Polluting the Airwaves

As an ad-watch guy, I can tell you that Halperin has hit upon a telling point. Reporters have a hard enough time keeping up with the candidates' ads, and most TV coverage doesn't even bother to critique them for accuracy.

Is Fred Thompson shaking the lazy label? The L.A. Times says he's trying:

"Two months into his bid for the nomination, the former Tennessee senator is fighting to shake the image of a laid-back -- even lazy -- candidate who lacks the fervor of his rivals. Thompson not only has adopted a forceful speaking style, he has taken a more aggressive approach toward other Republican candidates . . .

"Thompson, 65, confronted the low-energy concern directly in Fort Mills, S.C., where Muzak has its headquarters. Speaking to supporters crammed into Beef O'Brady's sports bar and restaurant, he suggested that the nation needs a leader with sound judgment, not raw passion. 'Ultimately,' he said, 'the American people have to ask themselves: Do they want someone with their finger on the nuclear button who has fire in his belly?' He paused for effect. 'Or her belly?' The crowd burst into laughter."

Pretty good line.

Thompson is making a favorable impression on National Review's Jay Nordlinger:

"Fred Thompson said something the other day that impressed me. He was asked about Bernard Kerik, and his tangle with the law. The candidate said, 'I heard about it a while ago. It's been in the news, obviously, for a long time. But I don't know anything about the facts of that case, and I really can't comment on it.'

"Refreshing. You know, ol' Fred's all right."

My reaction was, why doesn't the guy read newspapers? This Kerik thing hasn't exactly been a secret. Unless he was simply trying to finesse the question.

Is the war debate starting to shift? No surprise here -- Bill Kristol thinks so:

"It was a reasonable position (though a mistaken one) to oppose the war in Iraq. It was a reasonable position (though a mistaken one) to oppose the surge of troops at the beginning of 2007, on the grounds that it seemed unlikely the surge could succeed, and that some kind of not-too-damaging-withdrawal was the only option.

"But now the surge is succeeding. Any serious person has to be rethinking his position going forward in that light. No Democrat is doing any such rethinking, however. What Democrats are doing now is, in effect, denying evident success. And, by continuing to push for a withdrawal timetable, they are trying to prevent further success . . .