Posted on 01/19/2008 6:31:23 PM PST by FocusNexus
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson didn't drop out of the Republican presidential field after his disappointing finish in Saturday's South Carolina primary -- but he sounded close to it.
About an hour after the polls closed, Thompson addressed a ballroom in a college student union, an event that featured as many students enjoying free beer as it did hardcore Thompson supporters. He delivered a lengthy soliloquy, speaking in the past tense about "clear conservatism," the cornerstone of his campaign.
"My friends, we will always be bound by a close bond because we have traveled a very special road together for a very special purpose," Thompson told the crowd. "It's never even been about me, it's never been about you. It's been about our country."
Thompson's campaign declined to say whether the speech was a concession, a swan song, a stump speech to signal that he's fighting on, or what. Campaign spokesmen wouldn't say what the former Tennessee senator's next move is.
"The campaign is still a campaign until it's not the campaign," said Rich Galen, a Thompson campaign senior adviser. "There's no hurry to make a decision, other than your deadline. I don't have anything to add -- not tonight."
Thompson conceded earlier Saturday that he needed a win in South Carolina to keep his presidential campaign alive.
(Excerpt) Read more at chicagotribune.com ...
Or, more likely, discarded like used condoms.
Same as you and everyone else. We have primaries, which determine the nominees, then in the general election, you get to pick one. I could sit and cry that they don't let me pick the nominee, or I can accept the process for what it is. Come November, there will be a choice of two candidates, and I will choose one. I've never voted for a DEM at any level in my life. And now that's supposed to be a bad thing?
As for why I've been harping on Fred, it's only because it was so obvious that his candidacy was leading to where it now stands. Fred was a waste of time. I was right.
As for party vs. principle, I think it's asking too much for a party to stick to any principles. A true conservative views ALL government with skepticism, even their own party. If you expect them to be honest and principled, you're expectations are way off.
Go third party then , see where it gets us . It really doesn’t matter at this point , now does it ?
Yep.
Always post the picture when Susan Estrich is mentioned.
I agree that Fred was picked to fill a void. A void he couldn’t fill. Fred’s a lousy candidate. So it’s back to the actual candidates. I also agree that the base will throw a tantrum and help elect a DEM. But I won’t.
vaudine
vaudine
To a degree, yes. My opinion of general elections is that they are painfully easy. The DEMs are so gung ho for socialism, and so anti American on foreign policy, it's really not a choice at all. For me, the real election is the GOP primary. I'm sorry that we aren't getting a stalwart conservative, but oh well, I'm not gonna cry about it. Life goes on.
He has to stay in to keep the conservative vote divided and ensure McCain gets the nominee so that he (Huckabee) can be Veep candidate.
“And in a Romney vs Hillary/Obama contest... why bother voting?”
So that Romney rather than Hitlery wins.
I spit on FOX news. I used to love Brit Hume -- but now I know him to be a phony-baloney of the first order just like the rest of them. They are all beneath contempt. See my tagline.
as for this: Could you possibly be one of the numerous "middle of the road" Republicans that care more about party and power than the well being of our Constitutional Republic?
I love America. I love the Founders. I've read biographies of Madison, Jefferson, Adams, and Washington, the Federalist Papers, Madison's notes on the convention, transcripts of the virginia legislature debating ratification, etc etc.
All that and a buck gets you a cup of coffee on election day. I'm a realist. On election day, you get two choices, you pick one. It's that simple. I'm not for crying over spilt milk.
So, two of the guys who have been victorious should surrender to the guy who hasn't at all been victorious? If they do that, then that is ample evidence that they don't deserve the nomination. It reminds me of this...
The Black Knight always triumphs! Have at you! Come on, then.... Oh? All right, we'll call it a draw.... Oh. Oh, I see. Running away, eh? You yellow bastards! Come back here and take what's coming to you. I'll bite your legs off!
So, you just refuse to answer the question. Figures.
But if I am a conservative first and a Republican by default then it's not selling out to not participate. It's simply acknowledging that no one in the process represents me. That's pretty adult.
Exactly. Well said.
“I think I know where your coming from....
You are a republican first.....
a conservative second...
You’d vote for Donald Duck if he had an (R) behind his name..
What u may not have realize yet...is this is a conservative site first...Not a republican site...No offense meant...just an observation”
Do you think that being a conservative means ignoring reality and the consequences of one’s actions, even if the conserquences the polar opposite of what one stands for?
Please explain to me how is it consistent with conservative principles to allow or even help a socialist liberal like Hillary or Obama get elected, who, with the help of the Dem Congress will destroy everything conservatives hold dear?
Maybe you should review Ronald Reagan’s words about compromise. People who claim that they consider Ronald Reagan as their hero, refuse to listen to his clearly expressed philosophy. Do you think it’s OK to quote Ronald Reagan at this website?
“An American Life (his autobiography) | | Ronald Reagan
“When I began entering into the give and take of legislative bargaining in Sacramento, a lot of the most radical conservatives who had supported me during the election didn’t like it.
“Compromise” was a dirty word to them and they wouldn’t face the fact that we couldn’t get all of what we wanted today. They wanted all or nothing and they wanted it all at once. If you don’t get it all, some said, don’t take anything.
“I’d learned while negotiating union contracts that you seldom got everything you asked for. And I agreed with FDR, who said in 1933: ‘I have no expectations of making a hit every time I come to bat. What I seek is the highest possible batting average.’
“If you got seventy-five or eighty percent of what you were asking for, I say, you take it and fight for the rest later, and that’s what I told these radical conservatives who never got used to it.”
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/960104/posts
FRED Thompson will appoint conservative judges to the Supreme Court in the mold of
John Roberts
Antonin Scalia
Joseph Alito
Clarence Thomas.
We need Thompson as PRESIDENT!
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