Learning to love ethanol: Fred Thompson helmets up for a tour at the Lincolnway Energy plant in Nevada, Iowa. AP Photo by Kevin Sanders
by Rick Pearson
Fundraising in Chicago after concluding an extended Iowa visit with a tour of an ethanol plant, Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson said the world has changed since he voted against ethanol subsidies while serving as a Tennessee senator.
“Well when I was in the Senate, oil was, I think, like $23 a barrel,” Thompson told reporters outside his first fundraising event in Illinois since declaring his candidacy last month.
“It’s a different world now, not only the price of oil but what’s going on in the Middle East, what’s going on with regards to Russia, which is becoming a major oil country,” he said. “We can’t afford that kind of dependence.”
Thompson voted against tax credits for ethanol producers in 1998 and voted to eliminate ethanol subsidies a year later. Iowa, which is home to the country’s first presidential caucuses, also is the nation’s largest producer of ethanol, and supporting the fuel additive has become almost a prerequisite for support by voters in the state.
Cac Thompson’s campaign said it expected the fundraiser would generate more than $100,000, with invitations starting at $1,000 and offering a donor a photo with the candidate for the federal maximum contribution of $2,300 for the primary season.
Facing his first debate with the earlier-declared Republican contenders next week in Michigan, the former Law and Order actor declared himself “probably a little rusty on my sound-bite responses, as you can tell.”
Appearing to lessen expectations on his performance, Thompson said, “I’m not used to playing by strict rules either on the Senate floor or in the courtroom or any place like that.”
“These other guys are polished and they’re very smooth in their responses and they’ve had a lot of practice,” he said. “I just hope I’m able to hang in there with them.”
Thompson also said he saw “real prospects” for success in Illinois and its Feb. 5 primary and noted that his wife, Jeri, was from suburban Naperville and thinks “we’ve got some real possibilities here.” Borrowing from the Tennessean way of pronouncing Nashville, Thompson pronounced the Chicago suburb “Nape-uh-vul.”
State Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington, who has been leading Thompson’s campaign effort in Illinois, said grass-roots support for the former senator has grown steadily since he formally announced his campaign.
“No one was willing to commit to Fred until Fred got in the race,” Brady said. “Now that he’s in…people around the area are starting to resonate toward the campaign-people who may have even given to other candidates because they’re good guys but now they know” Thompson’s in the race.
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Comments
It doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure this out does it? Lets see.....voted against tax credit for ethanol, then voted to do away with subsidies, and now...imagine that...wants to flip flop for a few votes. Great...do we need another politician like this? Maybe for the next primary he will be all for lobster-nol.
Posted by: bill r. | October 4, 2007 7:43 AM
Ethanol has succeeded only in driving up the price of corn which in turn has driven up the price of corn-fed beef, cereals,bread, milk and other farm products for the entire citizenry. At the same time, gasoline prices continued to rise in spite of the 10 percent ethanol inclusion and ethanol has been found to produce more greenhouse gases than gasoline. But it has made the corn process companies a whole lot more wealthy, which makes sense since they were the ones who lobbied for it. Ever wonder who some of the biggest opponents of America drilling for more
oil offshore and in the Arctic are?
Posted by: Daniels | October 4, 2007 7:57 AM
...as if we needed another reason not to vote for Thompson.
Posted by: The Ubiquitous Anonymous | October 4, 2007 8:04 AM
Nice pack of lies Daniel. I'm sure you have noticed that oil companies have given up on drilling in ANWAR because they aren't convinced there is enough oil and SE Asia is seen as a more profitable market with Russian, Indian, and Chinese industrialization going gangbusters.
PS Thompson is a Pander Bear
Posted by: john | October 4, 2007 9:22 AM
The use of corn based ethanol is a disaster for the country. The need to pander to Iowa because of the early primary has forced polititians to support ethanol. Ethanol is a break even deal at best. If only ethanol was used as the energy to procuce ethanol we woul slowly go out of business because it takes more to make less. Sugar is eight times as efficient as corn. There is a glut of sugar and we can get all the sugar based ethanol we need from S. America and the Caribbbean. We now have a fifty four cent a gallon tariff on it to keep it out and food prices high.
Posted by: c. perry | October 4, 2007 9:52 AM
Maybe his Trophy wife/paid consultant is really running for Prez?????
Posted by: Raving Loon | October 4, 2007 10:01 AM
Freddie Thompson.
Didn't he peak the day before he announced?
Ethanol; The biggest mistake we could possibly make. Great idea. Let's become a net importer of food so we can continue to drive our Hummers.
Posted by: C.Morris | October 4, 2007 10:09 AM
I'm glad posters at this blog realize ethanol is a waste of time.
Cellulose Ethanol is a whole different matter. Companies like Iogen and a few others are the future.
And John is right - Thompson is a pander bear.
Posted by: nisleib | October 4, 2007 10:18 AM
If there's so little oil in the Arctic, then why are the Russians tumbling head over heels to get to it. According to Bellona of Norway and an international association of environmental specialists, in commenting about the Russian exploration, "The (Russian) Arctic mission, along with geologic data being gathered by expedition scientists, is intended to prop up Moscow's claims to more than 460,000 square miles of the Arctic shelf - which by some estimates may contain 10 BILLION tons of oil and gas deposits." Meanwhile, environmental extremists in the U.S. block this country's efforts to tap the Arctic reserves, content to let Russia get them. As Pogo used to say, "We have met the enemy and it is us."
Posted by: Daniels | October 4, 2007 11:13 AM
"Thompson voted against tax credits for ethanol producers in 1998 and voted to eliminate ethanol subsidies a year later."
Now that he's running for president, I smell a FLIP-FLOP coming!
Posted by: BC | October 4, 2007 12:17 PM