Free Republic

Fred Thompson's easygoing, no-nonsense style is clearly his strength and undoubtedly has helped him soar in presidential polls. It may only get him so far. Sooner or later, the all-but-declared candidate will have to answer the question: What else do you offer? ''Smooth is good, but sometimes nitty gritty is essential,'' says Tucker Eskew, a Republican strategist unaligned in the race. ''He'll be tested (but) he has a little time.'' Indeed, the actor and former Tennessee senator has bought himself a grace period; he hasn't yet officially joined the 10-man GOP field. He's raised at least several million dollars, assembled...

If Bill Clinton was the "first black president," his wife and Barack Obama are vying to be the second. Obama, the only black running for the White House, came into a debate Thursday night at predominantly black Howard University with the crowd on his side, chanting his name as all eight Democratic candidates posed for pictures on stage. But Hillary Rodham Clinton appeared to win many of them over in an impassioned performance that addressed their anger over inequality. "If HIV/AIDS were the leading cause of death of white women between the ages of 25 and 34, there would be...

Last week every Republican presidential candidate with hopes of emerging as "The True Conservative" in the race--Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, and Ron Paul--traveled to Kansas City to speak to the National Right to Life Convention (NRLC). And then there was Fred Thompson. Although he's not yet an official candidate, Thompson clearly plans to run--and he plans to run as the Truest of True Conservatives. So it seemed that a sojourn to Kansas City to stoke an important segment of the conservative base would be in order. But Thompson skipped the trip, choosing instead to address the NRLC by...