Free Republic

PHILADELPHIA, July 16 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Former U.S. Senator, and possible presidential candidate, Fred Thompson and Gov. Mike Huckabee will speak before an audience of nearly 2,000 state legislators and business leaders at the American Legislative Exchange Council's National Forum luncheon at ALEC's 34th Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on Friday, July 27. This event is just part of ALEC's annual meeting held July 24 to 29 at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown at 1201 Market Street. Other speakers will include Former Speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, Newt Gingrich, The Honorable Dick Armey, The Honorable Billy Tauzin, Neil Cavuto of FOX...

Political analysts widely regard Fred Thompson as a potential, if not likely, candidate in the United States presidential election in 2008. Thompson is a lawyer, lobbyist, character actor and former Republican Senator for Tennessee now residing in McLean, Virginia near Washington D.C. A recent article in The New York Times (NYT) labelled his wife, Jeri Kehn Thompson as a "trophy wife" and a potential liability in the 2008 race. The NYT article described her as having "youthfulness, permanent tan and bleached blonde hair" and wonders if "so-called values voters" would "accept this union." Thompson and Kehn, married in June 2002,...

The race for of the Republican Presidential nomination following the July 4th holiday looks a lot like it did before the nation's birthday party. The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey finds former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani essentially tied for the lead. It's Thompson at 25% and Giuliani at 24%. Trailing the frontrunners at a distance are former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney and Arizona Senator John McCain. They're tied at 12%. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee and Kansas Senator Sam Brownback each attract support from 2% of voters nationally. Five other candidates...

The alliance of talk radio, blogs and grassroots efforts was a winner when it came to defeating the "shamnesty" bill. Conservatives were enraged and showed just how much power we possess: A Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey of 15,000 adults in June found that just 32.0% now say they're Republicans. That's up more than a full percentage point from a month ago and is within a tenth-of-a-point of the GOP's best showing in ten months. This is purely because of the efforts put forth to defeat a bill that would've rewarded those who broke our laws. The Bush administration suffered...

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson, a champion of traditional conservatives, and Rudy Giuliani, a favorite of political independents, may be the biggest beneficiaries if John McCain's bid for the Republican presidential nomination collapses, political experts say. McCain's campaign is teetering after the loss yesterday of his chief political aides, a blow that comes the week after a disappointing fund-raising report. McCain, 70, once the Republican frontrunner, is vowing to fight on amid growing speculation about his viability. If McCain is forced to abandon the race or loses more ground, Thompson and Giuliani will try to scoop up his political and...

The AP, taking their cue from the new because-she-said-so story offered by the L.A.Times, has run with a short clip on a story that claims Fred Thompson was working as a lobbyist for an abortion agency in 1991, giving the hearsay evidence against him but not offering the meat of his against the claim. The result is that the AP offers more "evidence" against Thompson than it does for him making it too easy to conclude he is "guilty" of the charge of lobbying for an abortion advocacy organization. The AP did a wonderful job making this story seem more...

NASHVILLE — Bob Davis is preparing to resign as chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party, apparently to take a position with Fred Thompson’s pending presidential campaign, and a state senator hopes to succeed him. Members of the Republican State Executive Committee were to meet via telephone conference call with Davis today to hear his announcement, according to a party official. The committee is tentatively scheduled to meet Aug. 4 to choose a successor, a member of the committee said. Davis, who managed Thompson’s 1996 U.S. Senate campaign and served as the senator’s chief of staff, has been party chairman since...

If it was up to Peach State Republicans, former Tennessee senator and actor Fred Thompson would lead the country beginning in 2008. Thompson would beat out former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani for the Republican nomination 25 to 20 percent, according to the latest Strategic Vision, LLC poll of 800 likely Georgia voters. When Republicans were polled on who they’d stand behind in the crucial 2008 presidential election, Thompson and Giuliani edged out U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz. (11 percent), former House speaker Newt Gingrich, (7 percent); Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (6 percent) and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee...

As the American people, elected officials, and commentators reflect on the heated immigration debate that came to a temporary close in the Senate this week many will ask, and have asked, why U.S. Senator John McCain (R., Ariz.) staked out a position that may, in retrospect, be seen as devastating to his presidential ambitions. I hope the American people, at least, step back from the obsessive play-by-play pre-season election analysis and reflect on Senator McCain’s actions for what I believe they were: One of the purest examples of political courage seen in Washington in a very, very long time. Before...

Fred Thompson still hasn't officially entered the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but he's already a strong contender. Thompson, the "Law & Order" actor and former Tennessee senator, is tied with Arizona Sen. John McCain for second place, behind former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, in the latest CBS News poll. With Thompson in the mix, Giuliani leads among Republican primary voters with 34 percent. He's followed by Thompson and McCain, at 22 percent and 21 percent, respectively; and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney at 6 percent. Without Thompson in the field, Giuliani jumps up to 42 percent, trailed...

Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) may be violating Federal Election Commission (FEC) laws by failing to report funds raised in the second quarter, which ends tomorrow — giving his probable presidential campaign a one-month fundraising advantage over his rivals in the third quarter. Republican or Democratic rivals could file a complaint against Thompson if he enters the 2008 presidential race and it becomes apparent that he spent the month of June campaigning rather than wrestling with the decision to run. Thompson is operating under the “testing the waters” clause of FEC laws, allowing him to raise money, travel and conduct...

Jeff Miller is a friend of Fred. Florida’s First District congressman couldn’t wait for former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson to officially enter the presidential race to declare his allegiance. Thompson has formed a committee to explore his options and is expected to state his intention to seek the presidency sometime in July. Miller, R-Chumuckla, sent a letter to supporters June 20 backing the Republican from Tennessee. “Now that he has established his exploratory committee and a decision to run appears imminent, I want to make my endorsement of Senator Thompson for President official,” Miller said. In the letter, Miller calls...

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...

A New Hampshire presidential poll by WHDH-TV and Suffolk University shows that local Democrats prefer Al Gore to any of the current contenders. Hillary Clinton has a solid lead over the rest of the current Democratic field. The poll, released this afternoon, shows 37 percent of likely Democratic voters backing Clinton or leaning towards her. Barack Obama was at 19 percent, with both John Edwards and Bill Richardson at 9 percent. Al Gore, however, could enter the race as the leader. When his name is added, Clinton loses more than a quarter of her support, while Gore is backed by...

Fred Thompson’s presidential rising star is about to land in Nashville in a big way, according to sources close to his campaign. It is no secret Thompson is making a Tennessee swing this week, hitting Nashville Tuesday for a high dollar fundraiser courtesy of country music mogul Mike Curb and Pilot Oil CEO Jim Haslam. But what GOP insiders in the state are buzzing about is that Thompson will set up a Nashville office for his “testing the waters” presidential campaign sometime in the next few weeks if not the next several days. The same GOP sources tell Rex uber...

After John East, a stalwart conservative from North Carolina, entered the U.S. Senate in 1981, wags began referring to Jesse Helms as "the liberal senator from the Tar Heel state." We are reminded of this tale as Republican activists rush to encourage, if not yet fully embrace, the presidential candidacy of Fred Thompson, the former senator from Tennessee. The Republican base is evidently unimpressed or uninspired (or both) by the conservative credentials of the top three Republicans (John McCain, Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani) seeking the 2008 presidential nomination. Mr. Thompson's most-oft-cited conservative credential is his 86.1 percent lifetime (1995-2002)...

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...

I KEEP reading about a universe in which social conservatives are warming to Rudy Giuliani. But this would have to be a place where his estranged children and three wives and multiple appearances in fishnets were irrelevant to the Republican base. Where the nice gay couple he moved in with between marriages would be asked to appear in the film montage at the nominating convention in St. Paul. Even in the real world, a pro-choice Republican nominee would be a gift to the Democrats, because the Republican Party wins over so many swing voters on abortion alone. Which is why...

Barring the calamitous, former United States senator from Tennessee Fred Thompson will be the next president of the United States. Thompson's masterful use of the online interview – a vastly smarter and cheaper way of campaigning for those with something to say – has all but secured him the Republican nomination. In the general election, in a fair fight, either Obama or Hillary – or Gore for that matter–will have a hard time winning any five states against Thompson. But for Hillary at least, it is too late in the game to fight fair. Desperation will push her and her...

Even while former senator and Law & Order actor Fred Thompson hasn't officially started his bid for the White House, his online presence would make you think that there isn't even a question. Thompson's website ( http://www.imwithfred.com ) is multifaceted, enabling users, for example, to find their local media to contact newspapers and talk radio to show support. Thompson launched a YouTube channel on May 15 featuring not clips from his popular TV show but videos of speeches and one from an appearance with Tim Russert on Meet the Press. His social networking presence is also growing, with more and...