The Black Republican

I left a comment at a thread on Ace of Spades when another commenter suggested Fred Thompson would be the "ideal" running mate. When I was done, I realized I may have hit on a point that needs to be disseminated more widely, so if you'll forgive the vanity I'll quote myself here.

Fred's my guy, but I'm growing more convinced by the day that he'd be utterly useless as a running mate, and when commenters at blogs suggest it my teeth start to grate. As an elected VP, he wouldn't make enough noise to draw media attention away from other news (if you need a distraction), and as a running mate his quiet digs at other people would make him totally ineffectual as an attack dog. Fred's definitely a "top or nothing" candidate.

Besides (as I said in another thread a few days ago), you can't really "balance the ticket" with Fred, since he's the meat and potatoes the base needs. Picking Fred only highlights the fact that the top of the ticket is someone outside the mainstream of the party. And let's all face it - that's what we've got with every other candidate. None of these guys comes from the base, so why should we believe they can lead the base?

Lest we all forget, Fred Thompson didn't exactly want to run for President, and was all but drafted to run. What was he doing before that? He was doing commentary for ABC News, filling in as a radio host for Paul Harvey, and blogging at Red State. If you've watched the news more than you've been on the news, if you've listened to talk radio, or if you've read blogs, written blogs, or commented at blogs, you're someone who can probably relate to Fred Thompson. By contrast, I've never been shot down over Vietnam. I've never pulled a metropolitan city up from its bootstraps. I've never saved the Olympics. And I've never... umm... what exactly is it that Mike Huckabee did that appeals to people? 'Cause damned if I know.