[PhilCollins]

I’m not smoking anything. Tommy Thompson has a better chance of winning the nomination than Fred Thompson. Two of the last three republican presidents were governors, and Tommy was a governor for 14 years. In the past 100 years, our country elected a republican former U.S. senator to be president once. That was Nixon, and he probably won the nomination partly because he was a VP.

[perfect_rovian_storm]

Okay. Give us a call when the shuttle lands.

[The Pack Knight]

In the past 100 years, our country elected a republican former U.S. senator to be president once.

And George H.W. Bush was the first sitting Vice President to be elected President since Martin van Buren. Those trends last until they end.

The truth is more Presidents were not former governors than were. There are other factors which are far more important than a candidate's last political office.

If Tommy Thompson does poorly in the unofficial Iowa straw poll in August of this year, he will probably withdraw. If he does not win in the official caucus in January, he will withdraw, as Iowa has been the exclusive focus of his campaign.

I predict he will withdraw in August.