Free Republic

A spokeman for the Bush administration sent an e-mail to Jim Robinson and myself confirming the authenticity of a post on Free Republic this afternoon regarding the immigration bill currently before the Senate as having been posted on behalf of the White House.The spokesman, Nicholas Thompson, works for the White House Office of Strategic Initiatives. The Politico reported yesterday that Thompson and Kerrie Rushton, associate directors in the Office of Strategic Initiatives who work under Karl Rove, would be engaging the blogosphere on the immigration bill.Thompson's post is on the thread titled Penalty Mitigation in the Immigration Reform Bill, a...

F ormer Wisconsin governor Tommy Thompson announced yesterday that he is running for the Republican presidential nomination and is betting that he will do well in Iowa, the neighboring state where he has been campaigning for months. Speaking on ABC's This Week, Thompson said he is confident he will win in January's Iowa caucus, despite polling in the low single digits. "I've been in Iowa every single week since the first week in December," he told host George Stephanopoulos. "I've been visiting individuals and groups and talking to people every single week, and I've been into over 30 counties, one-third...

Former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson on Sunday joined the crowded field of Republicans running for the White House in 2008. "I am the reliable conservative," he asserted. Thompson, who was health and human services secretary during President Bush's first term, also said he is the only GOP candidate who has helped assemble both a state and federal budget. Since announcing last year he was forming a presidential exploratory committee to raise money and gauge support, Thompson has lagged behind better-known rivals. Asked Sunday whether he was running for president, Thompson said, "That is correct." Thompson, 65, has focused his strategy...