Will Fred Thompson drive around America in a pickup truck for his campaign?
What are the chances that Fred Thompson drives around America in a pickup truck for his campaign? Not very good, I'd say. But hey, it has worked out all right for him before. Back in '94, Thompson bought a red pickup truck and drove around Tennessee to campaign for the Senate. After Al Gore became the vice president, his seat on the Senate was up for grabs, and Thompson used "non-traditional" methods on his way to winning that election. Now that he is campaigning for the Republican presidential primaries, Bill Lacy, one of his aides, says that he will again use "non-traditional" methods. Does this mean that he will buy a hybrid and drive that from state-to-state instead? It would make more sense than using a pickup, unless that pickup is one of the upcoming two-mode hybrids from GM. Still, I'd say it's not likely.
[Source: Washington Post]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
waitingforvizzini 11:18AM (9/06/2007)
Just for the record he rented it.
http://mediamatters.org/items/200706010007
Tom Ingram, who worked on Thompson's campaign, as "the political mastermind who had a hand in revamping Thompson's image by putting him behind the wheel of the truck." Also playing a role in obtaining the truck was Ron McMahan, "a GOP insider who worked on the campaign." According to the article, Ingram "sprinkled on some of his marketing pixie dust to make it work":
They decided it had to be a red truck because that would be photogenic: "Red made sense. We didn't want anything too flashy, so used made sense. We wanted something that was going to be roomy because there were going to be people with him from time to time, so we got a stretch cab."
But how do you magically produce a truck matching that exact description?
"I said, 'Before the sun sets, I can find you a red truck,' " McMahan said. "I made one phone call to a friend of mine who was the owner of Reeder Chevrolet in Knoxville."
The Tennessean article noted that "on Aug. 5, 1994" -- just three months prior to a special election for the Senate seat Al Gore vacated following his election as vice president -- "Senate candidate Fred Thompson parked his black Lincoln Continental and started driving" the truck. The article further noted that the truck was leased by the campaign, and while Thompson purchased it after the campaign, the Tennessean article quoted Thompson as saying, through a spokesman, that he doesn't drive it, and that it is "parked in my mother's driveway in Franklin, with expired U.S. Senate license plates on it, looking a little forlorn, but I have not had the heart to sell her."
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waitingforvizzini 10:28AM (9/06/2007)
more "Finishing his talk, Thompson shakes a few hands, then walks out with the rest of the crowd to the red pickup truck he made famous during his 1994 Senate campaign. My friend stands talking with her colleagues as the senator is driven away by a blond, all-American staffer. A few minutes later, my friend gets into her car to head home. As she pulls up to the stop sign at the parking lot exit, rolling up to the intersection is Senator Thompson, now behind the wheel of a sweet silver luxury sedan. He gives my friend a slight nod as he drives past. Turning onto the main road, my friend passes the school's small, side parking area. Lo and behold: There sits the abandoned red pickup, along with the all-American staffer."
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rgseidl 1:51PM (9/06/2007)
Is anyone actually impressed by the spectacle of a presidential candidate driving around the block in a gas-guzzling pick-up truck? It may say "he's one of us" but then again, would you want your commander-in-chief to be a clueless certified redneck?
Oh, wait...
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mike 9:27AM (9/07/2007)
rgseidl: There are plenty of scientists, engineers and CEO's that drive pickup trucks. Your blanket assessment is not only uncalled for it's entirely ignorant. I know stereotypes may save you valuable thinking time but maybe you should ponder what you say a bit more carefully.
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Azrael4h 10:32PM (9/07/2007)
If that truck has a 350cid TBI V8 and the TH700r4 automatic, I know exactly what kind of fuel mileage it is capable of, at least at 260,000 miles on the clock. 22-24mpg is what my nearly identical, much much rougher and more worn down GMC from that same generation (to the point that I had little more than a different grill) got. It was red too, though darker red than that.
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Chuck 5:52PM (9/25/2007)
Check out the hit piece on Fred Thompson, including a few things the media never talks about. To read it go to thirdrailradio.blogspot.com
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