Free Republic

SPARTANBURG, SC (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson says Americans need to choose a president next year that will get the country back on the right track. The former Tennessee senator told an overflow crowd of about 100 people at a Spartanburg restaurant that the nation needs a true conservative as president to help lessen the influence of liberals in Congress. Thompson also emphasized his Southern roots and says he is an example of the true American story. Thompson also talked about his bedrock conservative values and said he is unique among Republican candidates in that his stance on...

I just got this via e-mail from Senate Pro-Tem Eric Johnson: Dear Friends; You know where Rudy stands on the issues even if you disagree. You can’t tell where Mitt stands. Most of the rest of the field are not key players. Only Mike Huckabee has made some moves – primarily because he is good on his feet in the debates. But there is only one true “Reagan conservative” – Fred Thompson. The others are NOT conservatives or say they are now, but their record says otherwise. Please join me in supporting the consistent conservative who can win. Giuliani is...

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. - Like a fickle Hollywood actor who maddeningly keeps his own schedule, Fred Thompson finally walked on the set here last night and turned in the performance his long-suffering supporters have yearned for all these months. The "Law and Order" star's positions were more polished than ever. He attacked Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney sharply and effectively. And he stayed above the fray when the fights around him got downright nasty. Giuliani, meanwhile, gave the performance his supporters have always feared, showing his most liberal feathers to date. He had to defend his past coddling statements about...

"I just want to give my buddies here a little air time." -- Fred Thompson sounding like Ronald Reagan (after showing a video about Romney and Huckabee that would take the bark off the trees, and being told the others would have time to respond) ... Thompson's video utilized YouTube clips that have been circulating for quite some time on YouTube. Only this time, they are also being broadcast on CNN. My bet is getting this negative information out is a lot better use of his time than merely putting out some puff-piece ...

Illegals should be put to work in camps while serving their punishment, and not in jails where they eat, sleep in good beds and have everything that most of us cannot afford. They must work. Once their sentence is final, expel them, and if caught back again double the sentence under the same terms. Our motto should be "You go to jail, you earn your meals and board." We need a president who has to take care of our needs, not the neighboring countries. We need a president who is going to run the country and not run it down....

Presidential Race: The war for the soul of the Republican Party was won in 1980 by Ronald Reagan. Presidential candidates who want to re-wage the conflict in 2008 will only weaken the GOP against the Democrats' nominee. In the aftermath of Vietnam, Watergate and a Jimmy Carter presidency that rendered America an economic and foreign policy basket case, Republicans discovered a tried-and-true recipe for electoral success. They would stand for three sets of principles: • Lowering high taxes and stemming the growth of government in order to revive the private economy, lower inflation and interest rates, and generate jobs. •...

Twenty-five years ago this week, in his Thanksgiving Proclamation, Ronald Reagan wrote that America was set apart from other nations in an uncommon way. He said that it was his belief that ‘a divine plan placed this great continent here between the oceans to be found by people from every corner of the Earth, who had a special love of faith and freedom.’ America’s love of faith and freedom is as strong today as it was 25 years ago, or indeed 225 years ago. We are in a political season now, and sometimes it might feel that there is much...

AMES, Iowa - Fred Thompson says his often-dour demeanor simply reflects his seriousness about the issues facing the country. ``I'm just Fred,'' he says, and the image that's served him through a successful political career won't be changing. Thompson, who played a tough-minded and gruff district attorney on television's ``Law & Order,'' offers precisely that image as he campaigns for the GOP presidential nomination. He's generally serious and direct, with little of the backslapping and joking of many of his rivals. ``I laugh when I am amused and I'm amused a lot,'' said Thompson, in an interview with The Associated...

Defense: Fred Thompson wants a million-man ground force and more modern equipment on the ground, in the air and on the water. The arsenal of democracy needs some retooling. After the Vietnam conflict, the U.S. military was depleted and exhausted. Then came Jimmy Carter and by the time Ronald Reagan came along we had planes that couldn't fly and ships that couldn't sail for lack of maintenance. The Gipper rolled up his sleeves and built his 600-ship navy, gave the Air Force the latest fighters and bombers and an Army capable of deploying half a million troops for Desert Storm...

Fred Thompson is the Republican most likely to beat abortion-rights supporter Rudy Giuliani, the National Right to Life Committee said Tuesday, announcing its endorsement of the former Tennessee senator for president. "While there are various polls, and some are up-and-down, the overwhelming consensus has been that he is best-positioned to top pro-abortion candidate Rudy Giuliani for the Republican nomination," the group's executive director, David N. O'Steen, said at a news conference. ...By emphasizing Thompson's political potential _ he ranks second behind former New York Mayor Giuliani in national Republican polls _ the anti-abortion group played down its own differences with...

In September, I posted another vanity (linked below) in which I observed that the historical trends in this election favored Fred Thompson. Since then, his RCP average has dropped from about 22% to 16-17%. In the more volatile Rasmussen daily tracking poll, he has also dropped to 16%, about a 10 point drop from his post announcement high. In light of the above poll numbers, is it time for me to issue a mea culpa? No. This is not at all inconsistent with the hypothesis of my previous post. Neither of the successful insurgent candidates in modern times, Reagan or...

Here's your chance to make a cameo appearance in Fred's Presidential campaign. Make a video telling us why you support Fred Thompson for President and upload it using the form below. We'll share these videos with all of our supporters on Fred08.com, and allow you, and them, to pick the best one. Here's your chance to be a star. Submit your video now. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Sure, Fred Thompson is an accomplished lawyer, prosecuting criminals in Tennessee before serving as counsel on the Watergate hearings. And yes, he served the people of Tennessee as a common sense, conservative Senator for eight years....

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...

This advertisement, the first for Fred D. Thompson since he announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, is to begin running today in Iowa and nationally on the Fox News Channel. PRODUCER Revolution Media Group. THE SCRIPT Mr. Thompson says: “I’ve been a conservative my whole life. I grew up in a little hometown just like this. Started the first Young Republican Club in Lawrenceburg, Tenn. “In eight years in the United States Senate, I fought for tax cuts and for conservative judges. And I’m proud to have had a 100 percent pro-life voting record. “Common-sense conservative principles. Free...

RICHMOND, Va.—There's no shortage of polls underscoring America's sour mood these days. Surveys generally show that 7 in 10 Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction and that most Americans believe their leaders in Washington are doing a poor job. U.S. News led the way in explaining this trend with a recent special report on why Americans think Washington is broken and what can be done about it. If anything, the warning signs are getting gloomier. A new focus group of Republican voters from the Richmond area, conducted last Thursday evening, was a case in point. All...

Fred Thompson took his acid bath this morning on Meet the Press. Measured by the traditional standards of Sunday morning political theater, it was an uneven performance. Fred did well on international affairs and "stumbled" on domestic policy. His answer on abortion in particular will come as an uncomfortable revelation to some of his more conservative supporters. I have a team of Jesuits attempting to unravel the yarn-balled logic of Fred's rambling answer, but it appears to boil down to this: "I'm 100 percent pro-life and have voted 100 percent pro-life. I hope one day Roe will be overturned and...

JB: Mr. Giuliani said: “We need a hybrid army, we need to look at nation-building as part of what we have to teach our military.” Nation-building? Do you agree with that? FT: Well I wouldn’t call it nation-building... You don’t build other nations. Sometimes if the ingredients are there you can assist other nations in doing some good things. JB: Well that gets to the heart of the difference between some of us conservatives and the neo-cons... Can you define for us, who really is the enemy? ...FT: The enemy is radical Islamic fundamentalism. Iraq is a part of a...

Since Fred Thompson officially entered the presidential playoffs, I have been fascinated by some of the criticisms of him by the media, and even by some Conservatives. You know the main card played against Thompson has been the lazy card. Lazy? No, Thompson is laid back; he is not a rah-rah kind of person. Frankly, I enjoy that about him. I have worked with many rah-rah types and many laid-back types as well. Give me the steady, calm, laid back person any day. Another criticism of Thompson has been that he has offered no specifics on any of his ideas....

That Southern charm may soften the appearance of the actor-senator’s hardened conservative views. Last month brough the moment in the presidential campaign I’d been dreading. The popular conservative from my home state, fellow Tennessean Fred Thompson, entered the Republican primary. The pundits and “insiders” have dismissed the actor and former senator even before he declared his candidacy on late-night TV. Some claim he’s a Hollywood lightweight, but I’ve heard that before (Ronald Reagan). Some dismiss him as a Southern simpleton, but I’ve heard that before (George W. Bush). And I’ve even heard some claim he has a wealth of sexual...

Mrs. Shakespeare's little boy, Willy, said it best, "All the world is a stage." His observation is timeless. It has always been so, and it always will be so. That said, why can't an "actor" be president? After all, that criticism hounded Ronald Reagan. He was "just an actor," which somehow disqualified him from being president. So, all he did was force Mr. Gorbachev to tear down that wall, while encouraging the American people to rebuild the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. While he was doing that, he stood up against the spread of Marxism and stood firmly in...