Free Republic

NASHVILLE — Republican Fred Thompson is out of the presidential race, but that isn’t stopping some top Republican officials from continuing to support the former U.S. senator in the Feb. 5 GOP primary. Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey, R-Blountville, is running as an at-large delegate for Mr. Thompson. Senate Republican Leader Mark Norris, R-Collierville, is running as a Thompson delegate in the 7th Congressional District. And both are hoping to get to the Republican National Convention this summer as delegates. During a press availability with reporters this week, Lt. Gov. Ramsey told reporters he has been getting calls from various GOP...

Fred Thompson is having greater influence on the Republican presidential race now that he’s out of it than he had when he was in it. In just the few days after he withdrew his candidacy, the tall Tennessean stands out more clearly than ever above the ranks of GOP contenders. By its very silence, the absence of Thompson’s steady baritone is heard above the cacophony he left behind. Nothing else in this campaign is making so obvious the lack of an authentic, consistent, common-sense conservative among the surviving candidates. It calls to mind the tale of the couple tending a...

Steven Stark lays out a scenario whereby all the other candidates, none of whom have wholehearted Republican support, cancel each other out, paving the way for Fred Thompson to receive the nomination at the convention. "When conventions deadlock, history teaches us that yesterday's disappointments become tomorrow's stars. If McCain can't stampede to the nomination and Super Tuesday doesn't produce another clear front-runner, we may not have heard the last of Fred..." I find the idea highly unlikely, though appealing...but stranger things have happened. Whoever would have thought the 2000 election wouldn't be decided for 36 days?

This is an open discussion thread on Fred08.com

SENECA, S.C. -- Thompson took a couple of shots at Romney and Huckabee on authenticity and immigration, respectively, when given the chance here during a radio interview and questions from the crowd that followed. “I haven’t changed positions,” Thompson told about 125 people packed into the Seneca Family Restaurant in the northwest socially conservative reaches of the state. “I have been consistent… I haven’t had to have that long a memory to remember where I stand. All these other fellows, you wouldn’t recognize them from where they were their entire political lives before this.” Later, a man, who is actually...

Faced with either Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama as their national opponent, Republicans cannot risk disunity in the fall campaign. Whoever is the Republicans nominate must be able to both unify and energize the core constituencies of their party. When South Carolinians go to the polls tomorrow, their choice is between several men who cannot unify the party and one who probably can. Fred Thompson’s ability to unify conservatives around their core principles should be much on South Carolinians’ minds. As should the record of the other contenders. ... Among the serious contenders in South Carolina is Fred Thompson. Is...

Link to podcast of an interview with John Lott conducted by Michael Bane for the Fred Thompson Campaign. http://www.downrange.tv/radio/42.htm

...You can hear it in Limbaugh’s voice and see it in his face. He badly wants to throw the full weight of conservatism behind that candidate. He so desperately wants to that his teeth probably hurt. He’s waiting, waiting for someone to take the lead. Get noticed. He’s waiting for someone to give him the go ahead to cream the opposition. You can hear the excitement in Rush’s voice when he talks about the South Carolina primary. It’s “The Passion.” The passion of conservatism emerging when he talks about that primary. Why, you ask? Because, for the first time since...

"3. Website Traffic Velocity Here is a graph (click to enlarge) of the amount of attention each GOP Candidates’ website is getting. Notice Fred08.com is number two. Rudy, Romney and Huckabee have all peaked. This directly translates into donations and new voters."

Dear {snip}, I can't even begin to thank you enough for your support of our Red Truck Challenge 2. Thanks to you we have funded Fred's entire South Carolina media campaign and have gone on to start funding critical voter contact programs that will complement our excellent ground game and give Fred the extra push he needs to win in the state. So, thanks to you, Fred is poised for success. Fred's dominating performance in the Thursday debate on Fox is serving as a catalyst for people to take a second look and reconsider their support. Also, there are still...

I notice that Fred has a goal of $500,000 and 50,000 new friends by this Friday. The $$$ seems doable but the friends goal is a mystery to me. They are only at about 2,500 now. Aside from all of the other questions about Fred's candidacy, how will he reach this goal of 50,000 friends? I signed up my wife yesterday, so she's already in the Friend number. Most people I know here in NJ love Obama. Any thoughts, strategies, on how to help? I'm trying to brainstorm here, and I assume that Fred wants new people in this 50,000...

DES MOINES – Republican candidates Fred Thompson, Ron Paul and Alan Keyes showed up at the Federation for American Immigration Reform talk radio row in Des Moines to talk about immigration policy, and surrogates for Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee made appearances. But other Republicans – and all Democratic candidates – declined the opportunity, despite national television coverage from both Fox News and CNN.

Presidential candidates mourned Thursday’s killing of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto and urged the country to remain calm, while some Democrats took issue with the Bush administration’s long-standing support of Pakistan’s leader Pervez Musharraf. Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) called Bhutto’s death “a tragedy for her country,” and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) released a statement calling Bhutto “a respected and resilient advocate for the democratic aspirations of the Pakistani people.”Former senator John Edwards (D-N.C.) said her assassination was a “cowardly act." “At this critical moment, America must convey both strength and principle,” said Edwards. “We should do everything in our power...

Fred Thompson got in the race too late. Fred does not have a serious chance of winning. He’s nowhere in the polls. That’s the narrative from the MSM. However, a closer look at the latest Rasmussen polling shows otherwise. Fred Thompson has the highest favorability ratings among Republicans in Iowa. Fred Thompson is viewed favorably by 77% of likely Iowa Republican Caucus goers according to Rasmussen’s latest Iowa Polling (Dec 19). That is the highest favorable rating of any Republican candidate. Romney’s favorability rating is at 73%, Huckabee 67%, McCain 63% and Giuliani 58%. The trend to watch: Huckabee’s favorability...

Senator Fred Thompson had this video produced to thank our troops for their courage and sacrifice, and to let them know they are not forgotten as they are away from their loved ones during the Christmas holiday.

What Happens when an unstoppable force meets an immovable object?

Republicans and many conservatives are so worried and fearful about losing the presidential election next year they are not focusing on what is necessary to win the election. However, it is exactly that mindset, and decisions based upon that worry and lack of focus, that will lead to the result they fear. What do I mean by the first sentence? Well, many primary voters are basing their support for a candidate primarily upon the perception that that candidate has the best chance to beat the Democrat challenger in the general election. The voters are basing their decision on “politics” and...

Mitt Romney said it best in last week’s debate: “We're not going to get the White House nor strengthen America unless we can pull together the coalition of conservatives and conservative thought that has made us successful as a party. And that's social conservatives. It's also economic conservatives. And foreign policy and defense conservatives.”

Bloomberg, Measuring Candidates on Gun Control New York City mayor Mike Bloomberg wants every presidential candidate to answer a 16 question survey on guns, including "restrictions on gun trace data, gun trafficking, federal enforcement of gun laws, and punishment levels for breaking gun laws." I predict that the Thompson campaign will fax back a seven page response, with the first page just a giant letter "F," the second page is a giant letter "U," ... and you can get a sense of where it's going.

The first month of fiscal 2008 was a success for all active and reserve military components. In a meeting with Pentagon reporters today, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said all components met or exceeded their recruiting and accession goals for October. On the active-duty side, the Army made 101 percent of its goal of 4,500, with 4,564 recruits. The Navy made 100 percent of its goal of 2,788 recruits. The Marine Corps made 102 percent of its goal of 2,720, with 2,788 enlisting. The Air Force made 100 percent of its goal of 2,656.