Posted on 03/27/2007 3:51:49 AM PDT by Josh Painter
USA Today and Gallup offer their latest in polling for both parties in the extended presidential primary race, and a couple of changes have raised eyebrows. First, even the rumor of a bid by Fred Thompson has dented Rudy Giuliani's momentum, while John McCain's decline in support appears to have leveled off:
"On the Republican side, former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson shook up the field with his announcement that he would consider getting into the presidential race. Thompson is familiar as the actor who plays District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC's Law and Order. Chosen by 12% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, Thompson is third in the Republican field. He trails former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, at 31%, and Arizona Sen. John McCain, at 22%. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is at 8%."
"Thompson's support seems to come largely from voters who had supported Giuliani. In the USA TODAY poll taken March 2-4, Giuliani's standing had been 13 percentage points higher, at 44%. McCain's support had been 2 points lower then."
"What does this mean? Conservatives who have supported Giuliani for his leadership and electability -- and plenty of them have -- would desert Rudy if a credible, consistent conservative entered the race... Thompson['s]... eight years in the Senate have left a more credible sense of consistency and center-right politics than Giuliani brings to the race. And according to the Post's blog The Sleuth, Thompson has begun seriously considering a run -- and has met with GOP powerhouse advisor Ed Gillespie."
- snip -
Romney fared poorly in this poll... That has to be disappointing, especially since Hugh Hewitt's political biography and Romney's appearance at CPAC should have set the stage for a significant boost. Has Thompson's potential disrupted Romney's momentum as well? Possibly.
(Excerpt) Read more at captainsquartersblog.com ...
I don't know about the Red Sox, but it's red birds like Pujols who give me a rash.
Go Astros!
Credible, consistent conservative. Which Fred is and Rudy ain't. No wonder the Rudy boosters have been getting after Fred with every nitpick they can dredge up - even if Rudy has similar problems, such as supporting CFR.
Pujols is probably my favorite MLB player, and he plays in he wrong league for the wrong team.
OldFriend wrote: "Yup, Thompson's quite the leader. Got rolled by John Glenn and he said recently his wife is urging him to run.
That's LEADERSHIP???????? Listening to the little woman for direction?????????"
Do you see, my friends, what I was talking about? Here's an example of how a post can have the opposite effect of what the poster intended. Thompson didn't get "rolled" by Glenn. He got stabbed in the back by him. Fred had, like many of us, considered Glenn, former astronaut and Marine pilot, to be an authentic American hero and a man of honor. Glenn proved, by his actions on the committee, to be less than honorable and just another Democrat Party hack.
Next in the post, we get an outright misrepresentation of the truth. It wasn't Fred who said his wife was urging him to run, but a third party. But Jeri Thompson's word should carry some weight. She's a professional political media consultant who has worked for some big firms and for GOP organizations as well. Ronald Reagan listened carefully to what Nancy had to say, and she didn't have Jeri's political credentials.
Posts like this adhere to the law of unintended consequences. they actually generate interest in Fred and win him new friends when people look up the facts for htemselves and consider the lack of a straightforward, logical argument.
Still, people keep doing it. I'm amazed! and at my age, that's saying something...
Ya'll are desperate to the point of absurdity. I'd certainly hope a decent man listens to his wife as to whether she is willing to be subjected to the ordeal that is a presidential campaign.
Maybe you think Fred could be like your guy and not notify his wife about such important manners - such as informing the media first, instead of her, that he wants a divorce.
DOES ANYONE HAVE A FRED THOMPSON VS RUDY GUILIANI CHART?
Ala the Guiliani vs Clinton chart...
Get over yourself. Thompson? A "plant?"
You're so far beyond delusional.
Maybe that's because some Rudy boosters have been getting after Fred for the most trivial of matters. Clean up your own side first and then talk to us.
You're not the Rudy supporter we're talking about - we're talking about the rabid Rudy supporters who won't accept anything but, who serve to tear down Fred Thompson and anyone else who may have a shot.
That's not a surprise at all. And we need at two popular candidates to fill out a 2-spot ticket. Fred has the advantage of representing a region that would balance Rudy on a ticket. So this is a good sign.
What is going on beyond embarrassing. And if we judge a candidate by his supporters, Duncan Hunter should ashamed.
And it's really funny, that some posters who claim to HATE Hollywood, are now salivating for an actor to run. :)
To an extent, you're right, as far as his first term went. He came out of the gate fairly strong on our foreign enemies, infinitely better than that clown Gore would have been. He stood up and acted sufficiently for what needed to be done, and in that, we are lucky. But those days are long gone. The world is still a dangerous place, but he's lost the fire to fight it. It seems like all he can do to hold on to what he has.
As far as handling our domestic enemies, President Bush's never been up to the task. If I didn't know better, I'd suspect that his new mircophones are made of Kryptonite. He gets rolled by every two bit Democrat with a grudge, and it's embarassing. Every now and then he gets fired up, but he's too inarticulate and kind hearted to be effective.
I'm glad that he's a good Christian, and enjoys turning the other cheek in the face of injustice and slander. I'm just tired of it, and tired of him. I want someone who will fight fire with fire.
For the most part Thompson backers have been calm, well mannered and supporting their candidate with facts rather than emotion, spin and vitriol.
So far that is true. So have Rudy's backers. It's the others who seem unable to act like adults.
I am a 2nd Amendment voter
Why don't you just add another stupid post about "my friends are nice and yours are mean" -- go back to freakin middle school you baby.
Yes, people bash other candidates and support their own candidate(s) -- sometimes substantively and accurately, sometimes not. It reaches across candidates and FReepers. Unless you're going to do a statistical survey to attempt to prove your Rudybots-are-angels assertion, keep your mindless whinging to yourself.
That's actually true of all candidates. There are abuses on all sides, and reasoned arguements on all sides.
What seems to be out of control is the accusations against each other for being unreasonable. Everyone seems to perceive great injustices against their guy, and great outrages being committed by supporters of other candidates. They also seem blind to what their own side is doing.
Truth be told, the Department of Homeland Security rates the current spaz factor on FR as *Elevated*. It's everywhere. For every "Rudy's the only one who can beat Hillary so get over it losers!!" post, there's a "Fred's gaining and the Rudibots are starting to flopsweat!!". So, rather than whine about the opposition, lets just endeavor to keep it civil ourselves.
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This is really wonderful news. I hope we can all unite behind Thompson.
My personal preference would be for a Hunter/Thompson ticket, but I would be satisfied with Thompson/Hunter.
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