Posted on 01/20/2008 2:15:03 AM PST by counterpunch
With the results unclear as to whether he comes in 3rd or 4th in S.C. Senator Thompson, thanked South Carolina supporters and said very little about his future. In recent days he has said he would return to Tenn.visit with his Mom and make a decision about his future. Parts of his remarks tonights referred to his candidacy in the past tense, but he issued forward looking challenges to the GOP on leadership and direction. If Huckabee comes up short, it could cause southern conservatives to give Fred another look and thus give him more reasons to stay in beyond the upcoming debates and explosion of state contests on 2/5.
(Excerpt) Read more at cameron.blogs.foxnews.com ...
Fred's fight will be on the convention floor, for leadership and party unity.
Fred has an important job to do still. He must keep the nomination far out of reach of Mike Huckabee. And he must bring the party together as the consensus conservative choice when no candidate comes up with enough delegates to win the nomination.
Keep on fighting Fred!
Fred needs to fight on all the way to the convention. He can succeed at the GOP convention where Ronald Reagan failed in 1976.
Fred’s fight will be on the convention floor, for leadership and party unity.
Fred has an important job to do still. He must keep the nomination far out of reach of Mike Huckabee. And he must bring the party together as the consensus conservative choice when no candidate comes up with enough delegates to win the nomination.
Keep on fighting Fred!
Fred does not know how to fight. He would rather chill out with some brandy and smoke cigars and fondly remember when he was a senator chasing skirts and doing nothing. But hey, for some reason people think that he is some great conservative or something.
The less a Senator does, the more conservative he is.
“Fred has an important job to do still. He must keep the nomination far out of reach of Mike Huckabee. And he must bring the party together as the consensus conservative choice when no candidate comes up with enough delegates to win the nomination.”
It’s going to be Huckster, McArrrrrgo, or FlipMittens.
Each sucks as much as the next.
The Fred rocket didn’t crash, it never ignited in the first place. I would have liked him to catch on but he didn’t. Self-denial about his failure won’t change the state of affairs.
The MSM obviously thinks he is a conservative, too.
So I just showed my support for the conservative Fred Thompson by sending him another contribution. My support for Conservative Fred is on the record.
Kerry has done a lot, far too much in fact.
That picture should work in the South! LOL!
Ron Paul has beaten Thompson in 3 out of 6 states so far and only has one delegate less than him.
And he doesn’t pretend to be a serious candidate to win.
Meanwhile Thompson was ‘all in’ in Iowa, needing ‘at least a strong third’ to gain momentum. He didn’t get it. Rational onlookers saw his campaign was in dire trouble then.
He was ‘all in’ in South Carolina. His entire campaign was predicated on a win in South Carolina to launch it. As time went on his supporters saw that that wasn’t an option and tried to pretend that second or even a ‘strong third’ would suffice. It wouldn’t have but he didn’t achieve any of those things anyway.
A brokered convention is still more unlikely than likely. If it happens it will involve deals between candidates with large numbers of delegates. It won’t involve everyone suddenly opting for someone who has already been rejected nationwide by the voters.
If Thompson can’t win South Carolina, where can he win?
Meanwhile, if he does choose to limp on, it’s off to Florida and another scrap with Ron Paul for fifth. I don’t think Thompson got in the race to fight with Ron Paul for fifth places. I wouldn’t be amazed if he carried on nominally competing until Super Tuesday, but I think it more likely he’ll call it a day now.
I’d much rather have a president who knows how to chill out than actively seeking how to take more money from my wallet to “raise hope” for others.
The MSM knows he has conservative beliefs.
So I showed the MSM that I support those conservative beliefs by sending Thompson a second contribution in the last 2 hours.
Whether or not he withdraws from the race, I had a wonderful opportunity to stand up and "speak out" unequivocally for what I believe in.
it sure feels good to live in a country where I can freely "speak out" about my political beliefs.
You can come up with all the glib analogies you want, BUT:
Fred Thompson is alive and well, and he CAN win the Presidency.
What I don’t like is pointless naysaying and negativity. This is our Ship of State we are trying to right, not the Good Ship Lollypop. This is serious business, and I welcome you to help out or get out.
This person will NOT be in the tradition nor philosophy of Ronald Reagan, of small government domestically and steadfast opposition to appeasement abroad.
The true issue then is, in November do we "settle" and suddenly come up with a whole bag of rationalizations as to why to vote for a Republican (D) vs. a Democrat (D) in the General Election--even as conservatives, when we might have an Independent Conservative Candidacy third option at that time.
Worth pondering. I would start considering these options NOW. Consider it multi-tasking, i.e. working on your "Plan B" after Fred Thompson withdraws and throws his support to Senator McCain.
It’s admirable when one is so enthusiastic about his/her candidate. But there comes a time to be realistic.
FredHeads aren’t there yet. It sounds like Fred is. His speech last night, with no hint of fighting on, signalled he’s throwing in the towel. He doesn’t strike me as the type to carry on a quixotic effort.
I’d like to say it was fun while it lasted. But, looking back, it was more frustrating than inspiring. Fred never did what was necessary to convice voters he was a contender. I like what he says, but his campaign was a disorganized, unfocused mess.
If they are smart, they will have a Plan B and two track it, multitask, and look at options for when and if Mr. Thompson drops out.
With the MSM arrayed against him, as they were against Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter, and even so called "conservative MSM" and conservative commentators, Fred Thompson does not have a chance and it is only a matter of time sadly for him and them. The writing is on the wall. The whole plan was to knock of conservatives, 1, 2, 3, just like that. They already got 1 and 2.
So I take it you are advocating either:
A) Just giving up now
or
B) Voting 3rd party
I’ve got news, neither of those is an acceptable option that will produce a victory. That means we keep fighting for conservative principles, and we keep fighting for Fred. The race is a long way from over and no one is running away with it yet. Fred is AHEAD of Giuliani in delegates, are we going to forget that little tidbit? He should be dropping out first by that logic.
No, this whole process is screwed up enough that there is no way Fred should stop here. Full steam ahead until all hope is proven lost and one candidate emerges the clear winner.
We need you Fred! Don’t let today get you down!
Go Fred!
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