In late 2007, a call amongst conservatives rang out for a Fred Thompson for President candidacy. Thompson, a former Republican United States Senator from Tennessee and character actor from such television and movie ventures as Law & Order and Die Hard 2, answered that call and ran for the Republican nomination for President in earnest in late 2007. Despite the ballyhoo surrounding his entrance into the race, Thompson’s campaign sputtered along and by the end of January 2008, his campaign ended.
The following video is one of a series of talking point vignettes that were designed to introduce Thompson to the public who might have been unfamiliar with his political views. This video deals with the topic of federalism. Federalism is the sharing and distribution of power and resources between the federal government and the states. You can also add “…and the local governments” when you discuss the separation of powers between the levels of government. In the video, Thompson speaks from a decentralist point of view. This view contends that the Constitution is a compact among the sovereign states which gave the central government a limited framework to work from. Those who oppose such a framework would be centralists. Centralists see the Constitution as the supreme law of the land and that the states are not the representative of the people. Centralists claim that the representative of the people is the national government. Take a listen to what Senator Fred Thompson has to say on the matter of federalism.
Where do you stand on the idea of federalism? What are thoughts on what Fred Thompson had to say in 2007 about federalism? How do they relate to what is happening in the United States today?
Politics Matters 