Fred Thompson

By Aziz P. -
Noam Scheiber deconstructs "Phony" Fred Thompson's Fake Populism.

By the time Fred Thompson decides whether or not to join the presidential fray, you will have heard the story of his red pickup truck at least a dozen times. The truck in question is a 1990 Chevy, which the famed statesman-thespian rented during his maiden Senate campaign in 1994. The idea was that Thompson would dress up in blue jeans and shabby boots and drive himself to campaign events around the state. Upon arriving, he'd mount the bed of the truck and launch into a homespun riff on the virtues of citizen-legislators and the perils of Washington insider-ism. For good measure, he'd refer to himself in the third person as "Ol' Fred" and the Chevy as "this ol' baby."


It's all about the packaging.

Comments

Tommy said…
Thompson comes from Lawrenceburg, TN. He grew up working class, paid his way through college and law school. He worked for everything he's earned. He is hardly a Washington insider, and a quote from a left biased magazine is hardly anything more than a cheap shot. Come up with something from an objective source, and you might have something.
12:04 PM
Tommy said…
In fact, he comes from basically the same-type background as John Edwards.
12:05 PM
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