I'll leave the analysis to Allah and Mary Katharine Ham. As I've posted before, Fred seems to think that pointing out our problems, as opposed to talking about any real solutions is the key. It's getting to the point that when I watch him he's delivering a lecture from some elder statesman, but given that he's spent so many years in Hollywood, I find little that makes him that in my eyes. Maybe he cast himself in the part without an audition in front of the people? He doesn't seem to be working toward anything in the speech, just amblin' along. How special.
But note that when he finally starts to talk about the global war on terror a couple minutes in, he says "our issues are not just Iran and Afghanistan, those are current fronts" - in context, he had to mean Iraq and Afghanistan. Now I don't mind a slip here and there, but Fred's consistent lack of prep and messing up the details suggests either a sloppiness, or laziness that doesn't turn me on. The POTUS needs to get the details right on the limited number of things he can afford to pay attention to. And right now, Fred should be paying more attention to the details during his speeches.
The Presidency is not a fly by the seat of your pants kind of job.
Personally I'm a Rudy fan but it's pretty lazy to not know that Law and Order is filmed in New York not in Hollywood.
Posted by: Capitalist Infidel | Friday, October 05, 2007 at 06:00 PM
Fred was over-hyped. We had our hopes, but the substance isn't there. I'm embarassed for him.
Posted by: dumbblonde | Friday, October 05, 2007 at 06:12 PM
"it's pretty lazy"
Yeah, right - not keeping up on where television shows are filmed is soooooo intellectually lazy - in your world, I guess. Did he make his films there, too? I don't know that he's ever lived in Hollywood, many stars don't. And really I don't care. I think the fact that he left politics for acting is sort of what I was going for with the "not an elder statesman" thingie. Shoulda figured a "capitalist infidel" for a freaking literalist. feh
Posted by: Dan Riehl | Friday, October 05, 2007 at 06:14 PM
So we're not at war with Iran -- but they have been at war with us since 1979.
Posted by: John H. Costello | Friday, October 05, 2007 at 07:26 PM
I'd rather see Fred! in the WH rather than any of the other leading contenders... (sorry, as much as I like Huckabee's politics, the man's got a snowball's chance of getting the nomination).
But I'll agree that there is some kind of disconnect between him, his speech writers and whoever he has doing his field research. Or it could be genuine stage fright - playing to a live audience is a different show than just playing to the camera.
Posted by: seekeronos | Friday, October 05, 2007 at 09:27 PM
As someone who's never watched Fred on TV, I fail to see the reason for the passion for him.
I know I'm missing something, but I see a mediocre congressman who decided he could make more money ACTING like a public servant than being one.
He's dallied and coyly stayed behind a curtain rather than running, partly because the less he says, the longer he'll stay popular.
He must have had a hell of a wiseman role on that TV show.
Posted by: Lokki | Friday, October 05, 2007 at 11:29 PM
If Fred! were reading this, he would tell you that his campaign is not failing. After all, says Fred!, was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor? The answer is no.
Fred just needs some more Geritol and Metamucil and he will be back in the fight.
Posted by: BobInStamford | Saturday, October 06, 2007 at 02:46 PM
LOL. I've got to hand it to you, BobInStamford, most of the time I think you're nuts, but once in a while you come across with a real funny comment.
Posted by: Philip McDaniel | Saturday, October 06, 2007 at 04:57 PM
Thank you, patriot. Surge on!
Posted by: BobInStamford | Saturday, October 06, 2007 at 06:29 PM
I'm with Costello (and Mark Bowden)... Iran is at war with us... therefore we are at war with Iran whether people know it or not... just like we were at war with Al Qaida (before people knew it) because they were at war with us for many years.
At some point either they give up the war or we make it official... in any case the war is there.
Posted by: Still-a-Neocon | Monday, October 08, 2007 at 11:59 AM
"The Presidency isn't a fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants kind of job".
Really? You couldn't prove that by George W. Bush's Presidency; that's exactly how he operates. Perhaps Fred is just the kind of guy the Repugs need to nominate: inarticulate, unintelligent, uninformed, mean-spirited, stubborn-headed, and a lackey of the neo-cons.
Nathan Prophet
Raleigh, NC
Posted by: Nathan Prophet | Tuesday, October 09, 2007 at 02:37 PM