Several articles reviewing last night's debate definitely show Romney and Guilliani jabbing each other about who cut taxes more, etc. But these articles also tend to show Thompson as the bar-setter of the night.

The Washington Times noted that the timing was 'about right' for Thompson entering the race. While there have been mixed reviews as to how his campaign is doing as a whole, almost everyone can agree that Thompson met expectations last night debating with the big-whigs of the republican party.

While Thompson is starting to lose steam, it's important to note that Thompson is bringing a completely different attitude to the race. Have you noticed that Thompson has been pretty even-toned throughout his official (and official) campaign? In fact, I haven't actually seen him attack any of his other candidates.

I'm curious to see how Thompson will do in the primaries. He has been in the top three or four candidates for quite a while. Granted he's usually the last guy within that list, but I expect him to gain tremendous ground as the primaries get closer.

With the evangelical Christians vowing not to back Guilliani, it will be interesting to see who they will vote for should Guilliani be nominated.

This past weekend, all the republican candidates were invited to a debate hosted by a historically black college Morgan State University. Four candidates could not make the debate. And, of course, it gave the candidates that were there plenty of ammo to say how Thompson, Guiliani, McCann, and Romney don't care about the minority vote.

Even though these candidates expressed well in advanced that they had scheduling conflicts, they were all lampooned.

As the time-horizon closes to the primaries, each and every candidate must do his best to raise the support needed to win the election. Being a minority myself, I can understand that Thompson, et al had scheduling conflicts that they couldn't change. Fund raising is crucial during this time.

Every special interest will want to have a debate concerning their political agenda. At this point, they simply cannot say yes to every invitation. In fact, one must learn to say no.

Perhaps the ability to say "no" is a good indicator as to who can be president.

In an e-mail last week, James Dobson, president of the influential Focus on the Family, said that he won't support Dobson. According to the Washington Post, Dobson wrote:

Isn't Thompson the candidate who is opposed to a Constitutional amendment to protect marriage, believes there should be 50 different definitions of marriage in the U.S., favors McCain-Feingold, won't talk at all about what he believes, and can't speak his way out of a paper bag on the campaign trail?

I'm going to tackle two issues here: Defending Thompson as a great presidential candidate and why supporting a Christian candidate outright just because he's a Christian is a bad idea.

Continue reading "Dobson won't back Thompson" »

Fred has announced that he will be in the DC area on September 26. If you've got the time, you can visit him in McLean, VA. He'll be there at 6:00pm, giving a speech and shaking hands.

If you want to go, and got $1000 to drop, you can purchase your ticket.

For more information on the event, you can contact Sarah Newman at 571-730-1000 or snewman@fred08.com

Fred Thompson announced his bid for presidency on the Tonight Show this past Tuesday, a la Arnold Schwarzenegger. (For those of you that don't remember, or don't care to remember, Arnold announced his bid for governator on the Tonight Show as well.) He has a 6-part announcement video on his official website.

While his announcement met with little fanfare (particularly because it's been long anticipated), Fred has managed to stir up the hornet's nest with the republicans, many of them chastising his "no-show" appearance in the debates.

Frankly, I'm not surprised, nor would I expect, Thompson to join in any of the debates until the last few before primaries. I think Thompson has seen tremendous support simply by not being in the spotlight. He's kind of been the midnight contender that everyone knows. Thompson himself said that he is running a different kind of campaign.

I hope he can sustain and even pick-up steam.

Note: The DC Examiner has run a summarized list of Thomson on the Issues. You can also view of video of an interview with Thompson and CNN.

I'm the new contributer for the "Thompson" report. I guess it's appropriate to just use "Thompson" now since Tommy Thompson has dropped out of the primary running. I'm a fairly new republican, having moved from the independent side.

I'm a supporter of Fred Thompson. There are a lot of reasons why I am, but I won't address them here. But I would like to bring up an article I read in today's DC Examiner.

Pretty much everyone and their pet dog is expecting Fred to join the race sometime in September. His successful "campaign" has bought him a lot of publicity and a great deal of fanfare. It's like the few minutes before the main act of the concert. The audience waits in anticipation...and it is because they have to wait that make it worthwhile.

Huckabee criticized this by saying, "I think he's going to suck a lot of the oxygen out of the room when he first comes in. But I'm not sure I'd want to be in his position where the expectations are simply just sky-high for him to be able to perform."

While I would agree that there is a lot of hype over Thompson's entry, I'm not sure if I would go so far to say that he's going to fail under high expectations. Yes, there are many people that can't wait what he'll do to the race; but the very FACT that he has waited shows that he is a patient man. I think his supporters understand this. I think he will be able to take these expectations in stride.

Fred has an air about him that is serious, but also nonchalant. He knows he's popular, but he doesn't let it get to his head. He uses his popularity to benefit his campaign, but restrains himself from being the center.

I hope to see Fred's official announcement soon. But I think it's safe to say that his announcement to make an official announcement is proof enough that he's running.

[I don't mean to be the bearer of all negative news for Fred, but ...]

Today Powerline published an article by Fred Thompson regarding lawyers, lobby-ers (yes - I know), and the clients they represent. This comes concurrently as the Fred! campaign is backing off denials of lobbying for an abortion-rights firm (link).

The jist of the article is that a lawyer should not be associated with the cause of his client. Why? Apparenlty b/c lawyers need to make a living. And b/c clients are entitled to representation in a court of law. Fred recalls the examples of Adams and Lincoln.

Sorry, but I don't buy. No one forced Fred to lobby or not lobby for any previous clients. He is free to choose the companies or clients which he represents. Lobbying is not the same as ensuring the constitutional right to a defense in court. Lobby-ers are salesmen to Congressman. I'm glad to see that Dean Barnett agrees. Also - the John Adams analogy is not a parallel argument. [note: I read this article very quickly, I may haved missed the finer points]

Anyhow - Fred is not impressing right now. I have high hopes for Fred. But those hopes rely on being up-front on the issues, not artfully dodging them.

My mother brought to my attention that this weeks Opus takes a pretty hard shot at Fred Thompson. Ouch. I'm not a regular reader of the funnies, but I thought I'd post this for your information.

The Boston Globe is reporting that:

Thompson tipped off the White House that the committee knew about the taping system and would be making the information public. In his all-but-forgotten Watergate memoir, "At That Point in Time," Thompson said he acted with "no authority" in divulging the committee's knowledge of the tapes, which provided the evidence that led to Nixon's resignation. It was one of many Thompson leaks to the Nixon team, according to a former investigator for Democrats on the committee, Scott Armstrong , who remains upset at Thompson's actions.

Fred Thompson courtesy MSNBC on President Bush commuting the sentence of Scooter Libby:

"I am very happy for Scooter Libby. I know that this is a great relief to him, his wife and children. While for a long time I have urged a pardon for Scooter, I respect the President's decision. This will allow a good American, who has done a lot for his country, to resume his life."