Posted on 01/09/2008 12:05:50 AM PST by Fred
They were voting in New Hampshire, but Fred Thompson was stumping in South Carolina.
The television actor and former Tennessee U.S. senator became the first of the 2008 presidential candidates to arrive here Tuesday, abandoning the nation’s first primary and casting his lot in the Palmetto State.
Tuesday, he opened an 11-day bus tour, campaigning in Greenville, Lexington, Camden and Columbia. Political analysts think Thompson might need to win the Jan. 19 GOP presidential primary to keep his campaign viable.
“This is his kinda state,” said Yusef Hameen, 54, of Camden, who wandered out of his Broad Street clothing store to see the commotion caused by Thompson’s afternoon arrival. “That’s why he’s here early. He’s a Southerner, so he got here ahead of the rest, which tells me he thinks it’s worth it.”
But Hameen confessed he doesn’t plan to vote for Thompson, which probably is another reason the former “Law & Order” star is here so early. “I know him more as an actor,” Hameen said.
About 40 or so people gathered around variously to see Thompson, who shook hands, posed for pictures and smiled a lot. He strolled into a couple of shops and greeted folks, then boarded his bus again.
“Hey, buddy! It’s good to see you,” Thompson said to one bystander. “I didn’t expect a crowd.”
Brenda Moseley of Dalzell and Judith Henderson of Sumter also were among the curious who walked up to see Thompson. But are they going to vote for him?
“I’m undecided,” Henderson said.
“Don’t know yet,” Moseley said.
Henderson said she likes U.S. Sen. John McCain of Arizona.
“I’m on the religious right, and I’m still looking. We’re looking for a God-fearing candidate.”
The bad news for Thompson, who did not take media questions in Camden, is the latest Rasmussen poll out Tuesday showed him in fourth place in South Carolina, with 11 percent of the vote, down from being tied for the lead here among Republicans as recently as November.
That didn’t faze Brian Wieneke of Camden, who said he “lucked up” on Thompson’s visit while picking up his children from school.
“We saw your bus and freaked out,” he told Thompson.
Wieneke, who had his daughters Ashleigh, 10, and Briana, 13, along, said he is a native of Brentwood, Tenn., where Thompson was his U.S. senator.
“It’s an uphill thing for him in South Carolina,” Wieneke said. “But he absolutely is my man. He has got to get out and meet people and get his message out there.”
Then why isn’t he? *WE* (conservatives) don’t listen to the MSM. What is it about Fred that leaves people flat? He lost to Romney in Wyoming. He lost to Huckabee, Romney and McCain in Iowa. He lost to everyone but Duncan Hunter in NH. These are not lib states. These are states that that are ours. But you’re saying that the majority of the good guys are either closet socialists, stupid, or gullible.
And it has nothing to do at all with the deficiencies of the candidate. Like I said later - Fred Thompson is the Katherine Harris of 2008.
Rush’s website last night had an article about Huckabee supporters calling in for their guy and trying to make a case that he was conservative. Rush said he had a bad weekend, thinking that people [like these] don’t understand what conservatism is because Huckabee is not a conservative. He said Huckabee had discredited himself as a conservative. He said why don’t they look at Fred Thompson who is a conservative.
Rush seemed discouraged by all the Huckabee supporters.
It is as if he is saying what needs to be said but people don’t get it.
Well, maybe Rush will come off the bench. He says he’s got the power! It’s time for him to use it!
“GOOD GUYS” if i remember well Fred T. was THIRD in IOWA and many “good guys” are obsessed by ONE ISSUE and have a narrow vision of policy...
What do you call “good guys”?
Some of them could have been fooled by their church leaders or the MSM agenda.
You just keep ignoring the MSM agenda WHICH IS OBVIOUS in France and Europe.Is it too late for you to understand?
But Fred should be a very tougher candidate than anyone else in the general elections on the Republican side...
But anyway everything can still happen if you believe and fight!Just waiting for you!
Yep, heard Rush say that.
He left out Duncan Hunter, did he not?
But his point, in the context it was said, was that Romney has moved more rightward on conservative causes .... and Rush believes Romney would continue to govern in tandem with those expressed conservative beliefs.
So do I. So do many many smart conservative voices in today's media, many of those very familiar with Romney and his personality.
Malkin, Ingraham, Hewitt, Bork, Sekulow, Weyrich, Buchanan, etc. The list goes on and on and grows every day.
Lastly, the hard right conservative segment of the GOP does not have the votes to single-handledly dictate who the party must nominate for President.
I consider myself a member of that hard-right segment, by the way.
I am willing to trust others within the GOP, specifically the Romney wing, that they are truly as enamored of conservative principals as I and others in the party.
As much as you might not like Mitt, he is truly the only candidate we have who even has a chance of uniting the party in '08.
If the die-hard right-wing would just be a little more trusting toward fellow conservatives, and a little more willing to work together, I believe we can defeat the sHrillary machine, which by my estimation, will be totally disjointed... disliked, and ultimately beatable.
If anyone on the FR hard hard right has any other possible scenario by which we will win in '08, I'm all ears.
But demanding Duncan when he can't even get 5%... or demanding Fred when he can't even get 1% in New Hampshire, is political suicide.
Why don’t you take your sales pitch somewhere else?
I am not switching from a trustworthy, honorable conservative to a gun-grabbing liar like Romney.
Fredipedia: The Definitive Fred Thompson Reference
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Money is precious in a race for President. Unless money is no object, candidates must pick and choose where their resources are best spent in the race for DELEGATES. But you already know that, I’m sure.
Fred was wise not to waste a lot of money for a couple of useless percentage points in NH. He and Duncan are too conservative to win valuable delegates there.
Rudy (who is not by any means doing good right now) did not campaign in Iowa at all and also "wrote off NH" (although he did have a few perfomances), yet he got 4% and 9% in those states.
Fred also has asked his campaign staff to work at reduced pay through at least South Carolina. Let's face it, your guy is in trouble.
Nobody can predict what will happen in South Carolina next week, but if he doesn't get a first place, or a very strong second place he is finished. Same goes for Rudy in Florida, although I am pretty sure he will at least stay in until Super Tuesday due to his organization and money already sunk into the big states, I certainly can not say that about Fred.
Fred’s candidacy is floundering because of lack of coverage. Romney’s is floundering because the more people know about him, the less inclined they are to vote for him. Regardless of polls, the former candidate has higher upside and a better chance of winning the general election. People just don’t like or trust Romney.
Your "source" for this quoted an email that, suspiciously, none on Fred's email list received. This is nothing but more dirty tricks. Fred has raised $370,000 in the last 3 days. At $100K a day, that is more than necessary to keep him going.
Yes, but so is breaking out from the pack. At the end of last filing Thompson had $7 million on hand. What is he waiting for? He came out of New Hampshire with 1% of the vote. Those are Kucinich numbers, and half of what polls had predicted he'd get. He's up against the Huckster and a John McCain who suddenly looks like his campaign has some life in it. Both of them have to win South Carolina as much as Thompson does, and if Fred places third then he's dead. He has nothing to show and his money will dry up in an instant. Thompson announced too late, targeted his primaries too late, and is not looking like a man who wants to be president.
Video: On the Road in Camden, SC Posted on January 9th, 2008
By Austin Walne in On The Road, Video
In is on his own campaign site!
http://www.fred08.com/NewsRoom/PressRelease.aspx?ID=d6410a6e-ba62-4593-9d12-a04c3cbd133a
He is going to have to live with his own decision not to endorse Fred.
If for historical purposes, we get a RINO or even worse, we Hilda or Ohbama wins. We are then even more screwed than we were with Carter.
He could put wind in Fred's sails, but he won't. He may regret the day he didn't....
He has the ability to change the course of history and put the wind in the sails of a real conservative, instead he does in essence, nothing, I don't get it, no I do but I am not going to type it....
If Fred tanks... I’ll write in for President. I will not vote for a liberal with an “r” by his name.
LLS
LLS
I stand corrected. The article on the Hill cited an email that nobody got.
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