For Thompson, It Was Florida in Four Minutes
New York Times
October 21, 2007
ORLANDO, Fla. ?- Rudolph W. Giuliani, the first to speak before more than 1,000 Republicans here Saturday night for their annual party convention, worked the crowd into a near frenzy as he lashed out at the specter of a President Hillary Clinton.
Senator John McCain, who spoke next, held the audience rapt as he described the struggle in Iraq, as well as his own experience with war and suffering, in detail and with evident emotion.
Mitt Romney, who focused on the importance of family, brought his wife, Ann, and son, Tagg, on stage: real live family members to show he is a real live family man.
When it came time for Fred D. Thompson, the crowd was primed, having listened to his rivals deliver speeches, lasting about 20 minutes each, that the candidates each obviously thought played to their strengths.
Mr. Thompson walked slowly onto the stage, kissed his wife, Jeri, on the cheek, made a joke or two, claimed to be a "consistent conservative" ?- and said good night. He spoke for four minutes.
"I was really kind of shocked," said Linda Hoffman, 47, who wore stickers for all the candidates on her blazer, reflecting her indecision. "We were all hoping he would say something we could get behind, but there was nothing."
The four speeches, and the reaction of the activists gathered here for the Florida Republican Party's biggest annual event, provided a distillation of the strengths of the leading candidates, as well as their weaknesses. While all voiced a similar outlook philosophically, they were a study in contrasts, both in substance and style.
In their speeches was an indication of the paths their campaigns are following as they continue to woo undecided primary voters.
The raucous and festive nature of the gathering, on the eve of another Republican debate (scheduled for Sunday night at 8 p.m.), also showed how Florida's decision to move up its primary to Jan. 29 has placed the state at the center of the political calculus of the Republican campaigns.
The Democrats have decided to boycott the state's early primary, a decision Republicans promise to exploit in the general election. Already, the impact of that decision can be felt. The Democratic Party holds its own annual convention next weekend and not a single presidential candidate will attend.
"The Republican candidates are crawling all over the state," said Jim Greer, the chairman of the Florida Republican Party. As the party tries to attract independent voters, he said he will raise the Democratic Party's decision not to compete here "every chance I get."
The four leading Republicans thought this weekend's gathering was important enough for their campaigns to spend $100,000 each simply for the privilege of speaking at Saturday night's rally.
Mr. Giuliani, coming here shortly after addressing skeptical Christian conservative leaders at a summit in Washington, was clearly energized by the friendly reception he got from the crowd here. In fact, Mr. Giuliani has spent more time than the other candidates in Florida, making this state a bellwether of his presidential bid. His campaign believes that as long as no other candidate sweeps the previous four early voting states -- Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina, and Michigan -- and he has strong showings in most if not all of them, winning Florida will give him momentum to take a number of the larger states with many electoral votes that hold contests on Feb. 5.
His campaign recruited more than 100 volunteers to work the Republicans gathered here this weekend.
"In 2000 you saved us from Al Gore," Mr. Giuliani said at the rally. "We are going to need you in 2008 to save us from Hillary Clinton."
"Unlike the Democrats, I am not going to boycott Florida," he said.
Mr. Giuliani eschewed the podium, pacing back and forth the lengthy stage, gesticulating intensely as he continued the rip into Mrs. Clinton, saying that patients would have to visit a "Hillary bureaucrat" before picking a doctor and, if she were president, American health care would become like Cuban health care.
He was evidently so happy with and energized by his own performance that he literally leapt of the stage when he was done, swinging himself down the railing past the first few steps into the crowd.
Mr. McCain did not offer nearly as much red meat. Introduced by a video highlighting his experience as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, he also eschewed a script and the podium. But as he settled into his speech, often leaning comfortably on the side of the podium with one arm, he grew more emotional as he spoke about both the struggle to defeat terrorism and, specifically, the war in Iraq.
"They are implacable, they are cruel," he said of America's enemies. "They will cut off people's heads and they will record it."
Citing his lifetime of experience dealing with security issues, he catalogued the four years of "failed strategy" in Iraq, arguing that he was alone among his rivals in speaking out about the evident problems before the Bush administration changed strategy.
The crowd, so riled up only moments ago by Mr. Giuliani, whose supporters far outnumbered Mr. McCain's, fell almost completely silent listening to the former soldier talk of war.
Mr. Romney shifted the focus to family [..]. His wife Ann addressed the crowd as well.
"We have seen the heart of America," she said. "I am here to report to you that that heart is so good."
Mr. Thompson was introduced by a video, "The Hunt for Red November." His microphone was turned up loud, making his heavy breathing audible.
He recalled why he first ran for the Senate.
"I got to thinking about home and things I learned sitting around the kitchen table," he said. What he learned, he said, was "the importance of the basic American values, conservative values."
"Together," he finished, "we can do something good for America."
