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Thompson makes it official
After months of flirting and “testing the waters,” former Sen. Fred Thompson finally turned his unofficial presidential campaign into an official one Thursday, declaring that he would indeed be running for president.
Thompson will be announcing Sept. 6 through a webcast and will then — starting that day — have a grassroots tour of early primary states Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.
That will be followed by a trip to Florida before concluding it in his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., Sept. 15.
In a written statement, Thompson explained that he was running for president because he felt he could take on the challenges of the “global threat of terrorism,” taxes, spending and “a government that can’t seem to get the most basic responsibilities right for its citizens.”
“The response that we’ve received makes me confident that we have an opportunity to change politics in Washington and across the country, and take on these challenges the way every generation of Americans has faced the challenges of their time — with unity, hard work and a belief that we will come out on the winning side,” Thompson’s statement concluded.
Thompson is the first Tennessean to run for president since former Vice President Al Gore ran in 2000 and now-Sen. Lamar Alexander also casting a bid that year. Both of those tries were ultimately unsuccessful.
Alexander also ran in 1996, Gore again in 1988 and Sen. Howard Baker in 1980.
Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville), who was present on a mid-afternoon conference call Thursday with members of Thompson’s camp announcing their intentions, said the general tone of the call was “very enthusiastic.”
“It’s amazing that we have had a presidential primary running now for a while and yet there’s still no clear cut frontrunners,” Ramsey said in an interview. “I think Fred is positioned correctly to step right in.”
Asked if Thompson had waited too long to formally announce his candidacy, Ramsey said “absolutely, positively not.”
“In fact, this may be one of the smartest political moves I’ve seen in a long time,” Ramsey said, adding that Republican rivals like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had already spent $32 million on their campaigns.
Besides the conference call Ramsey participated in, there was another call for Thompson’s top fundraisers, otherwise known as the Founder’s Committee.
Scooter Clippard, a Nashville banker who’s also a member of the Founder’s Committee, said Thompson becoming an official candidate won’t necessarily help fundraising efforts in Tennessee but it will across the country.
“It’s really going to help for these folks that don’t know him to know that he’s going to be a candidate,” Clippard said. “I think that’s just going to be really, really good for other states.”
Thompson started “testing the waters” in June, but began heavily flirting with running for president earlier this year.
That flirtation was partly the result of an extensive “Draft Fred” movement, led by a group of Tennessee politicians that included former Senate Majority Leader Baker and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Chattanooga).
Thompson has raised about $3.4 million as of July 30.
For the Republican nomination, Thompson will compete against Romney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, among others.
In national polls, Thompson and Giuliani have been contending for first or second place. Romney has been fairing the best though in state specific polls of early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire.
Thompson campaign manager Bill Lacy said the former Tennessee senator and Law & Order actor enters “this campaign in a strong position.”
“By announcing via webcast, Fred is able to take his consistently mainstream conservative message directly to the voters, who are already responding to that message with a strong upwelling of grassroots support,” Lacy said in a statement. “The webcast and the following campaign tour will play to Fred’s strengths, a consistent record of conservatism.”
The webcast will be posted on Thompson’s official site, www.imwithfred.com.
While the video will be posted Sept. 6, Thompson will be campaigning in Des Moines that morning and Council Bluffs, Iowa that evening.
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What is this crap that he is annonceing that he will announce next week after all this masturbation he has been giving us? He first was supposed to announce here July the 4th.The 6th seems to avoid the FOX DEBATE on the 5th. If he misses that debate I for one will have a hard time takeing him seriously after haveing great hope for him.As for the debates its time to cut the field to something more manageable or split the field like the Bush/Nextel series or whatever they are calling themselves these days since we went PC.
yawn.
I'm so happy for the Conservatives that post here. It would seem that wet dreams do come true.Agree Hokey, yawn.
Thompson reminds me of a mild Reagan. My only concern is he was a politican in TN and we know what kind of a mess this state is in. Maybe that's why he bailed out of TN?
Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.
As far as I can see Fred is the only true conservative that has a real chance at the Whitehouse!! Mitt Romney, Rudy Gulianni, and others are clearly Populist RINOs. McCain has had his day in the sun and gotten burnt!! Duncan Hunter, Mike Huckabee, and Sam Brownback are clearly not in the real race; their numbers are insignificant, though many are suggesting that Huckabee or Brownback could be viable running mate for the nominee.You will see the mudslinging from the liberal media really ramp up now. Thompson, the best communicator to run for president since Ronald Reagan, is the Left's worst nightmare, and will chew Hillary Clinton up and spit her out.The Left is still trying to win elections by malice, mudslinging and slander. It didn't work in 2004, and it's not going to work this time. But the amount of mud being thrown at a man who has just announced his candidacy shows just how afraid of Fred Thompson the Left truly is.
You're always good for a laugh Green.
Keep Laughing GD. Its not over till its over.
OK, all you Fredheads, let's hear a great big "Yeehaw!".I think id is right. Fred's not ready for the first debate because he's too lazy to do his homework. If he was prepared, his speaking ability would make him formidable.We don't need any more lazy gofers for the money boys in the White House. Eight years of Dumbya is eight too many already. Not to worry though, Fred won't win any states outside of the southeast in either the primaries or the general election (if he gets that far).
If he wins, will he appoint Sam Waterston as AG?LOL
Calm down, libs. Can't you wait until the primary is over and the Repubs select a candidate?BTW, the wait until Sept 6 is so Law & Order can finish rerunning their reruns. There's plenty of time to conduct a primary campaign. As for the "debates
What's a matter Dragon, are we making fun of the next great white Conservative hope?LOL
Lets us remember how we got Bush, he was the lessor of two evils. Fred has no real record other then the social issues Guliani does.He cut taxes and crime in NY and took on the Mafia as a US prosecutor.Fred needs to earn my vote I don't want nor can we afford another RINO in there especially one that looks like he don't have to much time left on this planet.If he runs he has to have a capable president running with himHe has one to many scenes in his script and it is time for a rewrite.I wanted Fred to be the one but he really don't appear to be up to the job.
I thinks I'll wait a couple months, study the candidates, their positions and records, and vote for whom I decide is most qualified. All this excitement so far before the voting generates ratings for talking heads and sales for newspaper but does nothing to help responsible voters make an informed decision. Yak and quack all you want, I'll wait for a little substance before making up my mind.BTW, since Federal funding is used for primary voting, primary campaigns and political party conventions, when will the FEC get involved with the Florida fiasco? Both parties are threatening to deny FLA to opportunity to select the party candidates.
When it comes to running elections, Florida certainly has a sorry record.But I think the issue here is that Florida and other states (which will receive similar treatment for the same reason) are threatening to move their primary dates into early January after already moving them up once. They need to do something about this situation in general or we'll end up narrowing the field to two opponents in 2007 for a term that starts in 2009. We'll be tired of both of them by Election Day. And what happens if one of them gets caught, say for example, trolling the rest room in mid-2008?
Please let this guy get nominated.I would love to see the Grand Old Potty's new savior get beaten up by a girl.
Hillary wants nothing more than for Red Fred to be the Republican nominee. It's an easy win for her. Fred doesn't stand a chance because he'll make her look like a dove. Have the Republicans already forgotten 2006? Vote for Fred and get Madam President.Nominate Ron Paul, and he'll wipe the floor with Hillary. Dr. Paul will make her look like a war hawk, and that's why she'd much rather face a Neo-Con. But, Ron Paul has the trans-partisan support needed to win a general election.How many times have we complained about the dishonesty of politicians? How many times to do we vote for them anyway? Why? That's insane to do the same thing over and over hoping for a different result.Don't look a gift horse in the mouth. Vote for the one true candidate who is more qualified than any other because he is the only candidate who will honor the oath of office to defend the Constitution. At this point, nothing is more important than defending the Constitution, because when the Constitution is employed, the vast majority of our problems, whatever they may be, simply go away.Ron Paul has real support that cannot be bought. He not only is a viable candidate, but nominate Dr. Paul, and get a landslide Republican victory. He is a force to be reckoned with. Ignore him at your own, and your great-grandchildren's, peril.
LIVE FREE......or FredGr RON PAUL ! !
I can't believe that anyone who calls himself a conservative would support Fred Thompson. Fred not only lobbied for a pro abortion organization but then he LIED about it! You can't trust Fred Thompson to tell the truth.http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/07/us/politics/07thompson.html?ex=1341460800&en=338c23bf06ec689f&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rssIf that wasn't enough, Fred Thompson picked Spencer Abraham, a man who OPENLY pushes for open borders, to lead his campaign.http://michellemalkin.com/2007/07/26/fred-thompson-and-spencer-abraham-bad-combo/#commentsWe do not need "fraud" Thompson for president.
I am really wondering if anyone even listens to Ron Paul. I think that if people did there would be no question of who to vote for. Let me ask a question.. who likes paying taxes? One of the biggest issues is always who is lowering or raising taxes. Guess what. Ron Paul will do neither; he is getting rid of the income tax all together!I am asking of everyone to just truely listen to the words coming out of Ron Paul's mouth. I know you may not know who he is because he's not a big name since he doesn't get a lot of coverage. Just listen.. and tell me if you could ask for a better man to lead this country. And read txntn's peice..he's right on.
Fred is NO friend of anyone who wants to get rid of the illegal aliens. Pay CLOSE attention to what he doesn't say about the issue. He is a member of the organization that was the driving force behind NAFTA, the FTAA and the North American Union - all which seek to merge the U.S., Canada and Mexico into something VERY similar to the European Union. If you want the U.S. to remain the U.S. - Fred is NOT your man. Take a look instead at Hunter, Tancredo or Paul and, of those three, the only one who wants to bring our troops home is Paul.
Fred was a lobbyist for 10 years. Lobbying is legalized bribery. Do we really want someone to run the whole show who is for bribing government officials? Hmmm, how about NO! He is for the Patriot Act, this means loss of privacy and civil liberties. He is for the North American Union. Great, because now we can join Canada and Mexico and lose our sovereignty. Yippppeeee. True conservatism is not about these things. Ron Paul is the only candidate, democrat or republican, who is against these things. And as a bonus, our troops come home. Vote for who you like, but PLEASE study each candidate carefully. Look at their voting record VERY CAREFULLY. This is our future we are talking about.
After World war One the League of Nations was to become the new world government but it failed to be accepted. After World War Two the Rockefeller interests got together to form the Council of Feign Relations (CFR) to promote the United Nations as the New World Government. First they gained control of all the major news media, second they then used the news media to sell the United Nations to the American people. Membership is by invitation only and only those compatible with the vision of a world government are accepted as members. Fred Thompson is a member of this One World Government Cabal. He dose not want to be in a position to be ask embarrassing questions and therefore the little cat and mouse game with lots and lots of coverage from the CFR controlled press and vice versa the vilification and ignoring of Ron Paul an opponent of the United Nations and the One World Government Cabal.
Reagan's in the grave where the bastard belongs and we don't need another loser actor president who is nothing more than an old fogey out of touch with reality with his head in his ass.
Fred has just s--t in his nest . Since he doesn't have a Chinaman's chance of winning the election even if he is nominated all he has done is open himself up to being dragged through the mud forward snd backwards and there is plenty of ammunition to do it with . It looks like he would have wanted to end his active careers retaining some dignity rather than ending it on a sour note and in shame and defeat. No Republican can win.
Bush and all his criminal and homosexual deviate appointees have assured that along with this atrocious war.