Fred Thompson is now officially in the race, and is using his campaign to lash out at the accuracy snobs of Wikipedia.
”I’m pretty sure the people debating ‘Fred’ versus ‘Freddie’ are the same people who debate whether or not Britney Spears looked too fat at the MTV music awards,” said Karen Hanretty, who is working for the Thompson campaign. “Seriously, how many hours do these editors spend on the site?”
I am a fan of Wikipedia, the information is sound and provides a solid overview of a topic. That would not be possible without the countless hours of volunteer work put into such a massive web service. True, many people that update and keep Wikipedia useful devote a LOT of time to the service, but the result is accurate and reliable information.
This lashout from Fred Thompson’s campaign is a lash out against a service devoted to truth and accuracy. How does this kind of attitude bode for a Thompson presidency?
On a broader note Thompson is pushing hard to make a dent in South Carolina. Arguably as essential to the republican nomination as Iowa is to the democratic. And even here, Mr. Thompson only comes away as the least of all the republican “suck”.
“A number of voters raved about his performance and persona. Yet some acknowledged later that there wasn’t any compelling or memorable message. Thompson has stumbled when unexpected issues arise – his non-attendance of church, the Senate’s efforts to intervene in the case of Terri Schiavo, a Florida woman who was brain-dead, or confusion over some of his past lobbying activities.”
(pulled from the IHT)
It should also be seriously considered whether or not Thompson even running is good for the Republican party. It’s true that most republicans are unsatisfyed with their choices of nominees and Freddie could potentially provide that morally strong tough guy timber that all conservatives are lusting for, but it also dilutes an already crowded race. Time will tell if Thompson rallies the party behind him, or only divides momentum further. In short, is he a Regan or is he a Nader? If you were reading the Washington Post, the latter is the accurate description of a candidate that is regularly accused of being hollow on message and false in persona but also just lazy.
Only time will tell how qualified this candidate really is…
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