Thompson spoke for about 25 minutes and covered a lot of ground. In a speech of that length you can either cover one topic with some depth or you can skim the surface of a lot of topics. Since there was no overriding theme, Thompson chose the latter. What follows is my account of Thompson’s comments today.

Senator Thompson had quite a few quotable moments. The first was in his recounting of his visit with Former Prime Minister Thatcher and her relationship with Ronald Reagan. Referring to the accomplishments of the two Thompson said “strength doesn’t cause wars, strength prevents wars.” He then recounted how following the end of the cold war the US cut defense spending by more than 1/3, military development by 50% and allowed our intelligence operations to languish, particularly our human intelligence capabilities. He pointed out that through numerous attacks on our assets around the world we did little to nothing until 9/11 and the war in Iraq.

Thompson showed a real grasp of the situation we face in Islamic fascism. He said that our enemy sees this conflict as having already gone on for a hundred years and they are prepared to go another hundred if necessary. He said that people just don’t understand or appreciate that fact. He went on to say that in previous conflicts the country always pulled together but now partisan politics takes precedence. A big applause moment was when Thompson talked about the sons of two friends who are serving in Iraq and have re-upped. He said they had hope and optimism and he wasn’t going to give up hope so long as they held it. Thompson said we need leadership to bring us together, implying that he can provide that leadership.

In the subject of illegal immigration Thompson agreed that it was dividing our party but he expressed optimism that the party would get past it. He emphasized that the resolution had to come from consideration of what was best for the country, not what was best for either party. He said that thousands of illegal immigrants are not Mexicans and that is a grave risk to national security. Thompson said that we could not hope to protect our country until we secure our borders and he flatly said that the current immigration reform bill is not what is best for this country. He rightly pointed out that we got the same promises in 1986 that we are getting today and there is no reason to believe them now. He also pointed out that the US grants one million green cards per year now so claims that we are taking an anti-immigration stand are unfounded. In another quotable moment Thompson said “we welcome legal immigrants and this is home to all of us but we get to decide who comes to our home.” Thompson said the government can’t handle the backlog of four million legal immigrants waiting on processing now so how can they possibly handle 12-20 million more?

On the question of taxes Thompson said that low taxes benefit everyone but the tax and spend types want to divide up a static pie instead of increasing the size of the pie so everyone gets a larger piece, precisely Reagan’s position. He did not endorse the FairTax but he did say that we are bankrupting the country, the government and the economy and that waiting to fix the problem hurts everyone.

In a great moment for religious conservatives Thompson, referring to the Declaration of Independence, said that our rights come from God and not from government. He went on to say that our founding fathers knew what they were doing when they set up our federal form of government with separation of powers. The implication seemed to be that we’ve strayed far from that ideal now. While not expressly mentioning abortion or assisted suicide, Thompson emphasized the sanctity of human life.

Thompson said we need a new coalition of people coming together for the good of the country. The clear implication was that he could build that coalition. That is exactly what Ronald Reagan did. He built a coalition of people from both parties, not in government but in the electorate. Reagan won two landslide victories by convincing democrats to vote for him.

I’ve often said this country is floundering because no leader has been able to cast a vision that the people caught hold of. Bush seems to understand the threat from Islamic fascism but he has utterly failed to articulate that to the people in a way that grabs their attention. There have been a lot of comparisons between Reagan and Thompson, not the least being they are both actors. Some have pointed out that Thompson is not like Reagan in the sense that Reagan has a long history of conservative intellectual thought and writing. Thompson clearly does not have that.

There is, however, one comparison that really works and that is the ability to communicate. Reagan could cast a vision and so can Thompson. On all the issues I’ve heard him speak on Thompson has been on the right side. He certainly was today. He may not be the conservative intellectual Reagan was but he has that long missing ability to communicate in a way that is at once understandable and compelling. He has the ability to cast a vision. I believe that he can bring in a lot of Democrats and that could easily turn the tide, not just in the election but also in terms of moving this country forward as a people with a common vision for the future. Unless this country gets behind a strong leader who is willing to do what it takes, we are in for a very difficult and painful future. As Churchill said, “sometimes it isn’t enough to do your best, sometimes you have to do what is required.” We, as a country, must be willing to do what is required if we expect our future to look anything like our past. It is my belief that of all the Republican candidates, Fred Dalton Thompson is far and away the best man to cast the vision for this country.

As an ending note let me relate my brief exchange with Thompson today. There was a large crowd of people who wanted to meet Thompson and shake his hand and I was in the middle of it. When I finally got the chance I extended my hand and Thompson took it. He has a real man’s handshake. His large hand wrapped around mine with a firm grip the way a man is supposed to shake hands, not bone crushing but you know you’re shaking hands. I told him that a lot of people were really excited at the prospect of him running and I was one of them. He smiled and thanked me. Then I told him that all those people, including myself, were going to be really disappointed if he decided against running. He grinned real big and said, “so will I.”

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NOTE: I recorded Thompson’s speech on my cell phone. The audio isn’t the best in the world and there is considerable background noise but it you can hear what Thompson had to say. The format is a peculiar cell phone format and I can’t find a way to convert it to mp3. I’m thinking about uploading it anyway since Real Player will play it but I’d prefer to convert it to mp3 so everyone can use it. If you know a good way to convert it, please let me know. Alternatively, if you have the ability to convert it I’ll be happy to send it to you for conversion if you’ll send the converted file back. Just let me know.

UPDATE:  Thanks to Orlando the file is now in mp3 format.  To listen to it click here.

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The first problem was with arriving volunteers. We were supposed to be there for training at 1:00 PM. The problem was the parking at the fairgrounds didn’t open until 2:00. So leaders at the fairgrounds directed us to park across the street in a lot across the railroad tracks. We parked and walked across a very busy 4 lane highway to board the bus to the coliseum which was several miles away. Once we got to the training we were told that we could not leave our cars where they were and if they weren’t moved by 3:00 they would be locked in. So we had to board the buses, head back to the fairgrounds, cross the busy highway again, move our cars, then board the buses and go back to the coliseum. All this took more than an hour and many of us, me included, had no training or job assignments at all. I ended up taking station at a door and helping with incoming ticket taking. This was a lot of hassle that volunteers really didn’t need after driving, in some cases, hundreds of miles to do this.

Another very big problem made worse by the remote parking was some of the venue’s policies. They did not allow food, drinks or backpacks into the coliseum. Now many venues don’t allow food or drinks. But the web site for the rally indicated that you did not have to bring food because there would be food available. It left the impression that you could bring food and drinks. As a result, many people had to throw away lots of food because taking it back to their car simply wasn’t practical.

The backpack issue was far worse. I understand why the coliseum has this policy but considering what they allow in, it is simply stupid. You could bring in any kind of bag including briefcases, suitcases, you name it. The only type of bag prohibited was backpacks. Can anyone tell me how a backpack is more dangerous than a suitcase? Lots of people were forced to board buses and return to the parking lot with their backpacks. This cost them at minimum an hour and could have easily been avoided.

Numerous volunteers also brought backpacks because they were going to be there a long time. No one said anything about them coming in for the training and in many cases volunteers were fine. But in one case a volunteer who worked outside found himself unable to re-enter when it was time for the event to begin because of his backpack that he’d had all day.

What made it worse was the apparent lack of consistency in enforcement. One woman had a backpack style purse. It was clearly a purse but the fact that it had shoulder straps meant they were not going to let her in and she had to return to the parking lot with it. Yet another couple had what was clearly a backpack that they were using as a diaper bag. Officials decided to call it a diaper bag and let them in with it.

The coliseum seriously needs to revisit this policy. It makes no sense and is nothing more than rules overriding common sense. Rather than take responsibility for decisions, they prefer to set silly rules and hope it keeps everyone safe.

Here are my suggestions for the organizers. Get with the venue well ahead and make sure you know what their policies are and how they will be enforced. Once that is done, make sure those policies are spelled out in all event related materials including fliers, web site, etc. Give those who attend the opportunity to have as smooth an event as possible.

Make sure you have everything lined up for volunteers. While no one was seriously angry over having to go move cars, there was a general feeling that maybe organizers didn’t really know what they were doing.

Look at this event as a learning opportunity. Examine what went well and what did not and make appropriate adjustments. You pulled off an amazingly successful event but it could have been better still. If you take my advice it will be much better next time.

Thanks again for the opportunity to be a part of this rally. I enjoyed it and would do it again in a heartbeat.

Check back later today for debate observations and analysis.

Yesterday had so much to talk about that it’s difficult to sort it all out. Between the FairTax Rally and the GOP debate, I could write far more than most of you probably want to read. I’ve decided to break it all up into three posts. This post will deal with the FairTax Rally and its high points. The second post will deal with some of my criticisms of the FairTax rally and how they could make it better. Finally, I will write a post about the debate last night. I hope you will stick with me throughout.

As a volunteer at the FairTax rally I had to be there at 1:00 for training. That made for a long day but it was well worth it. There were about a dozen volunteers from Charleston that convoyed up together yesterday morning. We met at the rest area near mile marker 203 on I-26 and went up from there.

There were numerous speakers, some surprises. Of course Neal Boortz spoke several times along with Sean Hannity. Herman Cain was scheduled to speak but he was ill and could not make it. Predictably Boortz and Hannity were inspiring and really whipped up the crowd. If you haven’t heard Sean Hannity speak in person you’ve missed out. They guy is just good.

Neal Boortz told the audience about the new book he and John Lender are working on, The FairTax, Answering the Critics. He pointed out the the vast majority of criticism of the FairTax is actually criticism of things is doesn’t do or doesn’t involve. Boortz told the audience that the critics first lie about what the FairTax is then attack their false picture of the FairTax.

The goal of the rally was 10,000 people. I haven’t heard any official numbers but if they didn’t make it, they didn’t miss by much. There was a great crowd and everyone was excited. The general tenor was one of optimism and there was a concerted effort to convince supporters that the FairTax could become a reality this year! I don’t share that same optimism though I did come away convinced that it is at least possible. Prior to this rally I didn’t really think the FairTax was achievable at all.

The strangest part of the rally was when John Stossel spoke. I think most of the crowd was confused because Stossel didn’t really support the FairTax. Rather, he spoke about a flat tax. At one point someone in the crowd yelled out “FairTax” and there were a few hoots of supports. All in all the crowd just seemed confused. I found myself wondering if Stossel knew what rally he was at. As for the organizers, why didn’t they ensure that speakers would actually speak in support of the FairTax? Stossel didn’t, however, dampen the spirits of the crowd.

Unannounced speakers included Tom Tancredo and Mike Huckabee. Both spoke passionately about the FairTax and indicated they would work to implement it. Of the two, only Huckabee mentioned it in the debate and he went on at length when he did mention it.

The absolute highlight of the rally was the march. Everyone had a sign provided by rally organizers and we filed out of the coliseum en mass to march around the Koger Center. The looks on the faces of people outside was priceless. There was small groups of supporters of various candidates, none larger than a couple dozen people. Then here comes this massive crowd of close to 10,000 people all wearing white FairTax t-shirts and carrying FairTax signs, chanting in unison and marching all around the Koger Center. It was really an amazing sight. I’ll have some photos posted later in case your local news didn’t carry it. They certainly should have, there were TV cameras on use the whole time and at any given point in the march, it took at least 20 minutes for the whole crowd to pass.

Here are a couple of short videos of the march. The quality isn’t very good because I shot it with my cell phone but you can at least get an idea of what it was like.

I very much enjoyed the rally and I would encourage anyone who has the opportunity to attend one. Clearly support is building but that can only continue if more and more people join the movement.

Stay tuned later today for observations and analysis of the GOP debate.

by TD of The Right Track

A quick and dirty search through Google News for articles, news, and editorials revealed no less than 14 pieces written in the last month regarding the FairTax. Fully 1/3 of those were editorials agreeing with the need for the FairTax.

A sampling:

From the Denver Daily News, an editorial titled “FairTax, not flat tax, needed to fix nation’s taxation woes“:

Dear editor,

The IRS needs to be eliminated and replaced with the FairTax, not the flat tax, as suggested by columnist Aaron Harber in Monday’s Denver Daily News.

The flat tax changes absolutely nothing – the IRS, tax code, regulations, 16th Amendment, corporate taxation and payroll taxes (the way Social Security is funded) stay exactly the same under the flat tax.

At best, the flat tax is temporary, the wrong direction to move towards simplification.

From the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, “The Fairer Tax“:

The Fair Tax (FairTax.org) will make our true tax burden — most of which is concealed in the price of goods and services — visible to all and is a necessary first step toward smaller and less-intrusive government.

We cannot allow the perfect to become the enemy of the good.

So first, let’s replace the current complex and dishonest system of taxation with a fair and transparent system that will allow the people to choose how much government they can afford in full knowledge of how much it really costs.

The Raleigh/Durham News & Observer has an editorial headlined “Total Replacement“:

Our tax code has grown steadily more complex, unwieldy, expensive and out of control ever since its overhaul in 1986. The IRS is increasingly unable to cope with the tax code, and puts much of its resources to uses unrelated to raising revenue and contrary to the wishes of the Founders.

Like Icarus flying ever closer to the sun, the tax system appears to be headed for self-destruction. It is far beyond any fix and is losing respect and credibility. The only reasonable solution is to finally and completely scrap it and replace it. I support the revenue-neutral FairTax plan. (http://www.fairtax.org/ 1-800-FairTax).

This is just a sampling of what people are saying all across the country. Truly a grassroots effort, it takes people willing to step up and show public support for the FairTax to convince politicians that it’s in their best interest to support the bills.

One way to show public support is to write an editorial to your local paper, no matter how large or small. Use the FairTax category that may appear on this participant blog, visit http://www.fairtax.org/, or read the FairTax book by Boortz and Linder to learn more. Get your facts straight, then write your editorial and submit it. Many papers now have a way to submit online or via e-mail.

However you decide to do it, your public support for the FairTax is vital.

The FairTax Blogburst is jointly produced by Terry of The Right Track Blog and Jonathan of Publius Rendezvous. If you would like to host the weekly postings on your blog, please e-mail Terry. You will be added to our mailing list and blogroll.

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