Look on Fred Thompson, Rudy, and Despair!
It's true that Rudy Giuliani hasn't seriously contested any of the first five primary and caucus states (at least not since he dropped $2 million on television ads in New Hampshire) and that he has long touted Florida, which will vote on January 29, as his campaign's first true test.
Still, it's noteworthy just how awfully Rudy has fared in the lead-off contests. Last night, he finished with 2 percent of the vote in South Carolina, a state where he'd been running near the top of polls just a few months ago. And yesterday afternoon, he won just 1,910 votes in Nevada—good for four percent.
His best showing to date was in New Hampshire, where he nearly broke double-digits (9 percent). Between Iowa, New Hampshire, Michigan, Nevada and South Carolina he has managed to win just 60,212 votes—or 15,000 fewer than he received when he defeated Ron Lauder in the 1989 Republican mayoral primary. By contrast, Ron Paul—whom Giuliani has verbally battered in an effort to impress the G.O.P. base—has received 106,387 votes so far.
For now, Giuliani is in contention in Florida. But the likely damage from barely registering in the early states cannot be overstated. Months ago, Giuliani was the runaway leader in Florida, in the big February 5 states and in national polls. Those advantages have all melted away, with John McCain quickly occupying turf originally claimed by Giuliani.
And the notion that Giuliani can now just jump-start his campaign in Florida looks even more dubious after last night, when Fred Thompson—who had been treating South Carolina the way Giuliani has been treating Florida—finished a very distant third in the Palmetto State. By all measures, Thompson waged a more vigorous and aggressive campaign in South Carolina. It was the kind of effort that could have produced a victory, if only he'd shown any life in the earlier contests. But too many voters had tuned him out and written him off, and the best he could do was to secure 16 percent and to edge out Mitt Romney for third place. Giuliani could be destined for a similarly grim fate in Florida.
It's worth pointing out once more, contrary to how a revisionist strain picked up in some media reports, that this is not the strategy Giuliani and his team originally drew up. Back when John McCain seemed headed for oblivion, the Rudy people targeted New Hampshire, believing that a win or strong showing there would provide Giuliani with credibility that would preserve his standing in later states and national polls. It was a good calculation, and it's why they spent $2 million there just a few months ago. But it coincided with McCain's reemergence, so Giuliani never found traction in New Hampshire and then quickly retreated to Florida. That may go down as the moment his campaign ended.
- Poll
- Obama (D)
- McCain(R)
- Spread
- RCP Average
- 45.8
- 41.6
- Obama +4.2
- Candidate
- Favorable
- Unfavorable
- Spread
- Obama
- 55.6
- 33.0
- +22.6
- McCain
- 52.6
- 34.3
- +18.3
FRED THOMPSON is the best person to lead this country. He is a true conservative and has been his entire life. All one has to do is check his record to see this.
During my time in the Army as an Intelligence Analyst, I served under both Presidents Carter and Reagan (as my commanders in chief). Without argument, President Reagan was the best commander-in-chief a military person could ever have served under. Fred Thompson possesses the same qualities and vision as President Reagan in that he is strong on national defense and sees a dire need to secure our borders and control immigration.
I can think of no better person to lead this country and fix the problems we have. He is the only candidate from either party who has specific and detailed plans on border security and immigration reform; revitalization of America’s armed forces; saving and protecting Social Security; and tax relief and economic growth. These are detailed on his Web site at www.fred08.com . I challenge you to find any other candidate who has laid out specific plans to fix anything.
Fred Thompson has published his first principles, some of which are mentioned above. In addition to those, he strongly believes in individual liberty, personal responsibility, limited government, federalism, traditional American values, the rule of law and is a strong proponent of the Second Amendment — all concepts established during the birth of our country and documented in our Constitution.
Again, try to find any candidate who has laid out their plans to “fix” this country. You will find they all speak in vague and abstract terms on their plans.
For those who have heard Fred Thompson speak, you will usually hear him say that the Fred Thompson you see today is the same Fred Thompson you saw yesterday and is the same Fred Thompson you will see tomorrow. He stands by his principles and values and doesn’t shift his positions based on polls or public opinion; in other words, he doesn’t say what the voters want to hear just to get elected, but remains steadfast on his views and convictions.
During his time in the Senate he focused on three areas: to lower taxes, strengthen national security and expose waste in the federal government. Fred Thompson has foreign policy experience, having served as member of the Senate Foreign Relations and Senate Intelligence committees.
As chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee, he opened the investigation in 1997 on the Chinese government’s attempt to influence American policies and elections, and this investigation identified connections with the Clinton administration (documented in the committee’s report).
As a member of the Finance Committee, he worked tirelessly to enact three major tax-cut bills. Fred Thompson remains steadfast and even though a person may not agree with all his views and he understands some may disagree with him, you can count on him to be consistent and unwavering.
Don’t be fooled by his laid back approach and what critics call his “laziness.” As a former assistant U.S. attorney, he earned a reputation as a tough prosecutor and he possesses the toughness this country needs in order to tackle today’s and tomorrow’s issues.
I ask that you take a hard look at what this country needs, then take a hard look at all the other candidates’ views, policies, their records and their track record on consistency. Fred Thompson possesses integrity, loyalty, commitment, energy and decisiveness, all traits of an effective leader, and will emerge as the best person to take this country boldly forward.
Please help Fred win in Florida:
https://www.fred08.com/contribute.aspx?RefererID=c637caaa-315c-4b4c-9967...
Republicans, please rest in peace. You could put up the Lord (whoever that is) for your candidate and you will lose. Why? Because for the last 8 years you have made a complete mess of my country. We are broke, ridiculed by the rest of the world and have no plan. RIP
Fred Thompson - best candidate ever? PULEEZE! His only purpose in this race now is to block for McCain.
The only reason McCain won SC is b/c Fred fooled enuff folks to vote for him instead of Huckabee. Watch Fred do the same in Florida for his old buddy - then drop out.
Jerri? Is that you?
All of the Candidates have a plan for this and plan for that but they never tell you how they intend to implement their plans.
Phooey on them all,Democrats or Republicans!
Only Fred Thompson tells you we have a problem and the explains his solution in detail. He does not blow sunshine up you butt just to get elected. All the others do! Fred only wants to serve his nation and stop our slide on a slippery slope to decadents and poverty to become a nation with no identity to become overrun by those who would destroy all.
All of the Candidates have a plan for this and plan for that but they never tell you how they intend to implement their plans.
Phooey on them all,Democrats or Republicans!
Only Fred Thompson tells you we have a problem and the explains his solution in detail. He does not blow sunshine up you butt just to get elected. All the others do! Fred only wants to serve his nation and stop our slide on a slippery slope to decadents and poverty to become a nation with no identity to become overrun by those who would destroy all.
Rudy Giuliani shouldn’t have dropped out of the 5th grade. There is no educational value from the 2nd kick of a donkey. Howard Dean already showed that if you don’t win any of the first 2 primaries, you can pretty much kiss the presidency good-bye. It's the fallacy of the primary system, but you don’t have to watch a grenade blowing up in your hand to know how it works.