Free Republic

John Edwards' message throughout the campaign has been that he is the only candidate serious about fighting for average working Americans. And in the last day and a half before the Iowa caucus, Edwards was determined to show just how serious he was about winning that fight — by criss-crossing Iowa in a 36 hour endurance test he christened his "Marathon for the Middle Class." Edwards knows that the impact of such an all-nighter will be mostly symbolic. When I asked him how many people he hoped to convince at his 2:15 a.m. event in Creston, Edwards practically giggled. "Probably...

DES MOINES, Iowa With two days to go, a new CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll out Tuesday shows Democratic and Republican races tied at the top. Sen. Hillary Clinton wins the most support, with 33% of likely Democratic caucus-goers backing Clinton and 31% for Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois. Taking into account sampling error of 4.5% points the race is virtually tied. Former Sen. John Edwards in third place at 22%. Clinton and Obama both gained 3 points since the mid-Dec CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll with Edwards dropping 4 points. Former Mass Gov. Mitt Romney has the backing of 31% of...

Guest Editorial Alexander J. Madison - December 31, 2007 Dear Iowegians, Every presidential election season, your state has the opportunity to help shape the election going forward. Unfortunately, too many times, you have selected a dud during the Iowa Caucuses. In 1976, you picked Gerald Ford, proponent of the ERA and abortion rights, over a very conservative Ronald Reagan. In 1980, you chose a very moderate Bush over Reagan. And twice you picked a milquetoast named Bob Dole. Granted, the choices are sometimes between dud and duddier, but this year is different. This year you have a chance to select...

David Yepsen has a horrifically bad column in the Sunday Des Moines Register. In it, he distills each candidate down to the usual cliches of the leftist/"centrist" newspaper agenda: Mike Huckabee The former Arkansas governor and Baptist minister has soared in the GOP race following his second-place finish in the Iowa Republican straw poll in August. He has rallied party social and religious conservatives as well as supporters of a big national sales tax to replace the income tax. He's a witty speaker and an affable politician whose criticisms of the nation's economic policies sound a lot like the populist...

<p>DES MOINES, Iowa — John Edwards has clawed his way into contention to win Iowa's caucuses on Thursday in the first vote for the Democratic presidential nomination, gaining strength even as rivals Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have lost ground, according to a new McClatchy-MSNBC poll.</p>

OSKALOOSA, Iowa - Fred Thompson has shied from directly criticizing his Republican rivals seeking the presidential nomination. He's also not been part of the daily lineup of television ads jamming Iowa's airwaves. Both changed Friday. Thompson called on Mike Huckabee to explain why he wants the United States to apologize for Thursday's killing of Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto. The former Tennessee senator said he was concerned what people around the world "will think when they see a presidential candidate was apologizing" for the assassination. "That's hard to understand," he said. Huckabee on Thursday offered "our sincere concern and apologies...

OTTUMWA — Fred Thompson’s campaign slogged through yet another winter storm to get to Ottumwa supporters on Friday. His reward was a packed room at Hotel Ottumwa. The audience was younger than that for most campaign events. It helped that school is out for the winter break. And it helped that Thompson’s visit was in the middle of the day. That was part of what convinced Phil and Constance Cavanaugh to bring their three children. Not that the Cavanaughs follow the school schedule. They home school the kids. “It’s the timing of the event, and he’s my second choice,” Phil...

The Christmas ads that showed up in Iowa and New Hampshire — and here, on the Internet — are mostly just more ads, but with a new and disturbing twist. There is Barack Obama, being sensitive by letting his wife, Michelle, speak first; Rudy Giuliani, softening his image by joking with Santa, and Ron Paul grinning in the midst of family pandemonium. John McCain reminds us he was a prisoner of war, Fred Thompson offers heart-warming snapshots of the troops and John Edwards promises not to forget the poor. The hullabaloo has come over the ad for Mike Huckabee. He...

He rode in on a gigantic campaign bus, but he talked like a Tennessee trainer and had this to say about his campaign thus far. "We're in a horse race, a very fluid kind of situation." The "he" is former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, the two-termer from Tennessee, who brought his presidential tour to Missouri Valley last Thursday. Thompson, during a brief interview in The Times-News office, said, "An awful lot (of people) haven't made up their minds yet-and that's a good thing. Now, people are focusing." Thompson was traveling with his wife, Jeri, and the usual entourage of aides...

Fred Thompson has picked up endorsements from three state representatives - Kraig Paulsen of Cedar Rapids, Jeff Kaufmann of Wilton and Jamie Van Fossen of Davenport -- bringing his total to six. Mitt Romney still has a prohibitive lead with 16, followed by John McCain with eight. (Table at link)

WEST DES MOINES, Iowa—On a recent ice-swept morning, a group of self-described moderate Republicans met in a hotel convention room, looking to find a way to break the chill of a presidential season that has found many of them left out in the cold. "Our goal is to get traditional centrist moderate Republicans to get to the caucus and make their voices heard," said former Iowa Lt. Gov. Joy Corning. "The moderates who are out there, they've been rather quiet for a few years. Many of them have dropped out of the party or become independents, and so this is...

In this long election cycle, we may be learning as much about media bias as about the candidates. PJM’s Bob Owens has more on the questionable characterization of Fred Thompson by The Politico’s Roger Simon. Fire Chief Dan McKenzie cast more doubts on The Politico’s chief political correspondent Roger Simon’s version of events at McKenzie’s Waverly, Iowa fire station in Simon’s article “Fred Thompson: Lazy as charged.” Questions had been raised about Simon’s article based on a video of Thompson’s appearance, which seemed to show the candidate behaving in a radically different manner from the one described by The Politico...

Tom Tancredo may have gotten behind Mitt Romney yesterday, but the Tanc's top guy on the ground in Iowa will help out Fred. A retired Marine and active farmer, Bill Salier had served as Tancredo's Iowa state chair. He's a true believing social conservative who ran an uphill race in the '02 GOP Senate primrary that raised some eyebrows. In short: he's the sort of worker bee a campaign likes to have on its side. If Salier puts his shoulder to the wheel for Fred, he could be a major asset. M.E. Sprengelmeyer of the Rocky did a great profile...

Conservative pundit Ann Coulter says GOP presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is the “Republican Jimmy Carter” and nominating him would be a big mistake for the party. Appearing with John Gibson and Heather Nauert on Fox News’ “The Big Story,” Coulter was asked about Huckabee’s recent surge in the polls. “I’m getting tired of this being blamed on the evangelicals,” said Coulter. Huckabee’s rise is actually “bad for the evangelicals,” she asserted. “Mike Huckabee is the Republican Jimmy Carter.” Nominating the ordained Baptist minister “would be a big mistake,” Coulter opined. “He has many good qualities. Unfortunately, the things that are...

SoCalPundit.com endorsed Fred Thompson for the Republican nomination not because he was the candidate raising the most money or the candidate with the most name recognition (though in a national election I think he would) but because he is the true conservative candidate in the GOP field. All due respect to Alan Keyes of course. After a shaky start to a late campaign, it looked like Fred was dead in the water. But a Google search for the candidate today reveals some indication that Fred is catching up in Iowa and other early primary states where Fred must make a...

From the Thompson campaign, good ol' voter outreach via cell phone: Dear Friends, Right now, Fred is traveling all over Iowa delivering his consistent conservative message. He needs your help in getting the word out to even more people. On Thursday night and Saturday we're holding national phone banks calling Iowa voters. All you need is your mobile or land line phone and a computer connected to the internet. With Phone for Fred we provide the phone numbers and a script. Simply go to Phone for Fred and select Iowa to get started. Person to person contact will make a...

DUBUQUE, Iowa – Fred D. Thompson kicked off his bus tour of Iowa on Monday night in this town on the bank of the Mississippi River, and he seemed to have taken to heart the wide criticism of his low-key efforts at campaigning. His voice booming and words wry and fiery, Mr. Thompson’s appearance on this night – the first of this 15-day tour that will take a brief break for Christmas – was suggestive of, dare we say, someone who actually wants to win the nomination and the presidency. “I don’t take myself too seriously, but I take what...

WATERLOO, IOWA -- For the first time since he started his presidential campaign, Fred Thompson took a position directly opposite that of his friend John McCain. “When I hear one of the fellows running say that we should shut down Guantanamo and bring those prisoners over here ... I wonder if he understands how the world really operates,” Thompson said. “Well, I don’t wonder, either, I think I have a pretty good idea.” The Thompson campaign later clarified that the senator was referring to Mike Huckabee, the only other Republican running that has talked about shutting down the Guantanamo Bay...

Last night in Dubuque to an excited crowd Fred kicked off his “Clear Conservative Choice: Hands Down!” Bus Tour. As Fred takes his consistent conservative message straight to Iowans Fred08.com will take you along for the ride. You’ll get behind-the-scenes looks, proud FredHeads telling you why they support Fred, and strong dose of Fred speaking the truth. You’ve already seen a video from a Dubuque FredHead. Expect more of that throughout Fred’s bus tour along with pictures and observations from people on the road.

Iowa Republican Rep. Steve King, one of the most conservative members of Congress, endorsed Fred Thompson this morning -- providing the former Tennessee senator with a much-needed boost in the rapidly approaching Iowa caucuses. Thompson issued the following statement about the endorsement: "Congressman King's leadership in support of the sanctity of life and his efforts in the fight against illegal immigration have made him one of Iowa's great Republican leaders. He's a tireless fighter for the 5th district of Iowa and I'm honored by his support. I look forward to working with Congressman King over the next three weeks and...

Veterans of the 90’s VRWC thank Hillary Rodham Clinton for speaking to voters in Iowa from a cattle barn. After all, elections are all about the futures. Hillary was in rare form, offering us the following words of wisdom. "I've been to cattle barns before and sales before, in Arkansas, but I've never felt like I was the one that was being bid on," Clinton told a crowd in western Iowa. "I know you're going to inspect me. You can look inside my mouth if you want. I hope by the end of my time with you I can make...

That's right Huckbots, while Brian Pickrell does not rule out a Huckabee win, he claims that the race is really between Fred and Mitt. As a supporter of Mr. Thompson, I'll live with Mitt as well. According to Pickrell... I find it hard to believe that Huckabee is actually leading in the polls here in Iowa. Every person I spoke with told me that they’re supporting Romney or Thompson and that everyone they knew or worked with (who are also Republicans) feels the same way. None of them have even considered Huckabee as a serious choice. It could be a...

Republican Fred Thompson, Hollywood celebrity and former Tennessee senator, went from hot to not in short order. Now, he's trying to create another popularity burst in the presidential race, this one perfectly timed. His voice and expression serious, Thompson told Iowa voters this past week: "I would ask people to think of one thing _ when our worst enemy's thinking about what he can do to the United States of America, who do you want sitting on our side of the table representing you? That's probably the guy you ought to elect president." It was Thompson the lawyer presenting his...

A third of the way through Thursday's final presidential debate before the Iowa caucuses, New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson made a plaintive plea to moderator Carolyn Washburn: Can't we please talk about the Iraq war? "Thank you," Washburn replied primly. "I want to take on a new issue." She then led the candidates into a discussion about flex fuels and the corporate carbon tax. Washburn, the earnest and schoolmarmish editor of the Des Moines Register, stunned the political world when she announced, at the beginning of the Republican debate on Wednesday, that she did not want to talk about Iraq...

DAVENPORT, Iowa -- With 27 days left until the caucuses, presidential candidates are hitting the campaign trail in Iowa and promise to be here from now through the holidays. This afternoon Republican Fred Thompson was at Thunderbay Grill in Davenport reaching out to conservative voters and dismissing the importance of polls that show him trailing behind both Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. An Associated Press poll released today shows Thompson with just 10-percent of the vote in Iowa and Huckabee taking the majority with 39-percent. But Thompson's not slowing down. While Thompson trails in the polls, many of the people...

It is very rare, if not unheard of, to catch a presidential candidate, especially a Republican, in the act of saying he or she would be willing to sign any tax increase that lawmakers wished for. But that's what happened to former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who has rocketed to a statistical tie in Iowa with Mitt Romney, largely as a result of the former Baptist minister's support from evangelical voters in the nation's first caucus state. The Club for Growth, an effective tax-cut advocacy group, has been on Huckabee's back almost from the beginning of his candidacy, sending out...

According to The Politico, New York Post columnist and FOX News contributor Dick Morris has been secretly advising former client Mike Huckabee on his Presidential campaign. Morris claims he is acting in an entirely voluntary capacity by simply offering free advice. Keep in mind that nationally syndicated columnist George Will was pilloried by the media when it became public that he had secretly and voluntarily helped Ronald Reagan prepare for his Presidential debates in 1980. A prominent national GOP insider tells Politics1 that he believes Morris -- despite his claims to the contrary -- is paid for his services through...

The colorful brochure from Mitt Romney's presidential campaign looks like many of the political fliers flooding Iowa mail boxes this time of the year. But there is a difference. The piece is Romney's first to single out his rivals by name, a shift that shows him becoming more aggressive in the final weeks before the Jan. 3 caucuses. The mailing juxtaposes photos and quotes from Romney showing his support for a federal constitutional amendment to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman with photos and quotes showing Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson all oppose...

Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson said Wednesday the United States needs to increase military spending to better finance its troops and intelligence, calling national security the top obligation of a U.S. president. "There are a lot of people in need, there are a lot of things that need funding, there are a lot of government programs and so forth, but preserving the security and safety of the American people is the No. 1 obligation of any government and the No. 1 obligation of any people," he said during a stop at Café Diem in downtown Ames. Thompson portrayed himself as...

To revise the old Woody Allen line: Eighty percent of success is not showing up. While Mitt Romney may have nominally "won" the Iowa Straw Poll over the weekend, the real victors were the ones who stayed away from Ames: Rudy Giuliani, John McCain, and Fred Thompson (who has made something of an art of not showing up, in recent months). The paradox could mean the end of the straw poll as a GOP touchstone. And that would be nothing but good news for the Republican Party. Let's look first at how Mr. Romney comes out of all of this....

By the time the writing of this sentence is finished, Tommy Thompson should be out of the presidential race. The 67-year-old former Wisconsin Governor and Bush cabinet member had been unusually honest in playing the expectation game before today’s Iowa Straw Poll. “I've said all along that if I don't come in first or second, I'll drop out of the race,'' he reminded the media earlier this week. Well, the votes are now in and tallied, and Mr. Thompson came in sixth. If this does indeed mean death-by-straw-poll for the Thompson effort, it can be considered a mercy killing. His...

New York, California and Florida have muscled their way near the top of this year's primary schedule, but the Iowa caucus may still pack a huge punch. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson, the "Law & Order" actor and former Tennessee senator, are fighting for the conservative vote along with Arizona Sen. John McCain. While none of them would be knocked out by a loss in Iowa, their campaigns would be unlikely to fully recover. The Iowa Republican Party's straw poll at Iowa State University in Ames on Saturday is typically a preview of the January caucus. And...

Last week every Republican presidential candidate with hopes of emerging as "The True Conservative" in the race--Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, and Ron Paul--traveled to Kansas City to speak to the National Right to Life Convention (NRLC). And then there was Fred Thompson. Although he's not yet an official candidate, Thompson clearly plans to run--and he plans to run as the Truest of True Conservatives. So it seemed that a sojourn to Kansas City to stoke an important segment of the conservative base would be in order. But Thompson skipped the trip, choosing instead to address the NRLC by...

GOP presidential hopeful Ron Paul has been excluded from an upcoming political forum in Iowa on the grounds that he is not a "credible” candidate. The event, sponsored by Iowans for Tax Relief and the Iowa Christian Alliance, is set for June 30 in Des Moines. GOP candidates who will speak at the forum include Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, Mike Huckabee, Tommy Thompson and Tom Tancredo. But Paul, a Texas congressman, was left out because the invitation went only to those candidates who are "credible,” said Ed Failor Jr., vice president of Iowans for Tax Relief. "To plan...

The Des Moines Register headline focuses on Barack Obama's enlistment of Iowa-savvy aides. But along the way, the article by Tom Beaumont, Obama talks with top advisers in Iowa, offers up some delightful Midwestern understatement.First, in reviewing the potential Dem field, Beaumont writes of "Kerry, a Massachusetts senator." You can imagine him fuming: "Don't you know who I am? And why didn't you mention that I'm . . . a Vietnam veteran?"With caution even more delicious, Beaumont notes "New York Sen. Hillary Clinton is believed to be weighing a campaign for the Democratic nomination." Indeed. And in tonight's Nature documentary,...

Sure, the Iowa Caucus is a long way off, but it's never too early to speculate: My sources on the ground tell me Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee is making major inroads in Iowa. ...And this is consistent with what National Journal's Mark Ambinder recently wrote: "(Huckabee) is the race's only credible evangelical Protestant in a state where Christian conservatives generally dominate the caucuses. And his outreach to these activists and to key Iowa GOP insiders is more broad and deep than has been reported. With denominational lines breaking down, his Catholic outreach will be decisive. He's fantastic on the...

Even a bad primary weeds out the losers It took the voters of Iowa to make me realize what a heroic figure Richard Gephardt truly is. Until last night I had considered the beetle-browed congressman from the Show Me State a distillation of the many vices career politicians are heir to. It was only after his crushing, humiliating defeat in what supporters and commentators with expansive definitions of the Midwestern mindset had described as his home country that Gephardt began to receive the praise he apparently deserves. Erstwhile rivals and televised talking heads joined in singing his fundamental decency, his...

<p>It wasn't only Iowa Dems who voted. The liberal media have too. And to judge by the performance of Katie Couric and Matt Lauer on this morning's Today Show, Dean is dirt and Kerry's the man.</p> <p>"A pretty impressive showing," said Katie with a smile regarding Kerry's victory at the top of the show.</p>

DES MOINES At the Iowa caucus I attended, one of John Edwards's people went over to the Kucinich supporters and said if they came over and joined Edwards, they wouldn't have to be vegans anymore. Everybody laughed, and the debate continued. The Dean people played up the war issue; the Kerry people, electability. But eventually, most of the Kucinich folks went over to Edwards, and a great cheer rose up from that side of the room. The whole exchange was conducted in a spirit of ribbing and good cheer, and it was apparently typical of what happened across the state....