of State Bill Gardner will have the final say on that).

California is the most populous state. How could moving its primary from June to February hurt the country? It's all about how candidates reach voters.
New Hampshire has about 860,000 registered voters. California has about 16 million. How will Presidential candidates reach those 16 million voters? With television and radio ads.

In New Hampshire, the Presidential candidates will meet voters face to face. They will endure tough questions; they will have to listen to voters' concerns in small, intimate settings. Outsider candidates like Bill Richardson, Mitt Romney and Duncan Hunter stand a shot at winning the primary even though they cannot raise as much money as their better-known opponents.

In California, the only candidates who have any hope of winning are the household names who can raise tens of millions of dollars to run statewide radio and television ads for months. Advantage: Clinton, Giuliani, McCain.

The United States will suffer if its Presidential nominees are chosen based on 30-second broadcast ads instead of direct interaction with actual voters. But California doesn't care. It wants a piece of the action. And it's going to get it. Retail politics? Hasta la vista, baby.

Rudy Giuliani's 'Executive Intelligence'

March 07, 2007
Rudy Giuliani's 'Executive Intelligence'
By Rich Lowry

Rudy Giuliani might have been an inspiration in the days after 9/11, but what relevance does that have now? He might have cleaned up New York City, but why should most Americans care whether, say, Bryant Park is a drug-dealer-infested nightmare or a pleasant place for office workers on a lunch break? The power of Giuliani's presidential candidacy is in neither of these things per se, but in the allure of executive prowess.

A leaked strategy memo from the campaign of Mitt Romney said that the former Massachusetts governor could contrast himself with President Bush with one word, "intelligence." That is unfair to Bush, who is not an unintelligent man. But the memo was correct in noting how Republican candidates for president will have to contrast their styles and skills with those of Bush.

Republicans don't need more sheer IQ in their next nominee, but more EI -- not emotional intelligence, as the popular book had it, but executive intelligence.
Giuliani demonstrated it in New York. He ran the fourth-largest government in the country, from an office that had awesome powers (unlike the governorship of Texas), at a time when the city was in crisis, without a strong party to back him and in the teeth of a hostile press. And he succeeded. That, in a few phrases, is the appeal of Rudy Giuliani.

Fred Siegel describes him in his book Prince of the City as having "a mathematical and military cast of mind," and quotes a former aide who explains that Giuliani is such a baseball fan because the game brings "together three things that he loves: statistics, teamwork and individual effort." Siegel compares Rudy's fascination with the intricacies of government to that of Bill Clinton, who had the same interest in details although without the decisiveness, and the late Sen. Daniel Pat Moynihan, who grasped how government worked but never was an executive.

Giuliani needed little sleep, which made extra hours available to him that he could pour into work. He had talented people around him whom he forged into an instrument of his executive will. Giuliani had daily 8 A.M. meetings to ensure that his deputies and commissioners were on the same page. As a former aide told Siegel, "You could draw a clear line on an organization chart for almost everything the Rudy administration did."

Giuliani's axioms of governance, described in his book "Leadership," now read as a kind of rebuttal to Bush's hands-off management style. One of his rules is "Always Sweat the Small Stuff." Another is "Prepare Relentlessly." He delivered annual 90-minute State of the City addresses without a prepared text: "I presented it from my own head and heart, not from a page." And "Everyone's Accountable, All of the Time." Giuliani kept a two-word sign on his desk: "I'M RESPONSIBLE."

Famously the first CEO president, Bush has had his reputation as an executive trashed by Katrina and Iraq. Bush had seen his role primarily as setting goals, then remaining resolute and confident about them. But the resolution and confidence are self-defeating if the goals aren't matched with the appropriate means. Bush has been ill-served by his willingness to stand by failed subordinates (thereby eroding any sense of accountability), by his relative lack of interest in details and by his inability to establish coherence within his own government.

This makes the Competence Primary very important in the Republican nomination contest, and Giuliani is the front-runner in it, although he has competition from Romney, a successful businessman with strong management skills. This doesn't mean that Giuliani will excel in the Temperament Primary.

Some of the qualities that made him a successful mayor -- the hunger for power, the jealousy of other centers of authority, the egocentric drive -- don't make him the most pleasant person. And the Ideological Primary will be a major challenge.

But troubled organizations often look to hire an executive who has succeeded elsewhere. Hence the allure of Rudy Giuliani.

© 2007 by King Features Syndicate

Gingrich Tries to Fix Our Broken Politics

March 06, 2007
Gingrich Tries to Fix Our Broken Politics
By Cal Thomas

Admit it, you hate politics: the gotcha games in which a quote can be taken out of context and used as a pretext for bashing one's opponent; the sound bites replacing reasoned argument; the focus groups and pollsters who tell candidates what to say instead of encouraging them to believe in something; the concentration on gaining and then maintaining power for its own sake; the enormous cost of elections, which transforms politicians into servants of those who give the most money.

Is it possible to have cleaner and more engaging politics that challenge the mind and offer real solutions to our problems, instead of crass appeals to our lower nature, the flip-flopping in order to garner favor with a particular interest group and the insincerity that seems to be behind it all?

Former Speaker Newt Gingrich believes it is and he has developed a compelling approach to new and better politics not seen since the days of Abraham Lincoln.

Last week, Gingrich and former New York Democratic Governor Mario Cuomo returned to the site of Lincoln's speech on Feb. 27, 1860 at Cooper Union in New York City. It was a speech many scholars believe made him president. The speech was substantive (Lincoln had researched it for three months at the library in Springfield, Ill.), it was more than 7,000 words and "dispelled doubts about Lincoln's suitability for the presidency and reassured conservatives of his moderation while reaffirming his opposition to slavery to Republican progressives," in the words of Harold Holzer's book, "Lincoln at Cooper Union."

The point of the Gingrich-Cuomo "discussion" was to bring serious people together for a lengthy conversation about things that matter. I watched it on the Web (you can see it at www.americansolutions.com). It is the polar opposite of the insult to our intelligence that passes for contemporary politics.

Gingrich, especially, was brilliant as he laid out his vision and agenda for the future. He did not indulge in overstatement when he said, "This country today faces more parallel challenges simultaneously than at any time since the 1850s. And I believe there is a grave danger that our political system will not be capable of solving these problems before they take our society apart in ways that are very destructive."

Gingrich lamented the disappearance of what he called "the principle of seriousness," noting, "The (political) process is decaying at a level that is bizarre and it's a mutual synergistic decay between candidates, consultants and the news media. It's fundamentally wrong for the survival of this country."

Gingrich believes "We are in two different worlds: a world of stunningly rapid evolution in the private sector; and a world of stunning decay in bureaucracy." He pointed to New Orleans after Katrina as one glaring example of the failure of government at all levels, while also noting the dependent culture and expectations by many that government, alone, would help them escape a natural disaster.

To find the best leaders available, Gingrich says we must discard the current model of "cattle calls of 10 people offering 30-second solutions to Iraq (which) . makes an absurdity of running for office." Instead, Gingrich proposes nine 90-minute dialogues between Labor Day and Election Day 2008 -one per week - in the spirit of the Lincoln-Douglas Debates, with only two candidates and a timekeeper/moderator. It would be broadcast, or carried on C-Span and the Web so that "people can decide who has the maturity, knowledge and values (that can) get us out of this mess."

In an e-mail exchange, Gingrich tells me he also plans to host nationwide workshops Sept. 27 and 29 on ways to transform all 511,000 elected offices in the country. And after that, he says, "I'll consider other possibilities," which I take to mean a decision on whether to run for president.

Watch the video of the Cooper Union conversation. Though Cuomo indulges in a lot of standard Democratic boilerplate rhetoric, even he rises to the occasion near the end, impressed by Gingrich's desire for real change, regardless of who gets the credit.

I don't know if Gingrich would make the best president, but after watching his "conversation" with Mario Cuomo, I doubt there is anyone who has thought more about the problems that confront us, or who has better ideas about how to fix them.

CalThomas@tribune.com
(C) 2007 Tribune Media Services, Inc.

Giuliani: A "Curmudgeon"?

Hizzoner the Curmudgeon
By Jonathan Capehart
Tuesday, March 6, 2007; A19

Forget about whether Rudy Giuliani is too moderate to win over the conservatives who dominate the nomination process in the Republican Party. The real story is whether the opera buff's nascent presidential bid will be crushed under the weight of the Pucciniesque life of the 107th mayor of New York.

We all know about the first wife who was his second cousin, the second wife who found out she was being divorced while watching television and the third wife who was barred by court order from the mayor's residence or from meeting Giuliani's children, Andrew and Caroline, there before the divorce was final.

Now come the public comments from Andrew that he won't be stumping for pops in Iowa, New Hampshire or anywhere else. Not only did he say "I have problems with my father," but he also added, "There's obviously a little problem that exists between me and his wife."

If past is prologue, the younger Giuliani's phone must have crackled with Rudy rage once his comments came to light. See, when Giuliani was mayor, he brooked no criticism -- no matter how minor, no matter how constructive. Having been on the receiving end of one of Giuliani's withering verbal assaults, I know of what I speak.

The phone rang around 9 a.m. on Jan. 7, 1999. It was Giuliani's personal assistant, Beth Patrone. "Please hold for the mayor." He had never called me before. His skin-peeling tirades against reporters, politicians, community leaders, perceived enemies and those deemed too weak to fight City Hall were legendary. Now it was my turn.

Giuliani was spitting fire over my column in that morning's New York Daily News, in which I likened his second term to the sitcom "Seinfeld." The thesis was summed up in the first paragraph: "The show has been reincarnated as Mayor Giuliani's second term, which has turned into a term about nothing."

"Jonathan," he said.
"Good morning, Mr. Mayor," I said, "How . . ."

For the next 10 minutes, Giuliani ripped me apart, calling my column "intellectually dishonest," among other things. He hung up when he couldn't find a favorable editorial that I'd written on his State of the City speech the previous year. But he called back, spouting off the headline and launching into another 10-minute monologue.

His press secretary, Sunny Mindel, called me afterward. "Consider yourself flattered," she said. "You're important enough to warrant a phone call. You got under his skin." I knew that I had accomplished no great feat. The mayor's skin is as thin as America's Next Top Model.

People disagreed with me all the time. I encouraged discussion and accepted that others had different viewpoints. But Giuliani's reaction was over the top. I tell this story because it points to other aspects of hizzoner's personality that were more troublesome.
Giuliani could be vindictive. He had no qualms about using government to settle a score. When the City Council overrode his veto of a bill to change the operations of homeless shelters in December 1998, Giuliani sought to evict five community service programs, including one that served 500 mentally ill people, in the district of the bill's chief sponsor, and to replace them with a homeless shelter.

What's more, he released a list of sites for other shelters that would be housed in the districts of council members who voted in favor of the override. (He backed down two months later, after much public outrage.)

Rather than take the high road earlier that year, Giuliani erupted when the Rev. Calvin O. Butts, a prominent Harlem minister who had endorsed Giuliani for reelection, said, "I don't believe he likes black people." In fact, Giuliani put a lockdown on city funding for projects affiliated with the politically connected cleric.

But it was his reaction to racially charged incidents involving the police that highlighted Giuliani's other affliction: tone-deafness.

Amadou Diallo was reaching for his wallet when undercover police officers gunned him down in a hail of 41 bullets in the vestibule of his apartment building in 1999. New Yorkers of all colors and political stripes trouped to police headquarters to be arrested in protest of not only the officers' actions but also of Giuliani's inability to grasp why everyone was appalled by what happened.

The visionary mayor who brought law and order to the ungovernable city and who became the face of a bloodied but unbowed nation on Sept. 11, 2001, was a difficult mayor. Many wonder whether the trauma of that day has mellowed Giuliani. We'll soon know. There's nothing like the stress of a presidential campaign to find out for sure.

The writer is a member of the editorial page staff. His e-mail address is capehartj@washpost.com.