Thompson Hits Nashville for Fundraiser
By Andy Sher, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.
Jun. 27–NASHVILLE — Former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., sounded like a presidential candidate Tuesday as he greeted supporters in Nashville, attended a fundraiser and hired a political director from Iowa for what many expect will be an official 2008 GOP primary bid.
“I have an opportunity maybe to make a difference in the direction of your country and to be able to provide some leadership,” Mr. Thompson, 64, told a cheering crowd of some 250 to 300 persons at Mercury Air Center here, saying the possibility is “something you cannot turn your back on.”
Some in the audience chanted “run, Fred, run.”
Mr. Thompson said that while he continues “testing the waters” for a campaign, “I want to tell you the water is pretty warm here today. We’ll continue to take one step at a time. So keep your powder dry because whatever we do, it’ll always start here in Tennessee.”
Among those greeting Mr. Thompson was Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, the Senate speaker.
“Obviously I’m excited about Fred as a candidate. I think he’ll make a good president,” said Lt. Gov. Ramsey, who noted the actor/lawyer/politician not only has a conservative voting record but “has that ‘it’ factor that you can’t exactly put your finger on. That when he walks in a room everybody just automatically turns around and looks at him.”
Polls show Mr. Thompson, who recently left his acting job on NBC’s drama “Law & Order,” doing well.
But not everything went smoothly Tuesday for Mr. Thompson, who throughout his political career has portrayed himself as a crusading outsider. He continued to fend off questions about his years spent as a registered lobbyist.
The Associated Press reported earlier this week that Mr. Thompson earned more than $1 million over an off-and-on lobbying career that spanned some 20 years. The AP quoted Mr. Thompson saying Tuesday that lobbying is necessary because “government’s got their hands in everything.”
Mr. Thompson’s lobbying work, the subject of attacks during his initial 1994 U.S. Senate campaign, included work on behalf of the Tennessee Savings and Loan League on industry deregulation. AP reported the legislation “helped hasten the industry’s collapse.”
More recently, Mr. Thompson, who served in the Senate from 1995 to 2003, worked as a lobbyist for Equitas Ltd., a British reinsurer associated with Lloyd’s of London. The company is interested in legislation dealing with asbestos litigation. Mr. Thompson earned more than $750,000 from Equitas, records show.
The Tennessee Democratic Party, meanwhile, fired off an e-mail labeling Mr. Thompson a “former senator, current lobbyist and Virginia voter” who “jets into Nashville” for “a few photo opportunities and a $2,300-per-person fund raiser.”
Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Bob Davis downplayed the focus on Mr. Thompson’s lobbying, saying, “I think a fellow in 1994 used some of that, all of that, and he lost by 20 points. People know Fred Thompson. They know his character.”
It was a reference to Mr. Thompson’s 1994 Democratic opponent, U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, D-Tenn.
Among those in the crowd Tuesday was Lebanon, Tenn., resident Lani Bruce, a member of a pro-Thompson group billing itself as “Fred Heads.”
“I want to vote for somebody that I’m enthusiastically excited about,” she said. “And Fred Thompson is that, and not because somebody told me to think that way or because I think he’s tall and looks presidential or because he has gravitas, which he does, but because of who he is and what he believes in.”
She noted Mr. Thompson’s “pro-life” positions and that he is “against the invasion of our borders.”
Members of the entourage accompanying Mr. Thompson included businessman Phil Martin. A former Chattanoogan and long-time Thompson supporter, Mr. Martin helped organize the expected candidate’s fundraising team, dubbed the “First Day Founders.”
“The enthusiasm has just been phenomenal, and it comes from all across the country,” Mr. Martin said.
Mr. Thompson, accompanied by his wife, Jeri, and their sons Hayden, 3, and six-month-old Samuel, later visited the historic Fall School Building. He said it could become his national campaign headquarters, noting that “if we officially go in that direction then we need to hit the ground running.”
Mr. Thompson later went to a $2,300-per-person fund raiser sponsored by Nashville music label owner and GOP fundraiser Mike Curb. Other cohosts of the event included Pilot Oil CEO Jim Haslam of Knoxville, Nashville contractor Ray Bell and Joe Rodgers, a former U.S. ambassador to France.
Earlier in the day, Mr. Thompson’s aides said, he hired Andrew Dorr, an experienced GOP operative in Iowa, to serve as his Midwest political director in the event that he runs for president.
The Associated Press contributed to this story.
—–
To see more of the Chattanooga Times/Free Press, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.timesfreepress.com.
Copyright (c) 2007, Chattanooga Times/Free Press, Tenn.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.
GE, VIV,