Free Republic

Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) announced the launch of his revamped website and started sending out promised weekly updates to online supporters Tuesday. Thompson’s first update to supporters borrows a page from former Sen. George Allen’s (R-Va.) playbook, using football references to make everyone feel like they’re part of the team. “Team Thompson needs your support as the 12th man ... and as the 12 millionth man,” Thompson’s e-mail reads. “Thank you so much for everything you are doing.” The new website contains some components from the first one, includes a biography page and numerous ways to contribute money, but...

While America’s voters are not particularly happy with the current Republican President, the leading Democratic Presidential Candidates have no advantage over the top GOP Hopefuls when it comes to Iraq, the Economy, or Restoring the Nation’s Optimism. Democratic candidates do have an edge when it comes to the environment while the GOP candidates hold the lead on immigration. Among the nation’s pool of unaffiliated voters, the GOP candidates also have the edge when it comes to the economy.These surprising results come from a Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey that asked voters to name which individual candidate they trust most on...

Senator Hillary Clinton is pulling away from the field in the race for the Democratic Presidential nomination but remains weaker than other major Democratic contenders in match-ups with top Republicans. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone shows former Big Apple Mayor Rudy Giuliani with a statistically insignificant one-point lead over the former First Lady, 46% to 45%. Former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson posts exactly the same numbers when matched against Clinton. It’s Thompson 46% Clinton 45%. In June, Clinton was a point ahead of Giuliani and even with Thompson.

Fred Thompson's fundraising for his budding presidential bid garnered lackluster reviews Tuesday, but one little-known town in Central Florida emerged as a financial bedrock: Plant City, hometown of former state House Speaker Johnnie Byrd. Thanks to Byrd -- who rounded up his college-age daughters, wife, law partner, clients and friends -- Thompson received more donations from Plant City than from any other municipality in Florida, according to his first report as an unofficial candidate. ''I think Fred Thompson is the right man at the right time,'' said Byrd, who held one of the most powerful positions in state government from...

If you're wondering why I had guest bloggers for the last couple of days, it was because my time with the Duncan Hunter campaign was winding down and I wanted to take a little extra time to get the loose ends sewed up before I left. Also, it's worth noting that it was a friendly, planned exit. In fact, I put in my notice roughly 30 days ago. As to why, well you have to understand: when I started, I only intended to work for 90 days. However, before it was over, I ended up working with the campaign as...

<p>It’s a shame that Fred Thompson is too young to have played Matt Dillon, the no-nonsense marshal of Dodge City in the long-running radio and television series “Gunsmoke.” That role on the radio went to William Conrad (later TV’s “Cannon”) and on television to James Arness. But whether TV or radio, Marshal Dillon had the same policy for cowboys when they rode into Dodge: They had to surrender their guns.</p>

The mainstream media, relying on the skewed opinions of a few pundits with a vested interest in negative spin, have shown remarkable bias in reporting Fred Thompson's fundraising. The former U.S. Senator from Tennessee raised 3.5 million dollars in the month of June alone. Yet Katie Couric and CBS News put a negative spin on the story, as did the pundits at Politico.com. Even Fox News reported the story with a negative slant. Couric emphasized that Thompson did not reach the stated goal of 5 million in June. Fox pointed to supposed turmoil in the Thompson camp, leading to the...

There always is a learning curve when even an experienced politician runs for president. So Fred Thompson — the former Tennessee senator, actor and much-hyped prospective candidate for the Republican White House nomination — can take this lesson from the first money report for his still-unofficial campaign: Don’t publicly announce fundraising goals unless you know you are going to meet them. The $3.46 million raised in the month of June by “Friends of Fred Thompson” sounds like a solid number. But that figure fell short of the $5 million expectation set by the Thompson camp itself. Somewhat surprisingly, then, the...

The following was released today by the Democratic National Committee: According to ABC News, former Senator turned actor, turned lobbyist turned presidential candidate Fred Thompson is denying that he agreed to sign a fair tax bill, even though a video of the almost-candidate shows Thompson asserting the exact opposite. Thompson, who has used a "testing the waters" status to avoid scrutiny of his campaign fundraising and thus skirt FEC laws, has been buffeted by choppy seas lately, with the tax pledge episode being only the latest in a series of fumbles for his fledgling campaign. Thompson, despite not having formally...