The choice we face on November 4th as told by Fred Thompson:

That’s it in a nut shell. Absolutely nothing more needs be said by me.

Fred Thompson spoke yesterday evening at the Republican National Convention.

Many may have missed this either in choosing not to watch or due to the fact that two major networks decided to not extend the same courtesy to the Republicans as they did the Democrats. That’s for another day.

Watching pundits and news anchors detail a speech in its aftermath has never been my thing and frankly I don’t care what they think..I’m a big girl and capable of forming my own opinions so I have no way of passing along their temperature of the electorate following the former Senator’s speech.

Frankly, the personal attacks which have been levied against the family of Governor Palin and the vile remarks being hurled from website to website and in the media have left me very disillusioned.

If this is “politics as usual”, then I must be well out of the loop.

Then along came this speech. Guess it’s what I have been waiting for as for the first time in months I am at total peace with my decision to vote for John McCain.

The characteristics I have admired most in President Bush are humility, character and steadfastness.
No poll watcher in this man. He governed as he felt was best for America regardless of the relentless insults hurled his way.

Maybe it was early nostalgia for a man I admire, I don’t know. But somehow I dismissed the fact that many of those same traits define Senator McCain.

Thanks, Senator Thompson, for reminding me.

There was a sincerity in this speech which transcended politics.

It was one mans admiration of another and his accomplishments.

Yes, Thompson is an actor, but there was no acting on this night, in this speech. When a man chokes a bit as he describes the values which define his friend (not fellow politician) it causes me to sit up and listen.

He did, I did, and now it’s McCain/Palin all the way.

The electorate may not agree, I have no way of predicting the future and frankly don’t think there is much to be said which will sway the voters who have already come to a conclusion one way or the other.

I respect everyones right to vote their conscience without qualification and hope that no matter what the outcome we can move back in the direction of one America rather than a nation divided by partisan politics.

Please consider voting or caucusing for Fred Thompson. He is the most conservative candidate in the race and we need to give his campaign a lift.

Check for when the polls open and when the caucuses begin and please give serious consideration to voting for Fred.

There’s not much more to be said at this late hour. You know where he stands on abortion, taxes, national security, and you know he has been a conservative all his adult life.

If that’s not enough to make you consider voting for Fred, then I don’t know what will. What I do know is if Fred doesn’t come in at least second in South Carolina we might as well say good-bye to his candidacy. This is our stand to take or not. It’s up to us to put him back on the right track in this primary race.

Show the pollsters they can be as wrong with Republican voters as they were with Democratic voters in New Hampshire last week.

This is my endorsement only and does not necessarily reflect how Sue feels about this candidate.

I really like this ad. No personal attacks, no talking “at me.” Just good old conservative values and thoughts.

Will it work? Is it effective enough? Will the former Senator continue his run for the Presidency following the South Carolina primary?

We’ll know soon enough.

Those residing in South Carolina have no doubt already seen this new ad from Fred Thompson.

There was so much emphasis put on Iowa and New Hampshire but for the GOP, Saturday’s primary could be pivitol.

HT: Macsmind

Have dinner with my family on New Years Day?

The more Fred Thompson talks, the closer I have come to supporting him for the GOP nomination.

While I was unhappy with the start of his candidacy, any politician who is willing to not feel beholden to the “mighty” MSM shows great courage.

Jane Skinner, at Fox News, does her best to challenge the former Senator with borderline ridiculous statements and questions, but Thompson leaves her spinning in the wind.

No matter the outcome in Iowa or for that matter in the race for the nomination, one thing is for certain, Fred will always have the memories of New Years Day dinner 2008 with his family.

My guess is, most potential caucus attendees were doing much the same, and those who were attempting to spread their message on January 1st no doubt had their words fall on deaf ears.

HT: Pundit Review

That is what this message from Fred Thompson to those in Iowa reminded me of.

Not the stern kind of “talkin to” that we all got as kids when we misbehaved, but the kind that our parents and grandparents gave us when there were life lessons to be learned.

If I had to vote tomorrow for a GOP candidate for President, I suppose this little talk could sway my thinking. It’s the best I’ve personally heard so far, not filled with venom for another candidate but calm and laden with details of plans for the future.

I don’t know if Thompson has a chance in Iowa or anywhere else. I don’t know if he could win a national election if he were nominated. What I do know is that I would feel very comfortable inviting him to my home and sitting down to a conversation involving important issues of the day. In the political climate of today, to me that speaks volumes.

HT: Confederate Yankee

A special holiday message from a politician in which nary a word is spoken.

Impressive!

The unbearable length of time this presidential race has been in motion has made it quite difficult to get very excited about anyone or anything involved.

Once upon a time, a long time ago, I looked very much forward to Fred Thompson entering the race. I felt he was a strong conservative with many of the qualities the country needed in a President.

Then began his off again, on again entry into the race, his announcement on Jay Leno on the same night as a Republican debate and the appearance of his own less than enthusiastic approach to his campaign.

Now I know, his entrance was the traditional timing many years ago. The appearance on Leno has been a tactic used by may to throw their hat in the ring and perhaps what I see as less than enthusiastic is just his southern heritage coming to the forefront. But gosh, at some point you have to show some real get up and go if you want to be President.

I read this today at Real Clear Politics and immediately thought the Thompson campaign would be well served to do the same:

The Watergate attorney has made himself into this election’s Don Quixote, the impractical idealist tilting at “the system.” Even as he announced his run on the Jay Leno show in September, Mr. Thompson quipped he “wasn’t in the room when they made the rules” that resulted in today’s sped up, big-money, 24-hour-news-byte primary. He has refused to play nice–declaring late and declining to join rivals in the media hoopla and nonstop campaign. It has proven a case study in the folly of trying to single-handedly buck modern politics.

It might have helped if Mr. Thompson, who stated his intention to trust in “the people” to give him a hearing, had offered those people something more than personality at the start of his tardy campaign. It has instead only been very recently that he has, admirably, tried to craft himself into the ideas candidate.

If Mr. Thompson is serious about his desire to be President, we need to hear more on his thoughts on immigration, national security and taxes and not just at these so called debates.

He needs to find a way to garner more press and that is the job of his campaign and the man himself, not those who might in the future find him the most appealing candidate the GOP has to offer.

Convince us Fred. Show us you have what it takes not only to win the nomination but the general election.

There are many of us waiting to throw our support behind a strong GOP candidate.

So we can get to know the candidates and their positions we’ll be publishing something from each of them from time.

Today is a recent campaign video from Fred Thompson. No talking in it, but it states his positions.

Many Americans, I believe, have had a difficult time adjusting even after all this time to the laid back style of President Bush.

Could it be that Fred Thompson finds himself in that same predicament?

An event on Monday evening at the University of Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls promised to be one of the liveliest Thompson rallies yet. Several hundred people packed into a hall, where a local state representative warmed up the crowd by moving himself to tears talking about an injured Iraq war veteran he’d met. Country star John Rich of the duo Big & Rich, and a friend of Thompson’s, had the crowd stomping and singing along with his hit “Save a Horse, Ride a Cowboy,” and some Johnny Cash covers.

Thompson took the stage to wild applause. Within minutes, however, the crowd had quieted considerably and only broke into applause a few times during the 20-minute speech. Afterwards, Kevin Patterson, a 36-year-old stock broker from Waterloo, said he’d made up his mind about who he’d likely vote for: “Mitt Romney.”

“I like everything he said…maybe it’s his presentation. He’s a little laid back for me,” Patterson said. “Maybe he appeals more to older voters.”

Will the former Senator have difficulty drawing the younger crowd, especially the independents who will most assuredly be a deciding factor in 2008? Here is another who feels that Thompson owes the party faithful something more than soundbites.

You, sir, have a serious responsibility to fulfill. When there were a number of other conservatives considering whether they should try to fill the void in the Republican presidential field, you stepped forward and said you were the one. You said you had the fire in the belly. You sucked all the air out of the atmosphere on the right. In doing so, you pledged to run a different kind of campaign.

I have to agree. There was a certain electricity in the air late last Spring when it was rumored that Thompson would enter the race. With each passing month and the leaks (whether intiated by his campaign staff or not) of his entrance date coming furiously, many conservatives were chomping at the bit for him to announce. Did he wait too long? Was the anticipation too much for an impatient GOP faithful?

Now I realize that two references as shown above do not a candidacy make or break, but for quite some time now, these same sentiments have been echoed by the media and on many a blog or news website.

It is early, there is much to be said and done on the campaign trail, but the GOP cannot afford to lag behind. We must find ourselves someone that we trust, believe in and feel will present a platform which will cause us to unite. Is Fred Thompson that man?

This interview, (in three parts on Ian Schwartz’s site), shows the first lengthy glimpse of Fred and Jeri Thompson. (Their children are present but only in the first video.)

It takes approximately twenty minutes to view all three videos, but the topics discussed and the answers given are very important for those of us attempting to choose a candidate we might be able to support.

Check it out if you can.

A great one liner by Fred Thompson courtesy of Dailymotion.

Fred Thompson’s reply to Hillarycare.
Short, sweet and to the point.

HT:Instapundit

Thanks Mr. Thompson for saying what needed to be said. And in short order no less..we don’t see that very often these days in the political arena.

Also, if you missed it, courtesy of Fox News here is Rudy Giuliani on the President’s speech and Hillary Clinton’s remarks to General Petraeus at the Senate hearings.

We need more of this strong, to the point talk. Lot’s more.

Now that Fred Thompson has officially kicked off his campaign for the presidency, he is putting forth his ideas and visions for America. After watching what I considered a rather lackluster and uninformative debate the other evening, it would be refreshing to see a candidate who comes across with clear message on the issues which face the United States today.

The slogan on the bumper stickers was simple and direct: “Security. Unity. Prosperity.” Painted on the side of the two campaign buses: “United By Our Core Beliefs.”

That’s a reference to one of the fundamental rationales for Thompson’s candidacy: that he is the true-blue conservative in a field now led by one candidate (former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani) who supports abortion rights and gun control, and another (former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney) who used to support abortion rights, though he doesn’t now.

In his speech, Thompson noted he held “the same small-town conservative beliefs that I had when I ran (for the Senate) in 1994,” first among them “the sanctity of life.”

He advocated stricter border controls, lower federal spending, free markets, property rights and a strong national defense.

“We’re living in the era now of the suitcase bomb,” he said. “Iraq is part of that conflict, but Iraq is not that conflict. That conflict will be with us long after Iraq is in our rearview mirror.”

It will take much more than one campaign speech to convince voters but the quotes above are a great first step.

Read More

For those who have anticipated the entrance of Fred Thompson into the Presidential race, the wait is over. I posted this while watching the Fox News Republican debate so please forgive the brevity.

At 7:57 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, while taping “The Tonight Show with Jay Leno” for broadcast later in the evening, Fred Thompson finally said: “I’m running for president of the United States.”

The studio audience responded with thunderous applause.

Thompson rejected the notion that he has waited too long to get into the race for the White House.

“People treat politicians sort of like the dentist — they don’t have anything to do with them till they have to,” he said.

The balance of the story is available at Politico.

More on Senator Thompson entering the field of candidates here.

Once upon a time this was the traditional time of year when candidates for the presidency announced. With all of the changes in the political landscape on all levels, it feels as though we have been subjected to campaign mode since 2004 on a continuous basis. Every politician has weighed their words, couched their vote and avoided delving into any serious policy debate.

That said, there are those on both sides of the aisle who have been travelling the country, meeting with voters and working hard to secure delegates who will propel them to their party’s nomination.

I have made no decision personally as to the candidate (primarily on the right) I would support at this point in time. Fred Thompson has always been someone who has piqued my interest in one way or another but I must admit I am slightly disappointed in the theatrics he has planned to announce his entrance into the race.

As a veteran actor, Fred Dalton Thompson knows something about entering a stage. It’s all about the build up. The former Tennessee senator plans to announce his official entry into the Republican presidential contest on Thursday. But he’ll pique interest first on Wednesday with an ad aired during a GOP presidential debate from New Hampshire that Thompson will otherwise skip.

By then he will have taped an appearance on NBC’s “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno,” which will air about an hour after the debate ends in many U.S. households. Come midnight, he’ll post a 15-minute video announcement on his official Web site.

The face time with Leno and the debate ad on the Fox network are the coquettish moves of a candidate who has already proven his aptitude using the media, from television to the Internet. While his main rivals - Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John McCain - parry debate questions, Thompson will pretty much control his own message.

So while others have been planning for the tough questions Fox moderators will pose, Mr. Thompson has planned an ad to do what? To my mind he is not a member of the field of candidates at this point. Is this meant to upstage the candidates who are addressing serious issues? Then Jay Leno, followed by the web announcement of some sort and an official declaration of his candidacy to follow on Thursday. I am tired already.

Call me old fashioned, but I prefer when a candidate declares for the Office of the Presidency with a strong speech (perhaps in their hometown) which offers some idea of where they would hope their tenure would direct this country, not some media blitz.

Do not misunderstand me, I have not written off Fred Thompson as my choice for the nomination, I simply am not pleased with the methods he has chosen to enter the field. I really do not care about Jay Leno, Web Cams or for that matter political ads. I care about issues, character and the morals of a candidate. Join the debate Mr. Thompson and let me know exactly who you are.

If this report is true Fred Thompson will finally announce his entry into the presidential race on next Thursday, Sept. 6.

DES MOINES, Iowa — Republican Fred Thompson, whose entry into the presidential race has been long anticipated, will officially launch his candidacy Sept. 6 in a webcast on his campaign site, followed by a five-day tour of early primary states, The Associated Press has learned.

The preliminary campaign of the former Tennessee senator and “Law & Order” actor is to disclose details about how he will formally enter the race in a Thursday afternoon conference call with supporters.

House parties will be held nationwide on Sept. 6. A tour of Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina will quickly follow the Internet announcement on www.imwithfred.com, with later stops in Florida, and a homecoming event in Lawrenceburg, Tenn., on Sept. 15.

Now let’s just see if it’s true.

Go get him Fred.

Former Senator Fred D. Thompson is not only testing the waters for a run for president – he’s stirring the pot. He took a not-very-veiled swipe at the Republican frontrunner, Rudolph W. Giuliani, for supporting gun control.
Mr. Thompson, who starred in “Law & Order,” wrote on his Web site today: “When I was working in television, I spent quite a bit of time in New York City. There are lots of things about the place I like, but New York gun laws don’t fall in that category.’’
Then he decried a recent court ruling on a gun case, writing that “the same activist federal judge from Brooklyn who provided Mayor Giuliani’s administration with the legal ruling it sought to sue gun makers, has done it again.’’
Mr. Thompson went on to suggest that high gun ownership rates may be related to the low violent crime rates.
The Giuliani campaign, er, returned fire. “Those who live in New York in the real world — not on TV — know that Rudy Giuliani’s record of making the city safe for families speaks for itself,’’ said Katie Levinson, the Giuliani campaign’s communications director. “No amount of political theater will change that.”

Story

You talk about frivolous lawsuits. This is just plain stupid.

Liberal blogger Lane Hudson has filed a complaint against Fred Thompson with the Federal Election Commission, accusing the “testing-the-waters” candidate of violating election law. Hudson is the same activist who posted instant messages between former Rep. Mark Foley and a congressional page.

The AP reports: “The law prohibits anyone who is ‘testing the waters’ from hoarding the money for use during his actual campaign. Potential candidates also cannot refer to themselves as candidates, can’t run ads that publicize their intention to campaign or take steps to qualify for the ballot in a primary or caucus state.”

Story

Fred Thompson’s wife has been the target of hit pieces in various news outlets. Today Fred Thompson spoke out in her defense.

“She has taken a lot of comments that should have been directed toward me,” Thompson told me. When he started looking into running for president, Thompson said, there was a lot to be done and very little time to do it, and his wife played a key role in getting things going. “We started literally from the kitchen table a few months ago,” he said. “While I did the things that I felt like I needed to do — I had a contract with NBC television, I had a contract with ABC radio, I was chairman of the advisory board on international security for the State Department, and a lot of other things — while I was disengaging from that and getting my thoughts together on issues and things of that nature, public comments I knew I would be called on to make, I asked her to do certain things for me. She did what I asked her to do.”

The former senator said his wife’s actions, however they have been interpreted in the press, have been at his behest. “She always looks out for my best interests, and when she sees something that she knows I would not approve of, or is not in my best interest, she voices that concern — in other words, just exactly the way I would want her to. Now, some people don’t like that, especially some people who have their own issue with regard to the campaign, shall we say, and they take advantage of putting out anonymous comments and so forth.”

A few moments later, Thompson addressed reports, like the one in the Post and another in Newsweek, that looked into his wife’s life before meeting Thompson. “I think the problem is that Jeri refuses to go out in public and behave like a candidate’s wife before I’m a candidate,” Thompson said. “The fact that she’s not out there promoting herself seems to greatly concern some people in the media, so they have gone back to old boyfriends, the families of old boyfriends, high-school classmates, basically anything that can be dredged up to fill this void that they perceive has been created.”

Some of the reports, Thompson said, have contained substantial factual errors. “Things that you would think could have been checked fairly readily,” he told me, “but things that are clearly erroneous — like she’s not a lawyer and she’s never been married before. I listened to a news show with an expert commentator about a week ago talking about Jeri, and in a short segment he had four totally erroneous factual errors about her.”

Thompson did not suggest that stories about his wife should be off limits. He understands the ways of politics. But he believes that now is not the right time for Jeri Thompson or the Thompson pre-campaign to address them in detail. “She’s not going to become a public commentator and personality as a candidate’s wife until there’s a candidate,” he said.

So there.

I guess the Democrats aren’t wasting any time.

Former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., appears to have flip flopped on his pledge to sign federal legislation replacing all federal taxes with a 23 percent sales tax, according to an unedited FairTax.org video reviewed by ABC News.

“He has not taken this pledge,” Thompson spokesperson Linda Rozett told ABC News.

The Thompson camp’s denial appears to be contradicted, however, by an unedited FairTax.org video in which Thompson is asked, “Senator, if the House and Senate pass the ‘Fair Tax’ bill do you feel right now that you would sign it?”

Thompson replies to the question by saying, “Yeah, absolutely.”

“Fred Thompson may have spoken without thinking. But the tape is accurate,” said FairTax.org spokesman Ken Hoagland.

The Democratic National Committee seized on the all-but-announced candidate’s apparent contradiction with his own staff, questioning whether the actor turned politician is qualified for the role of commander-in-chief.

“Fumbling Fred Thompson’s flip flop on the ‘Fair Ta