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Thompson is running low on options
Politico ^ | 12/20/2007 | Jonathan Martin

Posted on 12/21/2007 5:44:36 PM PST by devere

DAVENPORT, Iowa — Fred Thompson’s plan is simple: Get on a bus and haul around to some 50 Iowa towns and cities between now and Jan. 3.

It’s the only option he has.

Thompson has little money left in bank and has had to slash his television presence here to a level well below that of Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. His cash crunch is so severe that he’s even had to freeze his direct mail plan.

So now, for the next two weeks before the caucuses, he'll be largely living off the land.

Thompson fell in the polls as Mike Huckabee rose — in seeming direct correlation to one another. One network pulled their embedded reporter from the Thompson beat and another network divided their embed between the two candidates.

But a different Fred Thompson showed up at the GOP debate last week outside Des Moines. The funny, commanding performance turned some heads, perhaps not the least of which that of conservative Iowa congressman Steve King, who threw his support to Thompson in a press conference Monday.

King’s support, and Thompson’s debate showing, also caught the eye of veteran Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen, who made the case this week that Thompson should not be counted out.

The confluence of events has combined to give Thompson aides at least the appearance of optimism.

“The important thing for Thompson was to get into the mix in this final fortnight,” said senior adviser Rich Galen. “He needed to be part of the conversation. And that has happened.”

So now they’re trying to capitalize.

Thompson’s bus tour is aimed less at retail, one-on-one politicking than at earning media attention to compensate for his lack of ads and direct mail.

(Excerpt) Read more at politico.com ...


TOPICS: Politics/Elections; US: Iowa
KEYWORDS: fredthompson; ia2008; jonathanmartin; politico
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To: devere
According to this link Fred has much more campaign money than Huckabee:

Or Duncan Hunter.....and looks like Romney is tanked. 9 in the hand, 17 owed? LOL
121 posted on 12/21/2007 11:45:38 PM PST by Khepri (Sure, we want to go home. The shortest way home is through Damascus and Tehran.)
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To: Owen
Read that media buy table and . . . understand.

He's laying in wait. Tancredos out, the buzzards are circling over Hunter, Keyes will be in just long enough to annoy the hell outta everyone, Ron Paul will stay in only as long as he has to and not return any matching funds, Huckster will be gone after SC...and despite what the recent polls say McCain is on his deathbed....

When that time comes he'll have the money he needs....
122 posted on 12/21/2007 11:54:03 PM PST by Khepri (Sure, we want to go home. The shortest way home is through Damascus and Tehran.)
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To: jmyrlefuller
Here’s the difference, though:

Mitt Romney has hundreds of millions of dollars in assets that he can access to finance his campaign. He can afford to go into debt. Fred cannot.


That's what John Kerry thought too, he lost.
123 posted on 12/21/2007 11:56:18 PM PST by Khepri (Sure, we want to go home. The shortest way home is through Damascus and Tehran.)
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To: HerrBlucher
This election season has been VERY revealing.....epitomized by Tanc's endorsement of Romney.

Yup, and from the sound of it even he was drinking the Fred Can't Win swill...lol
124 posted on 12/22/2007 12:12:22 AM PST by Khepri (Fred Thompson, he's a hundred miles away son - READY TO STRIKE!)
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To: no dems
I'm thinking that the best we can hope for now is a deadlocked convention and Fred comes out the winner-by-consensus.

I guess Huckabee just out "charmed" him, out "witted" him and just plain grabbed the Conservative vote away from Fred by getting an earlier start and doing well in the debates. Drat the luck.


He's this years Pat Robertson. Starts fast, finishes faster.
125 posted on 12/22/2007 12:17:26 AM PST by Khepri (Fred Thompson, he's a hundred miles away son - READY TO STRIKE!)
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To: wardaddy

Thank you for your contribution to Fred’s campaign but something in your post struck me as one of the fundamental problems within the ‘right-wing’ political movement in this country.

Putting aside what one may think of abortion or gay marriage, the fact is Thompson believes strongly in federalism. I’d also guess that he (like I) does not feel it’s a wise move to spend political capital on those issues when we need to move the American population and the public policies back towards the right. Banning gay marriage won’t do ___.

In fact, I’d say the anti-male family courts are far more destructive to our society than gays getting married, either in some ceremony or legally-speaking.

When I think of the problems we face in this country, our long, slow slide into tyranny, the two issues that occur to me as being the LEAST instrumental in that (or near the bottom) are the two you mentioned.

Social security, gun rights, property rights, taxes, illegal immigration, intelligence and national security, military preparedness, healthcare market liberalization and smashing the nanny state are all far more critical in the short and long term.

Win those and you win people to the more nebulous moral-religious concepts.


126 posted on 12/22/2007 3:18:14 AM PST by Skywalk (Transdimensional Jihad!)
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To: devere
Fred Thompson did something early on that no candidate should do. He played hard-to-get, acting like a cloistered movie star instead of an "all-in" enthusiastic candidate.

His heart is not in this. It has been obvious from the start. Remember, he is a guy who could have held a Tennessee Senator's seat as long as he wanted it. He chose to back out of politics.

I don't blame him for hating politics but I don't think you can be a successful presidential candidate if your friends have to drag you to the altar.

127 posted on 12/22/2007 5:26:52 AM PST by NoControllingLegalAuthority
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To: Khepri

I am just sittin’ back and watching it unfold as I chomp on a good cigar and drink my brandy...


128 posted on 12/22/2007 6:33:51 AM PST by ejonesie22 (In America all people have a right to be wrong, some just exercise it a bit much...)
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To: pissant

I know, Fred is keeping Hunter from the “big” break out...

It seems he will have to wait a tick longer to sky rocket...

Merry Christmas...


129 posted on 12/22/2007 6:44:19 AM PST by ejonesie22 (In America all people have a right to be wrong, some just exercise it a bit much...)
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To: ElkGroveDan

Ok Fred is in the black


130 posted on 12/22/2007 6:54:41 AM PST by al baby (Hi mom)
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To: Skywalk

I think we can do many things at one time.


131 posted on 12/22/2007 7:20:45 AM PST by wardaddy (I have come to the conclusion that even though imperfect....Thompson is my choice by far.)
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To: NoControllingLegalAuthority

“His heart is not in this. It has been obvious from the start.”

That’s great. The same was true of George Washington. Won’t it be wonderful to have a President once again who isn’t obsessed with seeking power.


132 posted on 12/22/2007 8:35:38 AM PST by devere
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To: Khepri

“looks like Romney is tanked. 9 in the hand, 17 owed?”

Mitt owes the 17 to himself, and there’s plenty more where that came from.


133 posted on 12/22/2007 8:40:31 AM PST by devere
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To: pissant
Time to drop out of the race now Fred Duncan. Thanks for not even bothering to play.
134 posted on 12/22/2007 8:58:37 AM PST by perfect_rovian_storm (John Cox 2008: Because Duncan Hunter just isn't obscure enough for me!)
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To: devere
“looks like Romney is tanked. 9 in the hand, 17 owed?”

Mitt owes the 17 to himself, and there’s plenty more where that came from.


Well, that's OK then...it just tells me he'll be there till the end....

Honestly, I plan on supporting whoever the nominee is regardless.....here's why;

From the days of Spartacus-Weishaupt to those of Karl Marx, and down to Trotsky (Russia), Bela Kun (Hungary), Rosa Luxembourg (Germany), and Emma Goldman (United States), this world-wide conspiracy for the overthrow of civilization and for the reconstitution of society on the basis of arrested development, of envious malevolence, and impossible equality, has been steadily growing. It played... a definitely recognizable part in the tragedy of the French Revolution. It has been the mainspring of every subversive movement during the Nineteenth Century; and now at last this band of extraordinary personalities from the underworld of the great cities of Europe and America have gripped the Russian people by the hair of their heads and have become practically the undisputed masters of that enormous empire. Author: Winston Churchill

The drive of the Rockefellers and their allies is to create a one-world government combining supercapitalism and Communism under the same tent, all under their control.... Do I mean conspiracy? Yes I do. I am convinced there is such a plot, international in scope, generations old in planning, and incredibly evil in intent. Author: Congressman Larry P. McDonald, killed in the Korean Airlines 747 that was shot down by the Soviets

Today, freedom – political, economic, and individual freedom – lies destroyed or is in the course of being destroyed over great areas of the globe. And it has been destroyed and is being destroyed in the name of freedom.... A ruthless dialectical battle is being waged against the Christian way of life, against political liberty, against individual freedom, and it is being waged in the name of Freedom. Black becomes White; Tyranny becomes Freedom; The Forced Labor Camp stands for Liberty; The Slave State is represented as Democracy. This is the deadly challenge of Communism. Author: David O. McKay, Mormon, Source: Conference Report, October 1962

A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have. Author: Gerald Ford

Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff. Author: Frank Zappa

We think that others should view the world as we do and have the same value determinations as we do--and this leads to much frustration and even destruction. In fact, the theory of communism is based on this very idea, the idea that material things have intrinsic, objective values that should be determined by one group of people and imposed on everyone else. In our normal everyday relationships, imposing our value determinations on other people is a form of subtle tyranny; when it becomes a full-blown economic theory, supported by force of government, it literally becomes a machine for oppression, destruction and death. Author: Garrett Gunderson, Source: Killing Sacred Cows

Back in 1936, Mr. Democrat himself, Al Smith, the great American, came before the American people and charged that the leadership of his party was taking the party of Jefferson, Jackson, and Cleveland down the road under the banners of Marx, Lenin, and Stalin. And he walked away from his party, and he never returned to the day he died.... Author: Ronald Reagan, Source: A Time for Choosing, Address on behalf of Senator Barry Goldwater,

Visit this page and listen to Reagan in 1964, when "world-class genius" Hildabeast was 18, in 5th grade, and working as a plant on the Goldwater campaign. http://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/ronaldreaganatimeforchoosing.htm
135 posted on 12/22/2007 9:28:10 AM PST by Khepri (Fred Thompson, he's a hundred miles away son - READY TO STRIKE!)
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To: al baby

thx4 the update - just sent another donation


136 posted on 12/22/2007 1:04:16 PM PST by LinnKeyes2000
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To: devere
the voters are adults, so if they’re really “the conervative vote” they should be smart enough to figure out the choice is either Fred or Duncan,

Apparently not.
137 posted on 12/22/2007 8:47:42 PM PST by no dems (FRED THOMPSON: The only Conservative running who can beat Hillary or Obama.)
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To: no dems

Fred will do well in Iowa, win in South Carolina, and be elected our next President.

Go Fred!


138 posted on 12/22/2007 8:55:15 PM PST by devere
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To: devere
Fred will do well in Iowa, win in South Carolina, and be elected our next President.

From your lips to God's ears.
139 posted on 12/23/2007 10:08:18 PM PST by no dems (FRED THOMPSON: The only Conservative running who can beat Hillary or Obama.)
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