Fred Thompson teams up with McCain on trail

Wash Times ^ | 4/30/08 | Steve Dinan

[pissant]

The Winston-Salem Journal reports that Fred Thompson, who for much of last year's presidential shadow campaign was the great conservative hope, will finally campaign in person with John McCain.

Thompson, like most of the rest of McCain's former opponents for the Republican presidential nomination, has endorsed McCain but, unlike the others, had not appeared with him on the campaign trail.

Thompson gave only a terse endorsement to McCain after dropping out of the race earlier this year, saying, "This is no longer about past preferences or differences. It is about what is best for our country, and for me that means that Republican should close ranks behind John McCain."

He'll have to say something more about McCain in this appearance — and it will be interesting to see how far he can go, given his sharp distinctions with McCain during the campaign, including charging that the senator had abandoned the Constitution and the Reagan coalition.

[Huck]

Because I like DeMint better.

[SuziQ]

Not a shocker at all. Fred wants the Republicans to retain control of the White House, and when it became clear that McCain would be the nominee, he asked Republicans to stand with the one who would be on the ballot in November. I’m sure he would have done the same had it been Romney.

[SuziQ]

Old age and treachery beats youth and skill every time.

LOL! You got THAT right!

[SuziQ]

Fred is a quitter. He had my support before, but he turns out to be a wimp.

Fred looked out, saw he wasn't getting the votes that could have been going to him, but were diluted by having several other candidates in the race whom the voters considered 'conservative'. He realized that to stay in the race would be futile for him; it was too high a bar to overcome. He wasn't willing to waste any more of his supporters' money to feed his ego.

If you truly had been supporting him, you'd understand that, rather than hold his dropping out against him, and continue dissing him for it.

[SuziQ]

Yes, when even Tancredo endorses John McCain, you know that the GOP is closing ranks. They always do.

Of course they always do? How do you expect them to win races otherwise?

[iowamark]

Bush twice won North Carolina 56-43%. NC has not voted for a Dem since Jimmy Carter in 1976.

[GingisK]

If you truly had been supporting him, you'd understand that...

I was truly supporting him. He is still a quitter.

[The Pack Knight]

I don't think McCain can necessarily pencil North Carolina in. The last Rasmussen poll, which admittedly was from April 12 and taken before the Rev. Wright mess, had McCain and Obama tied up here. His ability to turn out the very substantial black vote here, as well as college town liberals, could pose a significant threat to McCain.

Also, NC is a conservative state, but not a Republican state. Though no Democrat Presidential candidate has carried NC since Carter in 1976, there are still more than twice as many registered Democrats as Republicans here. Any Republican who wants to win statewide in North Carolina has to win over conservative Reagan Democrats and Dixiecrats, who dominate the electorate east of I-95.

Republican Presidential candidates have been able to do so every time since 1980, but Republicans have performed abysmally in gubernatorial elections, largely because of a series of moderate candidates who were difficult to distinguish from moderate establishment Democrats like Jim Hunt and Mike Easley. When conservatives run against liberals in statewide elections, however, conservatives tend to win.

This, I think, is the number one reason Hillary was on the O'Reilly Factor the other day. She knows she has to win over conservative NC Democrats in order to have any chance of staying alive against Obama, and they were her intended audience that night. In November, while she does far more poorly against McCain here than Obama does in the polls, that could change if she some how succeeds in winning those Democrats over.

If Obama nonetheless pulls out a big win in NC despite the Wright mess, then it will show that the balance of power in the NC Democrat party has shifted to a newly energized black and college leftist vote. If Hillary pulls out an upset in NC and managed to make it to the nomination, then it will mean she's managed to win over the very Reagan Democrats who voted heavily against her husband in the 90s.

Either way, that will mean that McCain would be foolish to take NC for granted. Bashing the NC Republican Party, while a favorite sport among NC conservatives, is not going to help him. If the NC Republican base doesn't turn out for him, he's vulnerable to losing the state to the energized Obama bloc. If he lets Hillary appear to run to his right, he'll risk losing Reagan Democrats. Either way, he needs to tighten up his campaign quick, because while the Democrats are doing a good job hurting their chances in November, that doesn't mean they're just going to hand it to McCain.

[johnthebaptistmoore]

What I mean by my question is that this article says that ALL of the former ‘08 GOP Presidential candidates have already campaigned with John McCain, but I don’t remember Duncan Hunter ever campaigning with John McCain at any time.

[redneck hippie]

Hey. this is interesting:

http://rasmussenreports.com/public_content/politics/election_20082/2008_presidential_election/election_2008_presidential_race_state_by_state_snapshot

Not sure how recent the polling is, but this shows North Carolina electoral votes are 47% McC and 47% Obama.

Now it is even more clear to me why Fred has a ticket to Winston Salem next week.

I guess there are plenty of “identity politics” voters there who like a messiah even better than a Baptist Sunday School teacher.

I just peeked, and the poll was April 12, 2008.

[redneck hippie]

Yes, I can see that McC has his work cut out. Especially after his remarks re the Rep. gubernatorial ad. That had to anger a lot of the conservative folks.

[redneck hippie]

“...The last Rasmussen poll, which admittedly was from April 12 and taken before the Rev. Wright mess, had McCain and Obama tied up here.”

J. Wright mess was out there since mid-March, admittedly, it has gotten “louder” since April 12.

[kaycee]

Nice to see Fred’s name again. Thanks for the ping.

[SuziQ]

I was truly supporting him. He is still a quitter.

Is that how you'd describe everyone else who ran against McCain in the primary?

[The Pack Knight]

Oops, I got my Obama gaffes mixed up. It was published in April 12, but was taken before Obama’s “clinging to religion and guns” comments.

[snippy_about_it]

I’ll second that vote for Sanford as VP!

[Shortstop7]

Thanks for the ping!! I still love FRed!!

I am amazed that some people are still being so petty about him. Sheesh!!

[festus]

Well that does it. I’m officially removing my Fred Thompson ‘08 tagline......

[Just A Nobody]

Not a shocker at all.

Which is EXACTLY what I said. I see your reading comprehension hasn't improved nor has your fdt shilling abated.

Ha! Like this is a shocker, huh?

[Just A Nobody]

Either you know nothing about your candidate, or you are being willfully ignorant.