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Republican Presidential Candidate Debate #4 – Des Moines, Iowa 08/05/07 - Official Discussion Thread ABC News will be conducting a debate to be aired on This Week. The nine announced GOP presidential candidates meet in a campaign debate at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa. George Stephanopoulos is the moderator; Des Moines Register political writer David Yepsen poses additional questions. Debate starts at 8 am CT (9 am ET/ 6 am PT) * check local stations for broadcast time in your area * Candidates participating Sam Brownback Rudy Giuliani Mike Huckabee Duncan Hunter John McCain Mitt Romney Ron Paul Tom...

Women are flocking to Hillary Rodham Clinton's Democratic presidential candidacy and men are doing the same for Republican Fred Thompson. Yet for all that support, both candidates are showing early vulnerabilities wooing voters of the opposite sex. Thompson, the former Tennessee senator and tough-guy actor on television's "Law and Order," gets 68 percent of his support from males as he edges toward a run for the GOP presidential nomination, far more than other hopefuls, according to recent Associated Press-Ipsos polling. While he and front-runner Rudy Giuliani each draw nearly a quarter of the Republican male vote, he significantly trails his...

Greenville, S.C. For nearly three decades, South Carolina has been a make-or-break state for Republican presidential candidates. None has become the national nominee without a victory – often a decisive one – in this first-in-the-South primary. But six months before the primary here, the state is giving up few secrets about the direction of the race, reflecting a level of disarray in the Republican ranks rarely seen in years past. GOP leaders and conservative activists here say that the war in Iraq and immigration policy are splintering upstate evangelical voters, a large voting bloc that has typically united around litmus-test...

It took a while, but Republican Fred Thompson’s opening report on his fundraising for his presidential exploratory campaign committee is providing the first glimpse of the prominent early supporters of his still-unofficial White House bid. Thompson’s report — filed with the Internal Revenue Service, with which he registered his “testing the waters” committee, rather than the Federal Election Commission (FEC) — showed that he raised $3.46 million and spent $626,000 between the committee’s incorporation on June 4 and the end of that month. Thompson’s report is studded with contributions from prominent business leaders and politicians in his home state of...

There always is a learning curve when even an experienced politician runs for president. So Fred Thompson — the former Tennessee senator, actor and much-hyped prospective candidate for the Republican White House nomination — can take this lesson from the first money report for his still-unofficial campaign: Don’t publicly announce fundraising goals unless you know you are going to meet them. The $3.46 million raised in the month of June by “Friends of Fred Thompson” sounds like a solid number. But that figure fell short of the $5 million expectation set by the Thompson camp itself. Somewhat surprisingly, then, the...

<p>It’s a shame that Fred Thompson is too young to have played Matt Dillon, the no-nonsense marshal of Dodge City in the long-running radio and television series “Gunsmoke.” That role on the radio went to William Conrad (later TV’s “Cannon”) and on television to James Arness. But whether TV or radio, Marshal Dillon had the same policy for cowboys when they rode into Dodge: They had to surrender their guns.</p>

Republican Fred Thompson needs to say in August if he is running for president because he has enjoyed about all the benefits he can expect from being a noncandidate, a key backer said on Tuesday. The Hollywood actor turned White House contender announced he had raised more than $3.4 million in June -- less than the predicted $5 million -- for his presidential campaign-in-waiting, amid some concerns he has waited too long. "The level of support and enthusiasm from people across this country is inspiring," said a statement from Thompson, who said donations came from 9,167 people from all 50...

Among the 9,167 donors who contributed a combined $3.46 million in the month of June to former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson's "testing the waters" committee, several are notable names. Georgette Mosbacher, a leading Republican fundraiser, who once dated Thompson, contributed $2,300. Former Sen. Howard H. Baker, gave $2,300. Peyton W. Manning, quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts, gave $2,300. Douglas J. Feith, the former Defense Department official now teaching at Georgetown University, gave $2,300. Katuria D'Amato, former New York Sen. Al D'Amato's wife, gave $2,300. Trace Adkins, a country music singer, and his wife Rhonda, each contributed $2,300 maximum. Richard A....

WASHINGTON, (AP) -- Undeclared Republican candidate Fred Thompson on Tuesday reported raising nearly $3.5 million in one month for his expected presidential bid, lagging behind his backers' goal of $5 million. The "Law & Order" actor and former Tennessee senator filed papers with the Internal Revenue Service that showed he spent about $625,000 in June, the first month that his preliminary campaign committee was operating. At $3.46 million, the total raised fell short of the $5 million goal his backers initially set to reach in one month for his committee to "test the waters" of a presidential bid. Thompson did,...

Is Rudy Giuliani hearing opportunity knock or is he hearing footsteps from behind? The former New York mayor’s presidential campaign strategy initially seemed to be aimed at big primary states such as Florida and California, and largely ignoring early small states such as Iowa and New Hampshire. This week, however, Giuliani unleashed radio ads trumpeting his conservative credentials in Iowa and New Hampshire right after a two-day swing through Iowa. What gives? Some political observers say the Giuliani camp may be rethinking its big-states strategy because of the shifting political landscape, believing it can pick up moderate supporters from Arizona...

The neoconservatives are not riding high these days. The Iraq War--their number-one cause--is a failure, and the public has turned on the war, George W. Bush and Dick Cheney, their top man in the Administration. Meanwhile, the so-called foreign policy realists appear to have the upper hand against the Administration's dwindling neocon cell in many internal policy squabbles. But the neocons are faring rather well when it comes to the presidential race. The leading GOP contenders are all die-hard fans of the war. And the newest star in the show--Fred Thompson, the former Republican senator from Tennessee, onetime lobbyist and...

Chris Cillizza wrote about, and now you can see it -- after the jump, the full list of Fred Thompson staffers and ... recent staffers as compiled by a rival campaign. THOMPSON STAFF HIRES (Through 7/25/07) Spencer Abraham As Co-Campaign Manager. (Libby Quaid, “Thompson Shakes Up Staff,” The Associated Press, 7/24/07) Randy Enwright As Co-Campaign Manager. (Libby Quaid, “Thompson Shakes Up Staff,” The Associated Press, 7/24/07) Previously, It Was Reported That Enwright Would Be Political Director For Thompson’s Campaign. “Randy Enwright, a Republican political consultant from Florida with ties to the Iowa presidential battleground, has been tapped as political director...

The worst advice I gave during 20 years advising Republican presidential and congressional campaigns was telling Fred Thompson not to do the pick-up truck. Fred had the good sense to ignore my advice — I’d like to think the only bad advice I gave him in two campaigns. In spring of 1994, Fred badly trailed a popular Democratic congressman in the open Tennessee Senate seat vacated by Vice President Gore. Our fundraising lagged behind, and I had just fired our second campaign manager. We beefed up our communications effort and got to the key task of reassuring major donors and...

Many Republican faithful, from the grass roots to the Capitol, have concluded that Fred Thompson, the preternaturally avuncular actor and former Senator from Tennessee, is the cure-all for their party's ills. Thompson has yet to enter the presidential race, and yet Thompson already shares front-runner status with former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani in some national polls of gop voters. Thompson will spend the rest of the summer raising money, which he was scheduled to do conspicuously at a donor event in Washington on July 28. Another advantage to waiting: the longer he remains an unofficial candidate, the longer...

HOUSTON, Texas (CNN) – A woman screaming “you’re not a real conservative, sir” was removed by police from a welcoming reception for likely GOP presidential candidate Fred Thompson Wednesday morning. A second protester was also taken from the room. Houston police officers escorted the woman — as well as a man — from the hangar at Hobby Airport, where Thompson was shaking hands with a crowd of supporters. They were not arrested. The woman questioned Thompson as he talked to reporters. She asked him why he was a member of the Council on Foreign Relations, and noted that the organization...

Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson arrived in Houston Wednesday to a Texas-sized welcome at Hobby Airport. Hundreds of people came out to support the former Tennessee senator. It was his first campaign-related trip to Texas. Thompson is hoping to rally volunteers and raise funds during his day in the Lone Star State. He has yet to announce his official candidacy. He’ll be at Love Field in Dallas Wednesday evening.

Ever since former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) floated the idea of a presidential candidacy earlier this year, we've been grappling with where he fits in the field. We've talked to any number of Republican strategists -- both those working for other candidates and those who are unaffiliated -- in an attempt to learn who Thompson helps, who he hurts, and whether or not he belongs in the top tier. Some believe Thompson is the frontrunner-in-waiting, a movie star with a southern drawl -- the answer to the prayers of conservative voters looking for a candidate to call their own. Others...

Other Candidates Still A Long Way Behind These Four Leaders. In the Republican nomination race, former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, while still not a declared candidate, has edged marginally ahead of Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Three in ten (29%) of those who expect to vote in a Republican primary or caucus would vote for Thompson while 28 percent would vote for Giuliani (and a one percent difference is not statistically significant). On the Democratic side, the top contenders have not changed. Senator Hillary Clinton is still in the lead, as over one-third (35%) of those who would vote in a Democratic...

Fred Thompson complicates life for Mitt Romney. Without the Tennessean in the race, Romney's folks had visions of a head-to-head match-up with Rudy, and all that entails, dancing in their head. But it doesn't seem like they're going to have that option. So now they're trying to define Fred before he even gets in. As I reported in my weekend piece on Thompson, Romney's top social conservative staff liasion has sought to cast doubt on the former senator's commitment to the pro-life cause. "FYI -- wanted to make sure you were all updated as this story develops and we all...

The July 15th FEC reports for presidential candidates are avilable. Below are the results for all declared candidates. Fred Thompson is not included, since he has not yet filed as a candidate with FEC. McCain is not quite as dead as many have made him out to be; some reports said he was down to about a quarter million dollars. But he IS dead... Romney is running on his own money, it seems... Kucinich is absolutely bankrupt... Romney has bought his standing in New Hampshire and Iowa by spending $34 million;... Nader doesn't look like he's preparing for another run...