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FORT MILL -- A campaign event in a bar, in the middle of the afternoon on a Tuesday -- Fred Thompson seemed like my kind of guy. And after he spoke at Beef 'O' Brady's in Fort Mill -- which is technically a restaurant, but any place with eight beers on tap and ashtrays on the bar is a bar -- many of about 150 people who packed the place said Fred Thompson is their kind of guy, too. Especially guys like Ed Egan. From between Rock Hill and York, 63 years old, Marine Corps helicopter pilot in Vietnam. Egan...

MCLEAN, Va., Nov. 7 /Standard Newswire/ -- Senator Fred Thompson announced his extensive Tennessee political leadership team today. Senator Howard Baker will serve as the honorary chairman of the Tennessee delegation, joined by 13 honorary co-chairs and 61 honorary state chairs, reflecting the depth of support for Senator Thompson in Tennessee. This leadership team includes two former United States Senate majority leaders, current and former members of Congress, former governors, and every Republican member of the Tennessee state legislature. "I am grateful for the wide support I'm receiving from my home state of Tennessee," said Senator Fred Thompson. "This group...

Fred D. Thompson appears to be stepping it up, at least to a slow trot. After a series of leisurely weeks, Thompson's campaign announced yesterday that it plans to air its first television commercial since the former senator from Tennessee launched his White House bid just after Labor Day. In the ad, which will run in Iowa this week, Thompson introduces himself to voters as a "consistent conservative" who as a Republican U.S. senator "fought for tax cuts, and for conservative judges." He adds: "And I'm proud to have had a 100 percent pro-life voting record." Thompson plans to campaign...

RICHMOND, Va.—There's no shortage of polls underscoring America's sour mood these days. Surveys generally show that 7 in 10 Americans say the country is headed in the wrong direction and that most Americans believe their leaders in Washington are doing a poor job. U.S. News led the way in explaining this trend with a recent special report on why Americans think Washington is broken and what can be done about it. If anything, the warning signs are getting gloomier. A new focus group of Republican voters from the Richmond area, conducted last Thursday evening, was a case in point. All...

When word began circulating in Republican circles last spring that former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson was considering a run for the presidency, the reaction ranged from relief the party had finally found a suitable standard - bearer to squeals of delight about the actor/politician and his resemblance to former President Ronald Reagan. It was arguably the high mark of the campaign thus far. Thompson seemed to squander the summer as he considered his run and raised fewer campaign dollars than hoped. Once he hit the campaign trail, he was forced to acknowledge ignorance about some local issues when stumping across...

That Southern charm may soften the appearance of the actor-senator’s hardened conservative views. Last month brough the moment in the presidential campaign I’d been dreading. The popular conservative from my home state, fellow Tennessean Fred Thompson, entered the Republican primary. The pundits and “insiders” have dismissed the actor and former senator even before he declared his candidacy on late-night TV. Some claim he’s a Hollywood lightweight, but I’ve heard that before (Ronald Reagan). Some dismiss him as a Southern simpleton, but I’ve heard that before (George W. Bush). And I’ve even heard some claim he has a wealth of sexual...

The big news on Fred Thompson's site is the endorsement of Tom McClintock, a popular and conservative state senator. Nothing on Hillary's comment in the debates last night, although his immigration and border security plan is still high on the front page. I think this is another example of Thompson's strategy of choosing to not do the things the media think he should be doing. Romney and Giuliani were quick out of the box to jump on Hillary's statement and denounce driver's licenses for illegal immigrants. Today, that'll show up in every story; the dominant story of the day is...

Influential Des Moines Register columnist David Yepsen trashes Fred Thompson today and hails the underfunded, Chip Saltsman-managed campaign of Mike Huckabee. Yepsen says Thompson "has fallen flat." "After Thompson's late start, he's lighting no fires in Iowa," Yepsen writes. "His speech at the big Reagan Dinner Saturday night was a boilerplate thing he could have given anywhere. Romney didn't show. Huckabee got the only standing ovation." The Wall Street Journal today reports on Thompson's risky Southern strategy and points out that he's all but bypassing Iowa and New Hampshire. Yesterday, he made only his second appearance in New Hampshire since...

A narrative has been constructed by Democrats and their media allies castigating Republicans as purveyors of a racist "Southern strategy" to explain the transition of the South from solidly Democrat to solidly Republican. If a tree can be judged by its fruit, this narrative is backwards. Bobby Jindal, a second generation Indian-American, is going to be the new Republican Governor of Louisiana.  Although governors who are black have been elected in Virginia and Massachusetts, this election marks the first time the support of white Southern voters has propelled a non-white governor into office.  Jindal's election is evidence that the much-reviled...

Today Fred Thompson received the endorsement of two experienced members of the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners. Commissioner Natacha Seijas and Commissioner Joe Martinez have both announced their support for Fred Thompson for President of the United States. Commissioner Natacha Seijas was elected to the Miami-Dade Board of County Commissioners in 1993, becoming the first Hispanic woman to be elected to the County Commission. Representing the Hialeah, Miami Lakes, Palm Springs and Country Club regions, she serves as Chairperson of the Infrastructure and Land Use Committee and was recently appointed to the Governmental Structure Task Force. "I am proud to...

Although there are hundreds of ways to look at the fight for the GOP presidential nomination, increasingly it looks as if the South Carolina primary could end up as the pivotal contest. Right now, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's early focus on Iowa and New Hampshire appears to have paid off: He sports a big advantage over former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Sen. Fred Thompson in Iowa, but recent polling suggests that Giuliani may have closed some of the gap in New Hampshire. At least for the moment, neither candidate seems to be on the verge...

In a first, brief swing through metro Atlanta Thursday, presidential candidate Fred Thompson will press the hot button issue of illegal immigration (continued)

Before Tennessee Republican Fred Thompson began running for president, the South did not have a top-tier Republican candidate in the field — even though that region is fertile political ground for that party. Thompson, an actor and former U.S. senator (1994-2003), last month formally joined a field in which the best-known Republican contenders were either from the Northeast (former New York City mayor Rudolph Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney) or from the West (Arizona Sen. John McCain). So it was not exactly shocking that a detailed campaign finance report Thompson’s campaign filed Monday with the Federal Election Commission...

Not being in the middle of it all gives me a rather unique advantage. That means I have no one to answer to for my views. I just watch things, and then I talk about them. In other words, this means I don’t have to lie about my biases in order to keep some false sense of objectivity alive for the gullible. In other words, I’m no Chris Matthews. Let me start then with the current batch of presidential hopefuls: Folks - meaning the current Republican candidates - you really need to watch out for Fred Thompson. None of you...

U. S. Rep. Adam Putnam, R-Bartow, said that Sen. Fred Thompson was excellent in his debut debate Tuesday night in Dearborn, Mich. An early supporter of Thompson, the latest entry into the race for the Republican nomination for president, Putnam said the former U.S. senator scored major points. "I thought his responses were substantive, candid and optimistic. He showed himself more than capable for the road ahead," Putnam said. "He demonstrated a command of the issues, domestic and international. He was unafraid of speaking plainly of the generational challenges we face, and discussing his approach to solving our most difficult...

Fred Thompson's road to the nomination, his advisers say, begins with a bridge to South Carolina. Now -- a bridge has two ends, and it looks like the anchorage is Iowa. But how can Thompson possibly compete with Rudy Giuliani** on Feb. 5? New York? California? New Jersey? Thanks to a quirk in the Republican delegate allocation schema, conservative, Republican candidates have an edge. The Republican National Committee awards bonus delegates to states based on their performance in general elections. States that always vote Republican get additional delegates; states like New York that vote Democratic do not. Bonus delegates account...

IRMO, S.C. - Each of the top Republican presidential candidates has a different path to the nomination. South Carolina's first-in-the-South primary on Jan. 19 - in between the initial contests and a de facto national primary in early February - lies at the crossroads of all three. Mitt Romney is hoping a strong showing in South Carolina will prove he can do well in less familiar political terrain than Iowa and New Hampshire, where the first contests will be held and where he is investing heavily with time and money. Rudy Giuliani is looking at South Carolina as a springboard...

RINGGOLD, Ga. -- With endorsements from almost half of Georgia's Republican legislators, presidential candidate Fred Thompson has "phenomenal support" statewide, according to state Sen. Chip Rogers, R-Woodstock, named two weeks ago to head Mr. Thompson's campaign in Georgia. "We're working nonstop to build on the lead we already have here in Georgia," Sen. Rogers said Monday. "This should be a state that should go for Fred Thompson." Sen. Rogers met here with about 10 other North Georgia supporters of Mr. Thompson at Portofino Pizza and Italian Restaurant for a strategy session. Also there were state Rep. Tom Graves, R-Ranger, and...

Fred Thompson is in and Newt is not. Mitt Romney leads in Iowa but trails most everywhere else. Rudy Giuliani uses the NY Times to bash Hillary. McCain may be surging but could be broke. Yet unlike Hillary on the Democratic side there is no undisputed frontrunner in the GOP presidential race. But as the Mitt Romney’s campaign advisors are fond of reminding us, we do not have a national primary and the success of each candidate depends on how well he does -- and more importantly, how well he manages expectations -- in the series of primaries and caucuses...

In South Carolina’s Republican Presidential Primary, the latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey finds Fred Thompson leading Rudy Giuliani 24% to 20%. That’s little changed from a month ago when Thompson held a 23% to 21% advantage. Mitt Romney has moved into third place and is now supported by 15% of South Carolina’s Likely Primary Voters while John McCain is barely in double digits at 11% support. Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee earns 3% of the South Carolina vote while four other candidates split 5% and 22% are undecided. Sixty-three percent (63%) of the state’s Republican Primary voters say that Giuliani...