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FORT MILL -- A campaign event in a bar, in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday -- Fred Thompson seemed like my kind of guy. And after he spoke at Beef 'O' Brady's in Fort Mill -- which is technically a restaurant, but any place with eight beers on tap and ashtrays on the bar is a bar -- many of about 150 people who packed the place said Fred Thompson is their kind of guy, too. Especially guys like Ed Egan. From between Rock Hill and York, 63 years old, Marine Corps helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Egan...

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 5 /Standard Newswire/ -- Today the Fred Thompson campaign announced the addition of Shannon Royce, an experienced social conservative coalitions director and former Executive Director of The Arlington Group, who will be joining the Thompson Campaign to serve as Grassroots and Special Projects Director. Shannon Royce most recently served as Executive Director of the Arlington Group where she managed a coalition of over 70 organizations advocating on numerous pro-family initiatives. In that capacity, she coordinated coalition efforts on behalf of Chief Justice John Roberts and Justice Samuel Alito. A former Legislative Assistant to Senator Slade Gorton and...

Most Republican presidential candidates can brag about attracting followers with their valiant stances on important issues. Rudy Giuliani's followers support him because they think he can beat Hillary Clinton. In and by itself, the reasoning of Giuliani's supporters is not illogical. Many people do take into account electability when voting for a primary candidate (although most will not sacrifice their basic principles in the name of an election victory). The problem is, this perceived electability is the only thing going for Giuliani. But here is the real kicker: Giuliani is not electable. In fact, he is far less electable than...

Influential Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen trashes Fred Thompson today and hails the underfunded, Chip Saltsman-managed campaign of Mike Huckabee. Yepsen says Thompson "has fallen flat." "After Thompson's late start, he's lighting no fires in Iowa," Yepsen writes. "His speech at the big Reagan Dinner Saturday night was a boilerplate thing he could have given anywhere. Romney didn't show. Huckabee got the only standing ovation." The Wall Street Journal today reports on Thompson's risky Southern strategy and points out that he's all but bypassing Iowa and New Hampshire. Yesterday, he made only his second appearance in New Hampshire since...

So I come across this piece over at Real Clear Politics, which tries to sort out this whole "Thompson doesn't dazzle and therefore must go NOW" business, and I get to the money quote: "If you have the intelligence to see which rules are real and which are fake, the respectfulness to follow the real rules, and the guts to break the fake rules - you can get ahead in this world. In fact, people will love you for breaking the fake rules." I must admit up front that this follows a Bob Dylan reference about breaking fake rules in...

FORWARD OPERATING BASE LOYALTY, Iraq , Oct. 26, 2007 – Getting potable drinking water to residents of the New Baghdad district of the Iraqi capital was the focus of a meeting here Oct. 22. Community leaders joined soldiers from the 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, to try to hammer out solutions. The main problem cited was improper connections to the water supply, which leads to water line leaks and breaks, low water pressure and disease. Army 1st Lt. Joseph Gray of Rochester, N.H., a member of 2nd IBCT's embedded provincial reconstruction team, stressed to attendees the...

Several websites are offering compass headings to voters who feel lost in the big field of presidential candidates. Sites such as selectsmart.com and vajoe.com seek to match people with candidates through questionnaires that cover immigration, taxes, abortion and other issues. “It looks to me as if matchmaking and dating have intersected with running for president,” said John Zogby, head of the independent polling firm, Zogby International. “I guess it was inevitable.” Although the questionnaires have no value as scientific polls, opinion experts say they may give voters who are unfamiliar with the herd of candidates a starting point in the...

The housing crunch is most severe in some of the most hotly contested political battleground states, a trend that could spell trouble for Republicans next year. Six of the 10 states with the highest foreclosure rates in the country last month are considered by leaders of both parties to be swing states. They include the two biggest prizes of the past two presidential campaigns: Florida, which came in No. 2 on the list, with one foreclosure filing for every 248 households in September; and Ohio, No. 7, with one foreclosure for every 319 households, according to a survey by RealtyTrac...

U. S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, said that Sen. Fred Thompson was excellent in his debut debate Tuesday night in Dearborn, Mich. An early supporter of Thompson, the latest entry into the race for the Republican nomination for president, Putnam said the former U.S. senator scored major points. "I thought his responses were substantive, candid and optimistic. He showed himself more than capable for the road ahead," Putnam said. "He demonstrated a command of the issues, domestic and international. He was unafraid of speaking plainly of the generational challenges we face, and discussing his approach to solving our most difficult...

DEARBORN, Mich., Oct. 9 -- On a day when stock indexes hit record highs, Republican presidential candidates gathered here Tuesday for a group defense of low taxes and free markets and warned that Democrats, particularly Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, pose the greatest danger to the nation's future prosperity. Former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.) finally joined his rivals in a televised debate, adding his voice to the chorus singing the praises of free trade, a reduction in regulation, private health care and reduced government spending. Like the others on the stage, he made his points by taking aim at the...

Dearborn, Michigan—Team Thompson was very, very happy here at the Ford Community and Performing Arts Center Tuesday night. Sure, the first Republican debate to include Fred Thompson, a debate which focused mostly on economic issues, was a little dull. And sure, it went on for too long. And sure, moderator Chris Matthews – well, don’t get them started on him. But the bottom line was, Fred Thompson did just fine. ”If we had done badly, I would have said these things don’t mean a thing,” one top Thompson adviser told me in the converted gymnasium that served as the Spin...

 The next president of the United States will need to address the crumbling social fabric of this great nation. America is richer than ever, but its families have never been so impoverished. Presidential contenders, from left; Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY), former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.).Photo: Office of John McCain, US Senate, City of NY, AP The main problems are: first and foremost, the 50-percent divorce rate; second, children who do not interact with their parents; third, a shallow and degenerate culture that especially degrades and exploits women;...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 25, 2007 – President Bush and Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki discussed key Iraqi concerns today in New York City before a host of international leaders gathered there for the United Nations General Assembly. During a photo opportunity at the Waldorf-Astoria hotel, Bush told Maliki it was good to meet with him in person instead of via videoconference, to which the leaders are accustomed. Bush said the face-to-face discussions with Maliki and his “distinguished delegation” covered a wide range of issues. “We talked about a lot of issues and spent time talking about reconciliation and law,” Bush...

The following is a summary of Thompson’s views on the issues of National Security, Federal Budget and Spending/Budgetary Reform, Tax Reform, Healthcare, Government Effectiveness, Building Strong Families, Immigration, Education, Appointment of Judges, Energy Security, and the Second Amendment. National Security In a post 9/11 world, Thompson recognizes the need for America to increase its ability to defeat its terrorist enemies. Therefore, his plans include upscaling the military, improving the missile defense system, enhancing the intelligence community, making homeland security robust enough to protect America from terrorists worldwide, giving backbone the judicial system so it will face the reality of terrorism...

The dueling perceptions of Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson are vividly displayed on a political website. "Thompson Is Clearly In Over His Head," an opinion column headline says - right next to national polls that suggest he is near the top of the GOP field. Two weeks after he entered the race, Thompson's candidacy is as much of an enigma as it was during his summerlong "testing the waters" phase. He has not fizzled or run away with the lead, yet there is evidence that either possibility could happen. Some of the initial reviews of Thompson's entry have been harsh....

MACKINAC ISLAND, Mich. - Republican presidential candidates can't be any more clear: President Bush isn't welcome on the campaign trail. Competing to succeed him, top GOP candidates Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, Fred Thompson and John McCain barely utter Bush's name. They essentially ignore the lame-duck president, or give him only passing credit, as they rail against the status quo and promise to fix problems he hasn't solved. "We all know Americans want change," said McCain, an Arizona senator, explaining the aversion to aligning with Bush. "I give him credit for a number of things but I think the fact is...

What are the most important issues to you, and how would you rank them? Opinion Dynamics says voters rank the most important issues this way: Iraq.................... 52% Terrorism................42% Health Care............. 41% Economy..................37% Moral Values.............33% Illegal Immigration......30% The environment..........28% Abortion.................23% Gun control..............22%

Rudy Giuliani told the National Rifle Association Friday that his own views on gun control have evolved in part due to the Sept. 11 attacks, which he said highlighted the importance of the Second Amendment right of allowing law-abiding citizens to carry guns. Facing a group that he once likened to "extremists," Giuliani sought to temper his past strong support for national gun control laws by saying he could no longer support a lawsuit he filed as New York mayor in 2000, which was designed to hold gun-makers liable for gun violence. Giuliani said "there have been subsequent intervening events...

In the two decades since Americans for Tax Reform began asking candidates to sign a pledge not to raise taxes, no Republican has been nominated for president without doing so. That track record might end in 2008. While all of the top four contenders are talking about the need for low taxes, only former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney has signed on the dotted line. The other candidates may feel they have enough stature to avoid signing the pledge. But two things are different about this election that might play into their decision. With the first baby boomers set to retire...

Immigration used to be a debate among Republicans. Now the issue survives mainly as a weapon. Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney-- who once commented on illegal immigrants, "I don't believe in rounding up 11 million people and forcing them at gunpoint from our country" -- attacks Rudy Giuliani for not rounding up enough illegal immigrants when he was mayor of New York. Giuliani -- who once said, "If you come here and you work hard and you happen to be in an undocumented status, you're one of the people who we want in this city" -- criticizes Romney for tolerating...