Fred Thompson and the GOP splits

By Thomas Lifson

Alicia Colon, the New York Sun columnist, has earned my high esteem for her incisive writing. Today she publishes an interesting case for Fred Thompson at Jewish World Review.

Like Ms. Colon and many other conservatives, I am attracted to Fred's positions, but have had my concerns about his energy level and electability. But she makes an interesting point that addresses the first rule of politics: shore up your base.

There probably has never been a clearer choice between the two major political parties. Democrats are pro-choice; for gay marriage; a repeal of the tax cuts; bigger government and want a withdrawal from Iraq. The Republican candidates other than Ron Paul on Iraq are adamantly opposed to all these positions. Yet according to Dick Morris, the Republican Party is fractured into three factions. The social conservatives are for Huckabee; the economic conservatives are for Romney and the national security crowd is for Giuliani. Oddly enough, Fred Thompson meets the criteria of all three blocs and sooner or later it's going to dawn on all these Republicans that they like Fred, too.

The advocates of momentum, who predicted that it would all be over after Super-Duper Tuesday, February 5^th, never convinced me. If we show signs of a continuing split among 3-4 major candidates, then the one who is the most acceptable second choice to supporters of others might emerge from a brokered convention, or in late primaries.

Perhaps Fred Thompson's laid back style will prove to be appropriate for a year in which factions are divided among the GOP base. Could this be not the story of a lazy man, but another story of a Hedgehog and the foxes?