LOL, I didn't say I plan to attend. But I do find it noteworthy that I have not received anything at all from Thompson -- that simply confirms that he has a ton of catching up to do.

I would like to see Thompson get into the race and make a go of it. But you guys are terribly naive when it comes to politics. Being a great candidate is not sufficient to win an election. Once he gets in, everyone will start attacking him, the media will start digging and picking at him, and he won't have the financial wherewithal to deliver his message. I won't say he has no chance at all, but I do think you guys are dreaming. He is a real long shot.

Thanks for the article, TR -- that's just the tip of the iceberg.

Remember that Romney started as a complete unknown. So I wouldn't scoff at what his money has done for him -- he's bought a lot of name recognition and he still has a ton of cash on hand. But to be clear, raising lots of money is NOT sufficient to win. But it absolutely is necessary and Thompson has no chance if he can't raise a lot of money. Kind of like going to war without much ammo, if you will.

Complete unknown is stretching it a little. In 1994 he ran a very credible race for Kennedy's Senate seat in MA. He did what no one in years has forced him to do - he made Kennedy campaign. Though Kennedy still won with a 17 point margin, I believe that was one of the closest races in Kennedy's reign of terror.

He also bailed out the 2002 SLC Olympics.

Not to mention being Governor of MA.

He does have a ton of cash on hand, but at last report - he'd burned through half of it with what he's done in Iowa and NH - and that's a lot of money.

I still contend you can't buy the instant name recognition Thompson has starting out. Money didn't do it for Perot.

I am willing to bet that Romney's name recognition was less than 10% nationwide when he started his campaign. I guess I exaggerated a little, but I am a lawyer so you should expect some of that. ;)

In case anyone missed it, here is Fred Thompson on Jay Leno, last night.

I particularly like his responses to 3 of the questions asked him by Leno....

1) "Would you like the job of President of the United States."

2) "Fred's own definition of term limits."

3) "Joe Liberman's idea about Iran and how Fred would handle it."

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIb_6PN-72c


R.L.,

I'm going to go out on a limb here and make a wager to you. I say that come next summer, in St. Paul Minnesota, Fred Thompson will get the GOP nod for POTUS.

No avatar switching, like we do with our Hockey teams. No sir. How's about something "substantial", Like maybe....a nice bottle of Chivas Regal to the winner. :D

You game ???? :munchin

I'm not sure I've seen many polls that indicate his name recognition is much more than 10% nationwide now - after spending millions and years on the campaign trail (he's been accused of prepping for this since 2002). I like the guy, much more than Guiliani and I'm putting myself out there for him in a lot of ways - but I think he's case in point that money and getting started YEARS in advance isn't all it is cracked up to be.

Sure, but I don't drink much scotch. How about this: If Thompson is the nominee, I send you a bottle of the standard 12-year old Chivas Regal. If he's not the nominee, you send me a bottle of Gentleman Jack. I believe the prices are about the same.

Are we on?

You have a deal, Sir.

{{{{E-shake}}}} :D


Edit to add....how's about spelling lesson's for me, so's I can spell the right type of drink I'm wagering for.

Chivas...Chivas....Chivas....D'oh, D'oh, D'oh....

Since I've already put money on Fred... Good luck, Sdiver! :lifter

Probably not a good idea to bring the current issue of Rolling Stone magazine into the room with you. One hell of a hatchet job profile of him in there! Much more interesting was the profile of James Webb.

Sdiver, good luck. I have to pull for the guy who likes the shee-VASSSS.:D

WOW. :munchin That's some serious love. I take comfort in the fact that there is at least one 527 group ready to go for Hillary. I'll rest easier now.

I just went to his web site to see whether to get on board with him or not. Maybe I'm just not very bright, or maybe I don't spend enough time on the Internet, but I had a very difficult time finding any meaningful information. In fact, as a former professional political consultant, let me go ahead and say that the site BLOWS.

I don't think this guy has a snowball's chance unless he's raised a lot more money than seems likely.

I am willing to change my mind if given sufficient reason to do so. :munchin

Try this RL Fred Thompson facts

http://www.washingtontimes.com/apps/...012/COMMENTARY

Thompson's political potential
David N. Bossie
July 8, 2007

As former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson gets ready to enter the race for president, observers marvel at how an unannounced candidate, five years out of politics, has managed to climb from nowhere to the top of several national polls.

But the reason for Mr. Thompson's meteoric rise is as plain as day: Man and moment are meeting, as has so regularly occurred in the history of this great nation. When challenges mount, these United States seem to produce the right person for the right job. Fred Thompson is that person, for the challenges that America and the free world face in the years to come.

As more and more mainstream conservative voters recognize that truth, Mr. Thompson's support grows and grows.

First, on substance, Mr. Thompson is the best and most uniquely suited among the Republican candidates for president in 2008 to re-assemble the winning Reagan coalition of social, economic, and foreign-policy conservatives. Why? Because Mr. Thompson marries the right principles, the right core beliefs, with an almost unparalleled ability to communicate those principles in direct and understandable terms. Moreover, Mr. Thompson's record shows the is a legitimate, good-government conservative, with a 35-year record to prove it.

After distinguished service as an assistant U.S. Attorney, Mr. Thompson first went to the U.S. Senate as a top staffer. Without ever selling out to the liberal media or the congressional Democratic lynch mob during the Watergate investigation, Mr. Thompson as lead counsel stood up in a dignified way for honest government. After that, he went on to help uncover massive corruption by the Tennessee's Democratic governor, which landed that governor in jail.

In 1994, against huge odds, Mr. Thompson ran for and won one of Tennessee's Senate seats by a huge margin, against a popular Democratic congressman. His vote-getting ability — he earned 60 percent of the vote in that race, and an even higher percentage two years later — is exactly what may be necessary in a year that the Republican Party is rightly worried about being able to keep leftists like Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama out of the White House.

At least equally important is that Mr. Thompson's Senate record proves his mainstream conservative bona fides. On abortion, Planned Parenthood and NARAL Pro-Choice America repeatedly gave him scores of zero while the National Right To Life gave him a 100 percent. On tax issues, conservative groups such as Americans for Tax Reform, the National Taxpayers Union and the National Tax Limitation Committee consistently rated Mr. Thompson in the high 80s and 90s. He consistently earned high marks from the Chamber of Commerce, small-business groups, the American Conservative Union, the American Land Rights Association, and Citizens Against Government Waste.

On military issues, he earned perfect 100 ratings from the Non-Commissioned Officers Association and the Military Officers Association of America.

Unlike the other front-runners, Fred Thompson need not pander, flip-flop or re-invent himself. Conservative voters know Fred Thompson is undeniably one of them, just by listening to him. When they hear candidates waffle, they hear Mr. Thompson talk straight. When others are vague, Mr. Thompson is direct. What voters hear from him, straight and direct, is solid conservatism — unvarnished, unapologetic and, most importantly, full of common sense.

For eight years, Sen. Thompson was a crusader for our Founding Fathers' vision of a limited government. Call him old-fashioned, but he consistently took positions in the Senate on the grounds of federalism, that some issues can be better decided by the states without federal interference.

Mr. Thompson is a friend of the National Rifle Association and he has always stood firm on protecting the Second Amendment right to bear arms. He opposes amnesty for illegal immigrants and supports protecting our borders and enforcing current laws first.

In both word and in action he has been a stalwart fighter for solidly conservative judges. He personally shepherded Chief Justice John Roberts through the minefield that is the Senate confirmation process.

Yet while Mr. Thompson is strongly conservative in word and deed, he is moderate and reassuring in bearing. When New York's Sen. Hillary Clinton unleashes the Clinton attack machine against him — and she will — those tactics will fail. Mr. Thompson will rise above the stale negative politics of the 1990s. Americans immediately know Mr. Thompson is a man they can trust, and people of good will sense in him a firm and abiding character.

I have worked in the conservative vineyards for more than two decades. I have seen sham conservatives and ambitious hucksters come and go. I know how to tell the real thing. Fred Thompson is the real thing: a leader, a conservative, a man of honor and — of utmost importance in facing the combination of Mrs. Clinton and a leftist media — a communicator and, absolutely, a winner.

Fred Thompson is the man who can unite the Republican Party and the conservative movement, and lead both, together, to victory in 2008.

David N. Bossie is the president of Citizens United and the former chief investigator for the U.S. House of Representatives' Committee on Government Reform and Oversight.

TR--Sir, thanks for posting this article.

I am guessing He knows how to play the game. I hope He can "bring it on home."

:lifter

Holly