Fred Thompson Lincolnesque? Not A Chance. (Lowell rains on Ralph's parade, just a little.)

As a fellow Lincolnophile, I need to respond to my fellow Hedgehog's post below.

Readers here know that I am a committed Romney supporter. I also like Fred Thompson very much. If Fred is nominated I will work hard for him and vote for him enthusiastically. What I cannot get over yet, however, is his relative lack of accomplishment in anything that really matters in government or business. He has been an effective prosecutor early in his career, then an actor-lobbyist, a U.S. senator of no great distinction, and again an actor-lobbyist. He's never run anything larger than a Senate office and a Senate committee. His greatest successes have come as an actor. (Don't even try to bring up Ronald Reagan by comparison. By the time he ran for president Reagan had served two terms as a very successful governor of California and was the recognized leader of an entire conservative movement in the U.S.)

By the time Lincoln ran for president, he was a very successful lawyer also, and he had not run anything either. But Lincoln had proven his mettle as a skilled political operative in Illinois and as a national spokesman for preserving the Union. I've read Goodwin's book too, and was very impressed with Lincoln's commitment to political success. Yes, he was a candidate who was careful not to engage in internecine war with the other Republicans, but he was single-minded in his drive for the nomination. He did nothing "cute" like the tactics Thompson has adopted so far. And, I might add, Lincoln loved debates. He would never have dodged a debate with the other leading candidates in order to generate better publicity for himself. Perhaps most tellingly, no one had to persuade Lincoln to run for president. He wanted the presidency very much.

I have a hunch I'll be hearing more from Ralph about this . . . .