WKRN in Nashville has the entire story here?More than a dozen years after it was credited with helping turn around his first bid for public office, Fred Thompson's old pickup truck sits parked behind his mother's house in this Nashville suburb.
The red paint is faded and the tailgate hangs open, but supporters would like nothing more than to see the actor-politician leap back into the bed to make stump speeches in his bid for the White House.
Early in the 1994 race, after struggling to connect with voters, Thompson decided to lease a used truck and drive around the state in what turned out to be a wildly successful effort to recast himself as a folksy man of the people.
His opponent, Democratic U.S. Rep. Jim Cooper, derided the truck as a cynical prop to deflect attention from Thompson's inside-the-Beltway status. But Thompson was able to shake off Cooper's suggestion that he was actually a "Gucci-wearing, Lincoln-driving, Perrier-drinking, Grey Poupon-spreading millionaireWashington special interest lobbyist."
I wrote about this truck earlier. As I emphasize then, I think the truck could be effective for a regional or state-based race in the South. Yet, outside of the Southeast I'm not sure his truck would resonate the way he'd hope.
As we saw at his trip to the Iowa State Fair, he's still wearing Gucci loafers. Now, those aren't the foot coverings of a "folksy man of the people." Instead, these are what I'd expect to see on a commoner.
As we saw at his trip to the Iowa State Fair, he's still wearing Gucci loafers. Now, those aren't the foot coverings of a "folksy man of the people." Instead, these are what I'd expect to see on a commoner.
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