Chris Cillizza: Thompson the Tone Setter
http://blog.washingtonpost.com/thefix/2007/10/thompson_the_tone_setter.html
Say this for Fred Thompson's strategy of not appearing in debates up until today: It's allowing him to get the first response in on many of the most important questions of the debate.
Since most viewers are interested in hearing from Thompson, he is getting lots and lots of questions and often setting the tone for the responses that follow.
Take Social Security's long-term solvency, an issue on which moderator Maria Bartiromo said Thompson was one of the few candidates offering specific solutions.
Thompson used the question to return to his larger theme for the debate -- things are OK now but we are walking a dangerous line for our future. "We are eating our seed corn, we are spending their money," Thompson said. "We're better than that."
