RUSH: Tiffany in Sullivan, Missouri, great to have you on the EIB Network.
RUSH: Well, I think what people were saying was he appeared to be indecisive, couldn’t make up his mind, and that’s why it took him so long and indecisiveness, you know, Thompson’s critics were trying to use that as sort of a bludgeon, ‘Hey, you can’t have a president that’s indecisive, Fred can’t even figure out if he wants it, this is something you gotta have fire in your belly about,’ that’s also the root of all the talk that Fred seems lazy and low-key.
CALLER: Well, you know, I just think they’re looking at it the wrong way, because when Fred Thompson says something, he really means it. And when a reporter asks him a question that tries to knock him off his game, they’re not able to do it. He’s able to come back and say exactly what he thinks, which is the same thing that he said before, whereas these other candidates, they can be flustered, and they may sound decisive, but what they’re saying is different from what they’ve said before. I think he’s a much more presidential, thoughtful, you know, sure of what he thinks person, when he finally says something. And in contrast to him, his wife, I don’t know if you’ve seen her on TV, she is the fastest talker in the world, but she, too, is very knowledgeable and very decisive about what she says. I was very impressed. I thought she was probably just a mommy at home —
RUSH: How long have you been a Thompson supporter?
CALLER: Ever since I decided not to be a Huckabee supporter. I’ve gone all around to different people, and I was for Huckabee until I read about the taxes he raised and the ethical problems that he may have had in his past. And that really changed my mind. I decided, you know, we know everything about Fred Thompson, he’s —
RUSH: Have you heard the latest poll? Huckabee in the Rasmussen poll is three points ahead of Romney now and is leading the pack there.
CALLER: Well, I think people just haven’t heard these latest assertions about him. I just heard them a couple days ago.
RUSH: Let me tell you this. He’s got the largest percentage — he’s got more evangelicals in this poll, anyway, more evangelicals supporting him than all the other candidates combined.
CALLER: Well, Thompson has right to life. I think as time goes by, people are going to take a closer look at Huckabee and Thompson and realize that Thompson is much more presidential and has the calm assurance —
RUSH: Well, let me ask, why did you feel compelled today to call and give us a rah-rah for Fred Thompson? I’m just curious. I’m not upset that you did. I’m just wondering what motivated you to get out there and call the show today on the phone?
CALLER: Well, because everybody that I’ve heard on TV or on the radio is going crazy about how well Huckabee is doing, as if he’s the greatest, and nobody’s saying anything about Thompson. The fact that Huckabee is passing up Romney is making everybody think that he’s something, he’s wonderful —
RUSH: Oh, I know. I’ve just seen a couple news stories since the Rasmussen poll came out: ‘Huckabee Surging,’ the Drive-Bys are all, ‘Huckabee is surging!’
CALLER: That must be that he’s a gift from God, and people are not even talking about Fred Thompson. And so that’s why I wanted to talk about him.
RUSH: Yeah, but you know something, I want to tell you something, people weren’t talking about Huckabee six weeks ago, only I was, in terms of what might happen in Iowa. But you go about two months, three, nobody was talking about Huckabee, either, but he found a way to get himself noticed.
CALLER: Well, he’s getting himself noticed, but these other things are coming out about him, and at the end of the day I think —
RUSH: Let me tell you something. If Fred Thompson’s able to start climbing this mountain, and he starts showing well in polls, you’re going to see the same hit jobs on Fred Thompson and you’re going to see hit jobs on Rudy — you already have — you’re going to see hit jobs on all these guys.
CALLER: Well, it’s going to come down to issues. And I think that Thompson’s issues are going to win the day. And not only that, the other candidates who were out there talking about themselves and making a big show, what they’re really doing is going from diner to diner across the country shaking hands with everybody, and I don’t think that method works anymore. You know, I mean he may not be going to every McDonald’s and showing up at every high school gym, but I think at the end of the day, people are going to realize that his issues are the ones that are the best.
RUSH: Let me tell you something. That may be true in the presidential race because you can’t go to every McDonald’s, but when you go to Iowa and New Hampshire, you can travel around to those places, and it’s tradition, and you have to do it because the voters there expect it. This time of year they get up and go to these diners because they know that the odds are some candidate’s going to come walking in and not leave the waitress a tip and they may not even pay the bill. They want to be there and see the fireworks. Look, Tiffany, I’m glad you called, I gotta run here because of the constraints of time.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: By the way, in fairness to Huckabee, we have to point out here that these ethics charges against him in Arkansas when he was governor were brought by the same Democrats who gave Clinton a pass on ethics charges there. There was a huge political component to those ethics charges against Huckabee in Arkansas.