Free Republic

As Thompson traveled here Friday -- amid at least one report that members in his own staff are questioning his motivation -- a small crowd of less than 50 also seemed to lack an enthusiasm for the candidate. Throughout the roughly 20-minute speech, largely centered on national security, Thompson stopped several times for applause, yet there were only uninspired responses from the crowd. As Thompson entered the rustic VFW hall, the crowd had to be prompted to applaud by his campaign staffers in back of the room. Phil Spencer, 79, was unmoved by the appearance. After meeting the former senator...

Fred Thompson attacked Fox News on Sunday for what he called a "constant mantra" that his floundering campaign for president is troubled, and he accused the network of skewing things against him. Thompson certainly isn't the first politician to make that accusation, but he's the first high-profile Republican to do so. The assertion was arresting because Fox News was frequently Thompson's forum of choice when he was contemplating a campaign and as he tried to find his footing after he announced. Where did Thompson do it? On "Fox News Sunday," in a heated exchange with host Chris Wallace, who played...

Now with a commanding lead in the lead off Caucus, and big lead in New Hampshire, Romney has extended his lead while Huckabee is starting to lose steam. It would appear as if voters were beginning to look at his record and not like what they see. Romney now has 29% of Likely Caucus voters followed by Huckabee trailing Romney by thirteen percentage points, who now has 16%. In a virtual tie for second is Rudy Giuliani at 15% and Fred Thompson at 14%. Further back are John McCain (6%), Ron Paul (4%), Tom Tancredo (4%), and Duncan Hunter (2%)....

I realize everything can change fast in Iowa and New Hampshire, and some are rightly skeptical about the value of polling in a caucus state. I also recognize that some pollsters' methods of figuring out who's a "likely voter" are better than others. But if I were a Romney guy, I'd be pretty pleased about the trends in those two primary states. Romney's had a lead in the Hawkeye state for a while, but that lead seems to be growing, across several pollsters. Romney is up 16 on his nearest competitor (Huckabee) in Zogby, up 8 on his nearest competitor...

Today, the Thompson campaign comes out swinging. In an email from Comms director Todd Harris, Fred's campaign knocks Romney for his Healthcare plan citing a fine for non-enrollment and the low cost abortion option. (Note, I believe this is the first official Fred offensive.) The Romney Camp, prepared for just such an occasion, lets loose an arsenal of serious rebuttals to the charges: The Thompson campaign tries to link Romney with the $295 charge for non-insurance. "Many of the law's core elements, including the requirement that all people in the state get insurance, were in Romney's original proposal in 2005....

3 emails: You offer no proof for a pro choice past for Thompson. Show us the clip on youtube. Oh wait there is not one? NRLC endorsed Thompson? The truth is sir that you look rather sad and silly to those who remember your earlier "debate" with Thompson regarding federalism where he humbled you. You want YouTube? Here you go. Hi just read your interesting article on national review online on GOP flip floppers. However, the paragraph on Thompson was confusing. Are you saying he used to be Pro-choice and he has changed his position and is lying about it?...

Former Senator Fred Thompson to Keynote Conservative Christian Dinner on Friday November 16, 2007 in Hollywood, Florida Contact: Michelle McKinnie, Florida Family Policy Council, 407-251-5130, Media@FLfamily.org HOLLYWOOD, Florida, Nov. 14 /Christian Newswire/ -- The Florida Family Policy Council (FFPC) www.FLfamily.org will host a Gala Dinner at the Westin Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood, Florida beginning at 6:30pm on Friday evening, November 16, 2007. The event is being designed to introduce South Florida to the mission of the FFPC and will feature former Senator and Law and Order Actor Fred Thompson as the keynote speaker. Mr. Thompson will be accompanied by his...

The American electorate is a fickle mistress. Just ask former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.). When Thompson announced his candidacy for president just after Labor Day most national polls showed him running a close second behind former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and the majority of state polls had him in the top three. No longer. Thompson's campaign has yet to take off as expected and voters -- especially in crucial early states like Iowa, New Hampshire and Florida. The most recent data comes from New Hampshire where two surveys were released over the weekend. The first, conducted by theUniversity...

Boston, MA – Today, Governor Mitt Romney announced the Romney for President National Veterans Coalition made up of retired service members from all 50 states and the District of Columbia. As part of this national coalition, each member will serve as a surrogate to their local veterans' communities for Governor Romney's message of change in Washington. "Every American is grateful for the very extraordinary acts our veterans have performed so that we may continue to enjoy freedom at home. I am proud that so many of these men and women have joined our effort to change Washington by organizing grassroots...

Perhaps the biggest fraud ever to be perpetrated onto the American people is Global Warming. Al Gore is just the symptom. If not given cover by a group of supposed climate scientists and other left-wing academics, Mr. Gore would be easily seen as the nutcase, phony alarmist that he is. Alas, nearly the entire left of the political spectrum has bought into this hoax, and more than a few ‘conservatives’ have also succumbed to the hysteria, including Newt Gingrich and Mike Huckabee. Fred Thompson, at least since he started campaigning for the GOP nomination, has provided some biting remarks regarding...

Mitt tops Fred The Washington Times Stephan Dinan 12 November 2007A new Rasmussen poll finds that voters see Mitt Romney as a conservative candidate more than Fred Thompson — the first time Thompson has not led on that measure. In the last month the number of Republicans viewing Romney as conservative has jumped 10 points, to 46 percent, while Thompson has fallen 11 points, to 40 percent. [SNIP] Here's the conservative rating for the top six Republican candidates: Romney 46 percent Thompson 40 percent Huckabee 38 percent McCain 28 percent Giuliani 21 percent Paul 16 percent — Stephen Dinan, national...

Mitt Romney has had a great week in California. First, on Wednesday night, the Young Republican Federation of California's Board of Directors voted to endorse the Romney campaign - becoming the first grassroots group in the state to endorse Governor Romney. To add to that, just minutes ago, the California Republican Assembly joined the YRFC by overwhelmingly voting to endorse the Romney campaign. By a vote of 148 - 73, CRA took a big step in showing clearly that the conservative base of the Republican Party is coalescing around Governor Romney. Primary elections are traditionally dominated by the bases of...

Fred Thompson's campaign for president has collapsed. Well, at least, among the bookies. I've been giving readers regular updates on the betting in the presidential election, but absolutely nothing has been more dramatic this fall than Thompson's market meltdown. According to the betting at the Iowa Electronic Markets, the TV actor's chances of winning the GOP nomination have slumped in just six weeks from nearly 30% to less than 10%. As recently as June, just after the former Senator announced he was running, he was the favorite in the betting, at nearly 40%. The numbers are similar over at Dublin-based...

WASHINGTON, DC, November 7, 2007 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Mitt Romney's campaign for President received a major shot in the arm on Monday in the form of an official endorsement from well-known conservative leader and chairman of the Free Congress Foundation, Paul Weyrich.  Despite a lingering uncertainty for many conservatives about Romney's authentic conservative persona due to his notorious 'flip-flopping' in recent years, Weyrich's endorsement joins a growing number of similar Romney endorsements from other notable conservative leaders. Weyrich is the founder of the Heritage Foundation and current chairman of the Free Congress Foundation.  He is considered a major leader by...

Reform Group: Thompson Would Hike Taxes Thursday, November 8, 2007 3:05 PMBy: Ronald Kessler When it comes to taxes, Fred Thompson is the "worst" of the Republican presidential candidates, Grover Norquist, president of Americans for Tax Reform, tells Newsmax. GOP hopefuls Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani have both promised not to raise taxes - Romney even signing an ATR pledge not to raise the marginal tax rate. Thompson, on the other hand, has not signed the pledge and has said high-income Medicare beneficiaries may have to pay more for coverage. “Thompson didn’t sign the pledge as a senator, and...

...The truth is - significant evangelical voices have spoken with great conviction about the qualifications of one of the leading top tier candidates of recent - and more voices continue to come forward almost weekly. While Mayor Giuliani's faith would on the surface expect to share similar values with evangelical voters, apparently the Mayor himself does not. But Mitt Romney - who has not been ruled out of support from prominent leaders like Dr. James Dobson and Dr. Tony Perkins. Is also enjoying expressed outspoken support from additional prominent conservative evangelical voices like Paul Weyrich, Dr. Wayne Grudem, and perhaps...

Mitt Romney now leads other candidates for the Republican presidential nomination in South Carolina, a key early primary state. The political Web site RealClearPolitics compiled an average of several polls in the state and found Romney with a slight lead over his closest rival, Rudy Giuliani. Romney averaged 19.3 percent of the votes in the polls, while Giuliani’s figure was 19 percent, followed by Fred Thompson (18.3 percent), John McCain (12.3 percent) and Mike Huckabee (6 percent). One recent South Carolina poll in particular, by American Research Group, has Romney ahead of Giuliani by 6 percentage points. South Carolina could...

WASHINGTON -- Fred Thompson was well into a prolonged dialogue about abortion with interviewer Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press" Sunday when he said something stunning for social conservatives: "I do not think it is a wise thing to criminalize young girls and perhaps their parents as aiders and abettors." He then went further: "You can't have a (federal) law" that "would take young, young girls ... and say, basically, we're going to put them in jail." Those comments sent e-mails flying across the country reflecting astonishment and rage by pro-life Republicans who had turned to Thompson as their...

Sen. Judd Gregg: America needs Mitt Romney's leadershipBy SEN. JUDD GREGG 7 November 2007 OVER THE LAST few months, I have joined you in taking the opportunity to meet the candidates running for the Republican presidential nomination, to learn about their positions on the issues, to meet their families, and to examine their records. This is a critical election that will determine the future course of our country. When evaluating a candidate, we must take into account the full breadth of their experience, vision and values. What I have found is that Mitt Romney is the leader we need...

Former Ambassador To The Vatican Endorses RomneyTheAtlantic.com 06 Nov 2007 03:49 pm Marc AmbinderAmbassador Thomas Melady, the legat to the Vatican during the presidency of George H.W. Bush announced his endorsement today of Mitt Romney. "In Governor Mitt Romney, I have found a candidate who represents the family values that are so important to me. His appreciation for the value of a strong family is clearly exhibited in his vision for America," an on-message Melady will say in a statement released by the campaign.