Posted on 01/15/2008 7:42:25 AM PST by jellybean
Fred On Fire in South Carolina by Martha Zoller
Wendell Goler: Gentlemen, if we can, let's move on.In a debate format that usually sets the stage for Gov. Mike Huckabee to deliver the biggest laugh line, Fred Thompson was funny and feisty and edgy last Friday. But his answer was honest, and honestly funny.In his second inaugural, President Bush made clear that this country would no longer trade civility for democracy, yet relations with Pakistan seem to test that.
Senator Thompson, would your administration continue to back Pakistani President Musharraf despite polls that show two-thirds of the Pakistani people want him to resign immediately?|
Sen. Fred Thompson: Oh, my goodness, go against the poll? --Fox News Republican Presidential Debate, January 11, 2008
Thompson was fighting the polls even before he got in the race for president. First, he was the unannounced winner that we breathlessly waited to get into the race. He is a real conservative on every front and a commanding presence. After much too much waiting, Fred Thompson got into the race. He immediately began falling short of media-created expectations, and the sharks began to circle.
Since the talking heads have been right about everything else in the election, Thompson ought to just close up shop and go home to Tennessee, right?. Since Iowa, if you only listened to the reporting on the Thompson campaign, you would think this guy is a few cards short of a deck for even going on another day. But what if the pundits and pollsters are wrong?
For my entire voting life, there have been primaries and pollsters, but there was a time when you talked to your friends and neighbors and you decided for yourself who would get your vote. My parents wouldn’t even tell anyone else or each other who they were voting for in presidential elections because they believed it was a secret ballot for a reason and my mom never wanted my dad to know she didn’t vote the same way he did.
More than once, pundits or pollsters have said, “Fred just doesn’t have the fire in his belly,” or “have you noticed in debates Fred runs out of things to say before his time has run out?” Perish the thought; a candidate should actually answer a question without qualifiers and get to the point. I am tired of hearing candidates go on for three minutes when they’ve been asked a simple question requiring a “yes or no” answer.
The mainstream media and some cable outlets don’t like Fred. Dick Morris said before Thompson announced that he wouldn’t pass muster because when people realize that he’s not that guy on “Law and Order,” they won’t like him. In Iowa on Caucus Day, George Stephanopoulos and his colleagues across the airwaves counted Fred out. They said that he’d be out that night. Instead of being out, he “got a ticket to the next dance.”
New Hampshire was disappointing but Fred’s strength has always been in the South and he’s dancing on to South Carolina. Let’s be honest here: all the candidates are walking on rolling logs right now, trying to stay afloat. This contest has become a race for delegates and may not be determined before “Super-Duper” Tuesday on February 5.
And let’s not forget that this process is less than two weeks old. Many of us in the media didn’t have our usual time off at the end of the year so it just seems like forever. With the delegate counts where they are and the states that are coming up, it is still anybody’s game.
In every Republican debate the candidates have been vying for the mantle of Ronald Reagan comes up and South Carolina was no different. It’s funny; you never hear the Democrats asked how they will carry on the mantle of FDR, JFK, LBJ, “Jummy,” or “Slick Willie.” In this debate, the panel was asked about Ed Rollins statement that the Reagan coalition was dead. Fred Thompson hit the nail on the head on Reagan and on the concerns that conservatives have about front-runner, Mike Huckabee when he said:
“You asked a minute or a minute-and-a-half question of these gentlemen on the Reagan revolution. Could I address that? It's an important issue, because I think it demonstrates what we're about here today. I think that Governor Huckabee's campaign manager said it accurately in terms of what they believe. They believe that it is over. This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and its future. On the one hand, you have the Reagan revolution. You have the Reagan coalition of limited government and strong national security. On the other hand, you have the direction that Governor Huckabee would take us in. He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies. He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy and the tradition of, blame America first. He believes that Guantanamo should be closed down and those enemy combatants brought here to the United States to find their way into the court system eventually. He believes in taxpayer-funded programs for illegals, as he did in Arkansas. He has the endorsement of the National Education Association, and the NEA said it was because of his opposition to vouchers. He said he would sign a bill that would ban smoking nationwide. So much for federalism. So much for states' rights. So much for individual rights. That's not the model of the Reagan coalition, that's the model of the Democratic Party.”That is Fred Thompson’s message to every Republican primary voter. The Reagan Coalition is not dead, but it is in need of a new leader. The voters are jaded by a Republican Congress who squandered the majority and by an Evangelical President they thought was a Reagan conservative. They are discouraged but they might find what they are looking for in Fred Thompson.Ronald Reagan said once, “No greater challenge faces our society today than ensuring that each one of us can maintain his dignity and his identity in an increasingly complex, centralized society. Extreme taxation, excessive controls, oppressive government competition with business, galloping inflation, frustrated minorities and forgotten Americans are not the products of free enterprise. They are the residue of centralized bureaucracy, of government by a self-anointed elite.” Ronald Reagan was right, but the self-anointed elite today is the media machine that tells us what to think and who to pick and when we don’t do what they want, they wonder how we could be so stupid.
Good news for Fred Thompson. . .and John McCain The latest Rasmussen poll from South Carolina suggests that Fred Thompson's willingness to attack Mike Huckabee's conservative credentials is bearing fruit. Following last week's debate in which Thompson lit into Huckabee, Fred has moved from 12 percent support to 16 percent. Huckabee is down, correspondingly, from 24 percent to 19 percent.
The real winner, though, is John McCain. His support is essentially unchanged since the debate. But now instead of leading the second place Huckabee by 3 percentage points, he leads him by 9. In a survey taken after Iowa but before New Hampshire, Huckabee led McCain by 7 percentage points, so Huckabee seems to be falling fast in South Carolina.
This doesn't mean that McCain is home free. South Carolina seems quite volatile (back in December, Romney was tied with Huckabee for the lead there, according to a Rasmussen poll), and only about half of those who expressed support for McCain in the latest survey said they are sure to vote for him.
The problem, though, is that McCain isn't coming under serious attack in South Carolina. The only candidate who seems willing to take McCain on is Mitt Romney, and he's doing it in Michigan with a Michigan-specific message.
But this could change if McCain wins in Michigan tomorrow. Such a victory would make him the clear front-runner. All other candidates would then have a new incentive to attack him -- the fear that he might coast to the nomination. And South Carolina Republicans, among the most conservative in the country, would have to decide whether to stall McCain's momentum and keep the race wide open. To do so, they would need to unite behind one man. Thompson's mini-surge gives him hope that he might be the right man in the right place at the right time.
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Fred Thompson visits Aiken By Julia Sellers | South Carolina Bureau
Highlights of Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson speaking to supporters in Aiken.
AIKEN - Undecided voters stood on chairs and bumped elbows just to hear Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson on Monday.
Although his visit to Aiken was delayed by a couple of hours, the 200 to 250 residents who came to Papa Russ's Barbecue for his campaign stop wanted to see for themselves if he would get past his television persona and hit on real issues.
"I think we may have decided on a candidate, but we wanted to experience him personally," Mark Thompson, of Aiken, said of his family's wait for the visit.
Mr. Thompson acknowledged that he needs a South Carolina win in the state's Republican presidential primary Saturday but was unapologetic about his campaign, telling voters that if he's too laid back for their tastes there are plenty of other candidates to choose from.
While some voters were looking for the right answers from Mr. Thompson, diehard supporters drove to Aiken in an effort to sway the undecided.
"I'm not from South Carolina, but I'll be contacting people in South Carolina because the alternative is unacceptable and I'll have to pay for it," said Dianne Thomas, of Charlotte, N.C. "He has more depth that's not always shown in a sound bite."
The former U.S. senator from Tennessee is on a tour bus campaign in South Carolina this week.
Just sent my 4th donation!
Go Fred!
Saw Fred on Fox this morning. He did great as usual. He talked about how he does not agree with Newt that the conservative principles of the Reagan coalition are over/gone. Seems Newt has become a RINO too! I also heard that Fred was on Glen Beck’s radio show this morning but I missed it. Anyone hear him on Glen’s show? GO FRED!
Newt is supposed to be on Limbaugh’s show today also.
Thompson appeals for S.C. conservatives' votes Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor
Fred Thompson, making what could be his last stand in Saturday's Republican primary in South Carolina, appeals directly for votes in a new TV ad.
"Friends, we're in a fight for our conservative values," Thompson says in the spot.
Newt is all about making money and trying to outdo Gore on tv face time.
Newt is no more conservative than Bush anymore.
Would be nice if Thompson picked up some of those voters!
I gave Friday :) The truck is up to $1,056,175!
thread and FRED bump!
Duncan Hunter for Vice President FlAttorney, 2008 1st Quarter Chairman, South Florida Attorneys for Fred (“SFAF”) FlAttorney’s original comments: 09.06.07, Second comments: 01.11.08   
 01.13.08: Thompson Toughens Tactics on the Campaign Trail . . . . But most of Thompson's harshest attacks in the months before Iowa were over immigration, a top issue among Republican primary voters this cycle. In October, he told conservative talk show host Laura Ingraham that Giuliani's mild statements on illegal immigration as New York City mayor "pretty much gives you his thoughts on it. I don't think he's moved away from it to tell you the truth. He teamed up, apparently with MoveOn.org, under George Soros to oppose the anti-immigration forces, so-called, so I'm not sure what he would say about the future." On "Meet the Press" in early November, he ripped Huckabee on the same issue. "People talk about sanctuary cities -- he apparently wanted a sanctuary state in Arkansas. He's very weak on immigration policy," adding that "he was one of the highest taxing governors that we had in this country, and rivaling Bill Clinton in terms of the CATO [Institute] ratings -- and getting a B when Clinton got a B and getting an F for part of his administration. Romney was his most frequent target. "Gov. Romney certainly didn't say anything against sanctuary cities until recently," he told Georgia voters in October, according to the Associated Press. "I was walking the walk when others weren't even talking the talk, yet," he said, stressing his claim as the only true conservative in the field. 01.06.08: Thompson Takes Rudy & Huckabee to School Over Amnesty 12.26.07: Thompson Supports Better Immigration Policies 12.23.07: Self-Deportation Begins (Illegals going home. Fred was right) 12.21.07: Stalled at the Border (Except Fred Thompson) National Review Op-Ed 12.20.07: Thompson Says Enforce Immigration Law 12.20.07: Fred - Enforce immigration, employers will find legal workers 12.16.07: Thompson Pushes Tough Federal Immigration Reform 11.22.07: NumbersUSA: Fred stands out on Immigration 11.06.07: Fred: U.S. Must Secure Borders 11.03.07: The Thompson Border Security Plan 10.28.07: Thompson Gets Tough On Illegals, 14th Amendment 08.16.07: The Importance of Border Security (essay by Fred) 10.24.07: Thompson Unveils Tough Federal Immigration Plan (Government has let you down) Other Fred Thompson Immigration Threads | Fred Thompson Border Security Threads - - FR 2ndDivisionVet does an exception job tracking Fred's Border and Illegal Immigrations news.  Report Cards on Immigration Issues Presidential Candidates: Republicans | Democrats
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Keep working, Fred. We’re with you!
Fred Thompson trying to be heard in South Carolina Republican presidential candidate jabs at rivals, hopes to make a stand
By TODD J. GILLMAN
ROCK HILL, S.C. – Past the cherry cobbler and soft serve, voters crammed the back of a buffet joint to hear Fred Thompson poke at Hillary Rodham Clinton for tearing up in public, at Democrats generally for being so very wrong on taxes and Iraq, and at GOP rivals for not being Southern enough, conservative enough or consistent enough.
Problem was, a couple hundred voters – many still weighing their options – were stuck past the fried chicken and okra, unable to hear him through the crush of Fredheads who got there early enough to stake out prime spots.
"Can't hear!" the shouts kept coming. "Louder!"
Mr. Thompson adjusted his microphone and apologized, over and over. The crowds keep getting bigger, he told one disappointed voter afterward, between autographs. "It was a very good speech, I give you my word."
The man laughed.
The actor and former senator has staked his ambitions on the Palmetto State. He wrote off Iowa and New Hampshire. He gave up on Michigan. If he can just be heard, South Carolina could jumpstart his candidacy, or at least keep it alive.
"It's gone start here in South Carolina," he proclaimed.
Gone: rhymes with moan. Just as gumint is that thing up in Washington that keeps raising taxes. "It's good to be around folks who don't think I talk funny," he said.
Folks like Brian Chace, 48, who owns a small window tinting business in Rock Hill, in the state's conservative Upcountry and lists immigration and national security as his top concerns. Mr. Thompson is his first and only choice, so he got to the Golden Corral early.
"Just because he's not first or second doesn't mean he can't be president. There's a long ways to go," Mr. Chace said. "This is only January, and there's a lot of dirt that hasn't been pulled out from under the other candidates."
A top South Carolina aide in a rival campaign noted the other day that, for all the fanfare that went into announcing Mr. Thompson's 11-day bus tour across the state, he's only holding two public events per day – a laconic pace for a would-be president that, even so, seems to be taking some toll.
Mr. Thompson arrived at the Golden Corral hoarse and jokingly assured the crowd that he wasn't having a Hillary Clinton moment.
"I just want you to know, I'm not getting emotional," he deadpanned, waiting for cackles to ripple past the buffet line, "although I sometimes get emotional when I get around good country cookin'."
Thompson stumps in SC, not Michigan By: Shannon Peluso
ROCK HILL, S.C. -- On a day when voters in Michigan are deciding which Republican presidential hopeful they want to see on the ballot, many of the candidates are in the Wolverine State. But one candidate decided to forgo campaigning in Michigan to win over the likes of voters in South Carolina.
On Tuesday, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson made his way through the Palmetto State in an effort to gain momentum before the Republican primary this Saturday.
Thompson jokingly said his move to campaign in South Carolina on Tuesday was based on weather conditions.
“They're up there fighting the blizzards in Michigan and I'm in South Carolina. Now who's most qualified to be president with judgment like that?" He calls himself the "Conservative’s Conservative," a label that is winning over many voters in South Carolina.
South Carolina resident Theresa Clanton said she’s voting for him because "he is not up here for entertainment like the rest of them. When he speaks, everybody listens."
It's that willingness to listen that seems to be making a difference as he gains momentum in South Carolina. A new Rasmussen poll released on Monday shows Thompson creeping up on Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. John McCain is still leading the pack, but Thompson seems to have no doubts about his chances of pulling off a win on Saturday.
Asked what he would do if he doesn’t win, Thompson responded, "I'm not going to talk about any 'ifs.' This is a successful operation in my opinion and it's going to be."
Voting for Fred here on Saturday. Still don’t know what I’m going to do in November if it’s not him and my choice is most likely RINO light.
If it’s not Fred I’m out of options. My interest in the campaign will drop to zero. I won’t campaign for any of the other candidates. The RINOs are on their own!
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