Thompson campaign organizer for Georgia stops in Catoosa

Chattanooga Times Free Press ^ | October 02, 2007 | Lori Yount

[2ndDivisionVet]

RINGGOLD, Ga. -- With endorsements from almost half of Georgia's Republican legislators, presidential candidate Fred Thompson has "phenomenal support" statewide, according to state Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, named two weeks ago to head Mr. Thompson's campaign in Georgia.

"We're working nonstop to build on the lead we already have here in Georgia," Sen. Rogers said Monday. "This should be a state that should go for Fred Thompson."

Sen. Rogers met here with about 10 other North Georgia supporters of Mr. Thompson at Portofino Pizza and Italian Restaurant for a strategy session.

Also there were state Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, and Catoosa County GOP Chairman Brad Scott. Sen. Rogers said he plans to announce a Thompson campaign chairman for each Georgia county in the coming weeks.

Although the actor and former U.S. senator from Tennessee didn't officially enter the 2008 presidential race until Sept. 6, Sen. Rogers said he has been working on the campaign for months.

"I looked at all the candidates ... and there was only one that I thought was a true conservative and had the ability to communicate with the American people, and that was Fred Thompson," Sen. Rogers said.

Several Catoosa County Republicans have been clamoring to be counted among the Thompson campaign ranks, said Don Hutelin, a member of the county's Republican Party. He and other supporters have formed a group called Northwest Georgia for Fred Thompson, complete with a Web site.

At a Catoosa County GOP booth during a Labor Day event, days before Mr. Thompson's official candidacy announcement, Mr. Hutelin said party supporters handed out literature on all Republican presidential candidates, but people were asking how to donate to Mr. Thompson's campaign.

"They wanted to talk about national politics, and they wanted to talk about Fred," he said.

Local supporters of Mr. Thompson have been meeting at the Portofino restaurant informally for weeks, owner Dimitris Agrafiotis said. This might be a good omen for Mr. Thompson, he said, because all but one of the half dozen candidates who had campaign functions at his restaurant won in last year's election.

"I guess I'm lucky," said Mr. Agrafiotis, a self-described independent who hasn't made up his mind on a presidential candidate.

Sen. Rogers said he plans to announce an appearance by Mr. Thompson in Georgia soon. After all, Georgia's Republican presidential primary is little more than four months away -- Feb. 5.

Sen. Rogers said he doesn't like the trend to earlier primaries, but he believes Mr. Thompson got in at the right time.

"I'd suggest others entered early," Sen. Rogers said.

[Politicalmom]

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