When David Sirota talks, we listen. He's wondering why profilers of Fred Thompson have zilch to say about our Fred's two decades as a K Street whore

"First impressions matter in politics. And the power-worshiping Washington media is doing everything it can to make sure the first impression of Fred Thompson's political experience has as little as possible to do with the majority of Fred Thompson's political experience."
--David Sirota, in a recent blog post on the former senator from Tennessee

I don't take former Sen. Fred Thompson seriously as a possible presidential candidate, but I know other people do. Why don't I take him seriously? The fact that he produces poll numbers that grab attention even while doing nothing overt even to encourage his own candidacy is to me less a demonstration of unexpected candidate strength than an expression of rank-and-file dissatisfaction with "all of the above" official GOP hopefuls.

Of course, there's always the possibility that the party's candidate ennui could propel our Fred into actual candidateship. So I suppose we need to keep up on what that would actually mean.

When David Sirota talks, we listen, and just recently David had this to say on his blog (the blog version has active links) about our Fred.--Ken

Eleven Words For Thompson’s
Entire 20 Years on K Street

Honestly - this is getting really embarrassing for the Beltway press corps. Yesterday, I noted that in its fawning coverage of Republican Fred Thompson, the New York Times made a very clear effort to smooth over Thompson's time as a well-paid corporate lobbyist in Washington. Now, just a day later, the Los Angeles Times goes even lower than the Gray Lady. In a sprawling 1,700 word profile of Thompson's entire career that purports to investigate Thompson's real career motives, we get all an 11-word half sentence about his two decades on K Street:

"Despite his image as a down-home outsider, Thompson spent many years after Watergate in lobbying and law firms."

That's it. That's all we get about a 20-year lobbying career.

Let's break down this travesty in math terms. Since being pulled out of his mother's womb, Thompson has spent about one third of his entire existence on the planet Earth as a lobbyist. Yet, the Los Angeles Times devotes just 11 words - or, one half of one percent of its entire story - to Thompson's lobbying career. We get nothing about his work helping companies get out of compensating asbestos victims. Nothing about his work on telecom deregulation or his lobbying involvement in policies relating to the savings and loan crisis. Nope, the story "investigates" what the Beltway press corps apparently sees as more relevant to a Thompson Administration like such hard-hitting topics as this former lobbyist's cameo roles in Hollywood flops like "Last Best Chance" and "Born Yesterday."

For their part, Thompson's fellow Republicans are working overtime to keep Washington reporters focused intently on the fluff. Rep. Jerry Weller (R-IL), one of K Street's closest House allies, is quoted in the Los Angeles Times story bending over backwards to divert attention both from Thompson's time as a paid corporate shill, and from Thompson's thin Senate record. "He comes straight out of central casting," Weller said. "First impressions matter in politics."

The latter part of Weller's comment is correct - first impressions matter in politics. And the power-worshiping Washington media is doing everything it can to make sure the first impression of Fred Thompson's political experience has as little as possible to do with the majority of Fred Thompson's political experience.