August 30, 2007

Fred Thompson Interview Transcript

On Monday, I had the opportunity to interview Fred Thompson briefly between stops at the Minnesota State Fair. I aired the recording of the interview the same day on my CQ Radio show, along with a recording of the press conference that preceded it. For those who missed the show, I have the transcript of my one-on-one walking interview with the presidential aspirant, who discusses the tone he wants to set with his upcoming campaign.

EM: I’m Ed Morrissey from Captain’s Quarters.

FT: Oh, Captain’s Quarters, yea

EM: Well thank you very much for agreeing to talk to me for a little bit here Senator.

FT: Well, not at all … Captain’s Quarters! I’m a big fan of yours. We’ve dealt with similar subjects in times past

EM: Yes we have, Federalism is among them. … Senator, what do you see as the most pressing foreign policy issue outside of Iraq for the next administration to deal with?

FT: Two things that we need to think about and they’re overlapping. One is the United States’ role in the 21st century. We have been bulwark and the symbol for hope and freedom to the people of the world for a long time. We’ve helped people achieve freedom and economic prosperity for a long time in this world and led the way toward democracy. But there’s a false dichotomy going on right now between idealism and realism. We need both. We need to learn from our mistakes; we can’t go everywhere and be all things to all people and solve everybody’s problems. We got to be smart as to what we’re capable of doing. We’ve got to make sure that the people are together for any tough engagements. On the other hand if that’s all we care about, we’ll no longer be the United States we’ve known in times past. We can’t lose the traditional role that we played in assisting and helping those who want freedom. And so, to me,

EM: Right.

FT: It’s both. The second part is, Iraq is not the war. Iraq is a part of the war. Iraq and Afghanistan are current fronts in a global war that I don’t think we yet totaling appreciate the dimensions of. How long it’s going to last, how much resources we’re going to have to commit to it and how resolute we’re going to have to be.

EM: Well, speaking of that Senator, you’ve got a lot of commentary about your sober, realistic tone that you took in Indianapolis, yesterday or the day before, is that the type of campaign you want to bring to people to hear some tough truths to prepare us for the battles ahead?

FT: Well, let’s just say that the rah-rah stuff has its time and place and I’m not above a little of that from time to time but that’s not why I am where I am right now. Life is too short, the difficulties facing our country are too serious, not to tell the truth about what we’re going to have to do as a nation. It’s sober in a way but it’s optimistic in a way. It’s not optimistic not because of the world we see around us but because we think we can do something about it, that we can do better. That’s the source of my optimism. And I’m not going to shy away from the facts; I’m not going gear myself to try to get a party applause line every second or third sentence I make. Republicans and well as the rest of the American people need to come together on the fact that we have some tough choices ahead of us and the one thing that is not sustainable is our current path with regard to our attitude toward global conflicts and with regard to our attitude toward our economic future, current trends and our attitude with regard of what it’s going to take to do better; and that’s unity of the American people.

EM: How do you -- [interrupted by aide] OK, the butter sculptures are coming up, Senator. It’s been a pleasure talking with you. I know you have a lot of fans among my readers and I just wanted to say thank you again.

FT: Thank you very much and thank you for what you’re doing.

Coming up at Heading Right: the press conference transcript.

UPDATE: The "ST" stood for Senator Thompson, but I see how this could be confusing. I changed them to FT instead.

UPDATE II: I should explain that the Butter Sculpture is a long and honored tradition at the Minnesota State Fair, and it trumps a blogger interview every single time...

CQ commenter Filistro asks me "how did he strike you... as a person, I mean?" Given a caveat that I tend to find most people likable on a personal level, I was impressed with his warmth and sincerity, both with me and with the crowd. I talked a bit about this during my show that day, but the crowd clearly sensed his approachability and his geniality. He did not strike me as someone going through the motions, but as a man who genuinely enjoys interacting with people, even the press.

Does that make him the best candidate? Not on its own, but it does give a sense of why he will make a very good candidate on the trail. The interview gives a sense of why he's running in the first place.

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Nobody’s gonna know till the press release, but Fred Thompson will be making an announcement today. Politico says it is the announcment that there will be an announcment. That date is rumored for the 6th of September. Though Politico has a bi... [Read More]

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Ed Morrissey over at Captain's Quarters interviewed Fred Thompson Monday. Read the transcript here. Meanwhile Captain Ed posted these comments following the occasion: CQ commenter Filistro asks me "how did he strike you... as a person, I mean?" Given a [Read More]

Comments (8)

Posted by rhombus | August 30, 2007 9:36 AM

Who is ST? Did you mean FT or am I missing something?

Posted by swabjockey05 | August 30, 2007 10:04 AM

ST Senator Thompson

Posted by filistro | August 30, 2007 10:19 AM

There is only one concrete, meaningful, specific line in this entire interview.

It is, "The butter sculptures are coming up." ;-)

Just curious, Ed, how did he strike you... as a person, I mean? Did you like him? Did you get an overall impression of depth and sincerity? Difficult in a 5-minute interview, I know, but I'd be interested in your knee-jerk reaction to the man.

Posted by Robin Munn | August 30, 2007 10:41 AM

Quick transcript correction:

In the paragraph where Thompson starts with "It's both. The second part is ...", the fourth sentence contains the phrase "a global war that I don’t think we yet totaling appreciate the dimensions of." I think that should be "totally appreciate".

Posted by starfleet_dude | August 30, 2007 1:11 PM

If Fred Thompson isn't careful, he could get arrested at the Minneapolis airport for loitering on the pot:

Fred Thompson To Skip New Hampshire Debate

As we reported yesterday, the influential New Hampshire Union Leader, a major voice of Republicanism in the crucial primary state, published an editorial challenging Fred Thompson in no uncertain terms to attend the GOP debate in the state next week: "Republicans are starting to think that his heart is not in it, and they are getting tired of the teasing."

Posted by JAF | August 30, 2007 1:20 PM

Captain- did that honestly leave you confident in his abilities as CINC and chief expounder of our goals and objectives?!!

That sounds like more pablum than John Edward's usually uses in two speeches. And this has been the constant complaint against Thompson, that he is a good guy, a cool drinking buddy-

but he has NO SIGNIFICANT executive experience, and he has no real detailed solutions to the challenges that face us.

Really, America can't be the world's policeman?! Gee, so many of us were hoping to be the world's policeman! Seriously, he is going to have to do a LOT better than that!

Posted by CosmoReaxer | August 30, 2007 8:05 PM

Great interview, Cap'n. For whomever said there wasn't anything serious in here, I think this alone is very good:

"But there’s a false dichotomy going on right now between idealism and realism. We need both. We need to learn from our mistakes; we can’t go everywhere and be all things to all people and solve everybody’s problems. We got to be smart as to what we’re capable of doing. We’ve got to make sure that the people are together for any tough engagements."

This is the needle Bush couldn't thread. He had the right idea but he couldn't persuade people. Fred is a persuader, all right. He has an appeal to moderates that Bush once had but lost. Fred won't lose that. He is a communicator.

And he's dead on about considering both idealism and realism. A great interview. Can't wait for him to announce.

Posted by Edward Cropper | September 1, 2007 7:42 PM

Ed, me thinks you got snowed.
If you look at what the other candidates are saying,you would have to decide if you want to get in the debate on their terms and subjects or give them the good old boy I am just a down to earth regular American. Hard choice for Thompson.
And the mumbo jumbo about America's role in the world.
The regular every day voter couldn't care less about our role in the world. They want to hear about taxes, immigration, gas prices, jobs, and others things that they look at every day.
Once again we see a candidate trying to pose as an
outsider trapped by his insider lingo.

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