Posted on 01/17/2008 9:32:59 AM PST by Plutarch
Fred Thompson's campaign, left for dead after a lackluster effort in last fall's run-up to Iowa and New Hampshire, is showing some signs of life in South Carolina. On the days of the New Hampshire primary, Thompson headed south and began digging in for what could be his last stand.
Is it paying off? Yes and no. According to the latest Palmetto Poll, conducted by the University of Clemson, Thompson remains in a distant fourth, garnering just 10 percent. John McCain leads the GOP race with 29 percent, Mike Huckabee gets 22 percent and Mitt Romney is third with 13 percent. In the August Palmetto Poll, Thompson led the field with 19 percent.
But while Thompson's poll numbers might not be soaring, his rhetoric has gotten sharper over these past ten days. Just yesterday, the former Tennessee senator took aim at each one of those currently ahead of him. Thompson accused Romney of pandering and said his approach to the economy is less-than conservative. "Romney was very effective in Michigan doing what he does best and that is tailoring his message to a particular audience," said Thompson. "He basically - as I could pick up with it - promised that the federal government was going to come in and bail out Michigan when he got elected president. Very conservative notion, don't you think?"
While taking it easier on his longtime friend McCain, Thompson still managed to get in a dig about his support for last year's failed immigration reform bill. "I knew that he was on the wrong track," he said of McCain. "And the American people said so and they rejected that bill." Thompson then took aim at Huckabee. "At least McCain's record's been out there for about 20 years...[snip]
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
As I’ve said: The MSM and pundits use polls to ignore Fred. They still ignore him when he goes up.
The poll that matters is Saturday in SC.
Fred will bow out soon IMO based on what I am seeing in SC so far.
He drew the line in the sand here and three other candidates are wiping that sand line out and making their own line in cement.
Not good.
Maybe if Fred came out firing when he had all the press he could have pulled this off, but he made the mistake of letting all the main stream press publicity die off before starting his campaign.
Great guy, lousy campaigner.
I hope he somehow has me eating my words in this post though.
Agreed. As a Romney supporter (who likes Fred) I would certainly like to see Mitt win. But being realistic, I think Fred has the best chance in SC. The important thing is, beat McCain. If McCain loses SC, he’s done.
Fred is the only one who can unite the party.
Go Fred! Take up the conservative fight and win! I’ll send more money.
I think he will pull ahead of Mitt as Mitt is off to Nevada for more delegates. Zogby’s credibility has taken some serious hits this time around.
I agree. I’m saying...over and over...that this story is so misleading it’s worthy of a Clinton. He’s doing better than it says.
Ras, has Fred at 16%.
It’s probably time to start wondering what the race looks like Sunday morning after:
1) A Romney victory in Nevada, and a Romney victory overall Saturday, winning more of Saturday’s delegates than other candidates, lengthening his lead.
2) A near dead heat for 1st in SC between Huckabee and McCain, with Romney 4th picking up a few more delegates.
3) Thompson out of money facing Florida’s media markets and Super Tuesday’s enormous media markets in California.
I think it would be great if our choices were Fred and Mitt.
We could have some real discussions without the fear of a Huckster or McCain nomination.
I’d still go with Fred.
Fred Thompson is ‘happening’!
I hope Fred can win in SC. Between the MSM and the identity politics, it’s going to be tough. I can’t even begin to fathom how knee jerk and ignorant the GOP has become during this election.
People are voting on Huck because he’s a Christian and McCain because he was in the military without even looking at all the liberal ugliness in their records. The media is literally leading the party around by the nose.
I don’t know what else Fred can do. McCain and Huck haven’t even been in SC till yesterday, yet they are still leading with Fred hammering on them. We’ll see.
McCain's flakman
Fred has to win SC, or we’re stuck with Romney. It’s as simple as that.
I wonder how much of the poll data is from the days before the push in SC. This poll was taken over the course of a week.
The Myrtle Beach debate in which Fred chopped off Gomer Huckster's head was right in the middle of that polling period, and Fred's continued to hit Huck hard and has started in on Romney. Further, yesterday Fred came out against the Bush Justice Dept. brief in the DC gun case, so that'll endear him even more to those concerned with gun rights.
That poll data is, IOW, crap. Fred is in substantially better position. I don't think he'll take it all, but he's got a good shot at a fairly strong 2nd. That'd get him more coverage and more money.
If he doesent go after McCain by tomorrow, we'll be stuck with McCain, not Romney, IMO. If he drops out, he will endorse McCain, just wait and see.
Rasmussen 2 hours ago
Huckabee 23%
John McCain 20%
Mitt Romney 18%
Fred Thompson 12%
Rudy Giuliani 11%
Ron Paul 2%
Each poll is SO different....
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