The Daily Background

Here’s another item we can file under the “Not ready for prime-time department.” Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson just committed the single biggest faux-pas a candidate can make while in the state of Florida, outside of perhaps saying that insurance companies who default on hurricane insurance shouldn’t be held accountable:

Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson seemed taken by surprise when asked Tuesday about oil drilling in the Everglades, apparently unaware it’s been a major Florida issue.

Before answering, he laughed at the question.

“Gosh, no one has told me that there’s any major reserves in the Everglades, but maybe that’s one of the things I need to learn while I’m down here,” Thompson said after talking over state issues with [Republican] Gov. Charlie Crist.
[…]
Later, in a phone call with The Associated Press, Crist said, “I wasn’t completely overjoyed with the positions … but I think he’ll take some time to respond to them.”

I hardly know where to start with this one. The debate over oil drilling in the Florida Everglades is one of the absolute biggest political local issues in the state, which has spilled out onto the national stage numerous times. It’s extremely surprising that he’s basically saying he hasn’t formed an opinion on the issue, much less heard of it.

Nobody serious about getting Floridian votes (and frankly nobody who isn’t in the pocket of ExxonMobil for that matter) is going to seriously advocate drilling in the Everglades. This is reminiscent of the recent situation where Thompson “couldn’t remember” what his opinion was on the Terry Shaivo saga.

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