At Least He Never Co-Starred with a Chimp

Posted by Matt Cipriano | 1 Comment

The bloggers here at AmericanMadness (and Peter Shankman from PR Differently) occasionally share articles with each other over email, earlier this week we were “discussing” Fred Thompson in the context of the article “Fred Thompson: Desperate Republicans Cheer for a Reagan Wannabe” posted on AlterNet.

Of course his various television and movie roles were discussed (including his stint as the air traffic controller in Die Hard 2) and the article touches on his platform- or lack thereof. Matt Taibbi writes that Thompson doesn’t have much of a campaign, that in terms of US politics, he is essentially a new low, not saying much about anything while he is on the campaign trail, putting off tougher questions and saying we need change without ever really addressing what needs changing and how. Taibbi seems to fear that Thompson will get elected by being the candidate that allows voters to daze off while listening to him speak and not actually missing anything, he compares Thompson’s campaigning to watching television, you don’t really need to pay attention to it and it allows you not to really think about anything. Based on all of this Taibbi seems to think that Thompson has a pretty decent shot at the ‘08 elections.

I find myself agreeing with Taibbi’s view that Thompson has a shot but for different reasons. Forget the fact that he isn’t saying very much in his campaigning (which technically only “officially” started at the beginning of September) and that he is behind on the fund-raising efforts where McCain and Giulliani both have a significant lead on him. I think what gives Thompson his best shot at scoring the bid for President and possibly winning in ‘08 is Law & Order.

So, yeah, a bunch of voters out there say they don’t know who Fred Thompson is. I am sure this is very possible, until they saw his picture, then they would probably make a comment like “Oh, you mean the guy from Law & Order.” For the past 5 years he has been on the show as the District Attorney meaning not only has he been on prime-time network television once a week for the past 260 weeks, but that he has been appearing on TNT every night for the past 4 years a couple of hours each night and this doesn’t count whenever a channel showed one of his movies: he has played, or voiced, the president in at least 3 films, played the Director of the CIA, a rear admiral, a major general, an FBI agent and the White House chief of staff… with that resume he makes a pretty impressive candidate).

Normally when a candidate runs there is a brief discussion about equal air-time with commercials and interviews and the like. When Arnold Schwarzenegger ran there was talk of stations choosing not to air any of his movies. The same talks have been brought up about Thompson as well, especially TNT with their blocks of Law and Order reruns. There was a great deal of speculation that TNT would drop the last 5 years of Law & Order from its regular rotation, instead they have decided not to and continue to play them, feeling that the equal air-time law is focused on network stations, not cable. This means that you will be able to see Thompson while flipping by TNT virtually any time day or night. With Thompson on so often, while people might not remember his name they will certainly know his face. And if they happen to forget, he is aimign to remind them by billing himself as the Law & Order candidate. Gotta love it. So, just to clarify, not only is TNT not pulling episodes of Law & Order that he appeared in, but he is using it to his advantage, almost as a stepping stone for his campaign. And it will work, count on it. People will feel comfortable with his familiar face and his voice (believe McCain is quoted as saying if he had a voice like Thompson’s he’d be president), and what more do voters want then to feel comfortable with their choice for president. Forget everything he stands for or what his views might be or even what he has done in the past. No, instead vote for him because he has been in your house, albeit on television, on a regular basis for the last 5 years (or if you are a frequent watcher of Die Hard 2: Die Harder, 17 years). It worked for Reagan, why shouldn’t it work for Thompson?

Clearly by watching Law & Order we all have a decent idea of his political views, right? He is the hard-edged, but likable boss with right-leaning views. Yeah, I am sure that is what he is really like, so go ahead and cast your vote for the Law & Order Candidate. Of course, with that being said, I must admit, if Sam Waterston was running he would totally have my vote, I mean really, how could you not vote for Jack McCoy?

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