Posted on 06/23/2007 5:07:58 AM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
SPRINGFIELD — He hasn’t announced if he’s running for the presidency yet but that isn’t stopping a group of Illinois Republicans from backing former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson for the job.
Members of Illinois Citizens to Draft Fred Thompson gathered in the Capitol on Friday said they expect the deep-voiced Tennessean to announce for the presidency soon and when he does they want the campaign off to a quick start.
To help their cause they have begun urging Illinoisans to go online and register as a Thompson supporter at the group’s website.
Former head of the Illinois Republican Party, Donald “Doc” Adams compared Thompson to Ronald Reagan and said, Thompson’s early poll numbers are encouraging.
“It may not be a groundswell yet for Fred but I sure sense a nice tide rolling in,” he said.
Most polls show Thompson running third amongst Republicans, behind former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Arizona Senator John McCain. Some analysts are saying Thompson is entering the race late given the tens of millions of dollars he’ll need to raise for his bid.
A former prosecutor, Thompson is also an accomplished film and television actor. His first role was as himself in the 1985 film “Marie.” He is most famous for his role as District Attorney Arthur Branch on the television program “Law & Order.”
Group co-chair Mark Sheldon, who is also a Champaign County clerk, said there are plenty of campaign funding dollars not spoken for by the current field of Republican contenders.
“We think this is the right time for him to get in,” he said before noting the importance of getting support early on. “When this announcement comes and, we anticipate that Sen. Thompson is going to run … the grass roots supporters will have already put their names in a database and we can really hit the ground running.”
When asked about how a Republican might fare in typically Democrat-friendly Illinois, draft group spokesman and former state Sen. Roger Keats, of Wilmette, said voters here might be ready for a Republican.
“Someone like Fred … would have a chance. It depends on how much infighting happens within the Democrats,” he said. “I will let you judge on your own how well the Democratic party works together sometimes.”
Illinois Citizens to Draft Fred Thompson can be reached at www.imwithfred.com.
I think he will be the potential nominee by the end of February ‘08.
At least you admit to your spamming.
It's amazing how touchy people can be with someone who has a different point of view.
As I made clear with my first post to you (but you won't acknowlege of course), you are certainly welcome to your own opinion.
It's you trying to tell others what to do that I find presumptuously annoying. But on further reflection, I seriously doubt that anybody is actually giving what you post a second thought.
That was my point, he only became an actor because he was hired to play himself.
I just thought it rare for that to happen.
I’m not sure if Audie Murphy was an actor before he was in the Military? There is no doubt he was a true war hero.
In that generation there were many actors that served in the military. Big difference from what infests Hollywood today.
It made me think, "What other conservative actor starred in something called 'Law and Order'?"
I’m wondering why his first movie “Marie” is nowhere to be found. I checked Netflix and Amazon, can’t find it. It was an excellent movie.
Why post the same thing over and over?
We all know you haven’t made up your mind yet. Sheesh.
The Thompson people need to see this....
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