Tommy’s Friday Fred Thompson updates:
From The New York Daily News:
In an interview to air this Sunday, state Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long tells WNBC’s Gabe Pressman the party is likely to give an early nod to Fred Thompson if he manages to “break through” in South Carolina.
“As a Conservative, as the chairman of the New York state Conservative Party, my favorite candidate, naturally, is Fred Thompson,” Long said. “He did very well this week in the debate. Certainly, I think in South Carolina. If he does well there, if he breaks through in South Carolina, he changes the face of this Republican race again.
He becomes an important player, then on to Florida and to the Southern states. And I think he has a shot at it. And then if he does that, I believe that us, meaning the New York state Conservative Party, will move forward and make an endorsement at an early stage to try to help him catapult the rest of the country.”
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Last night was the most watched FNC debate of the primary season:
In early Nielsen estimates, Fox News Channel’s airing of the GOP debate last night drew 3.6M Total Viewers and 1.04M in the A25-54 demo. If the numbers hold, it will be FNC’s highest rated debate yet and the 5th most watched of this election cycle.
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Thompson has raised over $750,000 in online donations since Tuesday, signing up over 8,000 new donors. $300,000 of the donations today. It’s not Ron Paul numbers, but out of the candidates who don’t rely on online fundraising to run their campaign, it’s a strong number.
Added together with offline donations, Fred has strongly rebounded from his financial struggles and the campaign says to expect another surprise come the end of the quarter.
Today, the campaign said that you can plan to see it alive and well on February 5. Thompson will not be dropping out.
However, expect to see the Fredheads, such as myself, solely focused on South Carolina for the next week.
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Today in South Carolina, audiences came out in HUGE numbers, and two events had to be closed because of the size of the crowds. At every appearence, people were standing outside and waiting to get in. Reviews of the events have been ecstatic.
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On Mark Levin’s show tonight, Judge Robert Bork, a Mitt Romney supporter, said that “I don’t think that Senator McCain or Governor Huckabee deserves to be called a conservative.”
Neither is “remotely a conservative.”
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John McCain news:
Rumors swirling that Arnold Schwarzenegger will endorse John McCain in the near future. H/T: The Wall Street Journal
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January 11th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
I think that there is a possibility of the rise of Fred with his new found energy and the exodus of Rudy. I know that I have said it is too late for him quite a few times, but I am starting to think that there is a possibility.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
$750K is Hillary type numbers and Fred hasn’t won anything yet. How is he doing it? Huck has to win SC and if Fred is rising he is going to have to pull out of Michigan and Waterloo in SC.
Does anyone find it amusing that every candidate has had a waterloo and it has been almost all different states
McCain – NH
Mitt – MI
Fred – SC
Huck – SC
Rudy – FL
This is crazy.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
If he won SC, the public perception of his “electability” would shoot up faster than McCains did, I think.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
Fred has been meticulously planning this and pacing himself while the other candidates burn out in the bright flame and fade away. Fred’s virtual front porch strategy and stealth momentum strategy have always had the big picture of the crowded 3D chess situation we find ourselves in now. On top of everything else that Fred has going for him, including support from the conservative blogosphere and conservative talk radio, he is also a legitimate big time movie star. Don’t underestimate Fred’s star power down the stretch, I am hearing about a lot of buzz and enthusiasm on the ground for the Senator. If he wins S.C. big, Fred will likely sweep Super Tuesday and this thing could well be over.
MoFredtum 08!
January 11th, 2008 at 8:27 pm
If Fred wins SC, then I think Huck is out and that opens up a small window (very small) that Romney could have a chance if he is a close second in MI. Then we have 4 candidates going to FL and 2/5. Wow.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
Could a day be any worse for Rudy than today?
January 11th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
C’mon. Don’t tell us this was Fred’s plan all along LOL
Agree that if Fred has a BIG win in SC, then his fortunes on 2/5 are much better but I wouldn’t characterize it as a sweep. Stay in reality.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Jack,
Give it up Romney cannot fight through any Southern window, and he cannot win with a few Western states. Even if Romney wins MI, it will not help him.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:31 pm
JA Pruce,
Are you using Mittisms? “…3D chess situation…”
January 11th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
about to hit $760,000 since I posted this.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
Actually, I would give it a 55% shot this thing goes to the Convention – where Romney has a VERY good shot.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:33 pm
#8
You are right if Fred sweeps the South in the above scenario. But if Rudy takes some, and McCain steals 1, then there is a split delegate, onto convention. Like I said in my post “small window”. I will add tiny ray of light through that window.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:34 pm
Huck is asking for 10mil by Super Tuesday online.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Michael Reichard,
“Are you using Mittisms?”
Yes I appropriated that phrase from him because I think that it is a very apt analogy for this process. Kudos to Mitt for recognizing that and coming up with such appropriate imagery. I should have used quotations and credited Governor Romney. My apologies.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
A Rudy win anywhere outside of a liberal haven is becoming more and more unlikely.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:42 pm
“Today, the campaign said that you can plan to see it alive and well on February 5. Thompson will not be dropping out.”
That’s because Thompson’s sole purpose in this race at this point is to take out Huckabee to clear the path for his friend, John McCain.
Thompson is a do nothing backbencher who only seemed to wake up in the Senate when it was time to push McCain/Feingold or kill tort reform (on behalf of all his lawyer buddies).
If we were to delve into the most substantive part of Thompson’s record, it would pretty much be confined to watching reruns of Law and Order.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:52 pm
#16
Fred winning SC helps and hurts McCain. It takes out Huck which McCain needs to do but it also provides momentum for Fred, who is the most conservative of all the candidates.
January 11th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Tommy,
I can appreciate your enthusiasm to post this, but if you get beyond the misleading headline, you see that The Daily News, a notoriously anti-Rudy liberal tabloid, is clearly jumping the gun.
This endorsement would only come to fruition if Fred manages to “break through†in South Carolina…if he wins in Florida…if he wins the southern states that vote on February 5th, then, and only then would the headline you cited above be accurate.
The premise of this piece would have a sliver of credibility if a poll simply showed Fred in contention in South Carolina. At present, there are no polls in which Thompson, who is sporting a 9.3% RCP average, does any better than 4th in SC.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
If Mitt won Michigan he would be in this til the end–you know what happens if Huck were to come in 3rd in SC and dropped out(which I don’t know if he would drop out if that were to happen). James Dobson would endorse Mitt in a flat second. Mitt has been trying to woo the SoCon and when the alternative is McCain and Rudy I think they would rally around Mitt.
With that I’m afraid Mitt won’t win Michigan
January 11th, 2008 at 9:03 pm
Jack,
Fred isn’t going anywhere, and he knows it. He’s got McCain’s back, and that’s all there is to it. Fred isn’t going to win SC, much less do anything beyond. He is there to take a pound of flesh out of Huck so McCain can win.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:04 pm
Aron,
Good catch. No, actually I don’t mind Rudy doing well at all, and I just posted that the NY Party was planning to endorse him. However, in the interview, he says “South Carolina” then they would endorse before Florida.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
I have to wonder if maybe Fred is a little bitter because Huck EARNED the place in this race that Fred had handed to win on a silver platter, and squandered.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:05 pm
If I were the RNC committee chairperson–I would change this Primary thing completely around. The rules would be that the state that elects the Republican candidate with the greatest margin over the other party candidates would get the first primary. Meaning that the Reddest state would get the first primary. It aint right that Purple states have so much influence in who our nominee is.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:07 pm
I have to believe that if Thompson dropped out that he would endorse McCain–because conservative McCain aint.
Tommy Oliver what are you’re thoughts on that?
January 11th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
Tommy,
Did you ever get back to me on what happened in the Senate that would not have happened if Fred weren’t there? Other than pushing McCain/Feingold and killing tort reform, was he ever anything more than one vote in 100?
January 11th, 2008 at 9:10 pm
#19
If Fred won SC, the soCons might split. Dobson has already expressed opinion about Fred so you might be right regarding Romney. However if Huck is out and Fred is in, then things are still murky.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
#26 1. McCain 2. Thompson 3. Huck–I thought if Thompson didn’t win SC he would drop out.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:13 pm
James P. Pinkerton, a well-known conservative commentator and veteran of the Reagan and George H.W. Bush administrations, has joined Mike Huckabee’s presidential campaign, a campaign official tells Politico. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0108/7846.html
January 11th, 2008 at 9:18 pm
#27
carl, I said if Fred wins.
If he doesn’t and McCain wins MI and SC then that leaves little time before FL and super tuesday for the SoCons to rally around Romney. If McCain takes FL as well, then it might be too late. Too many variables. Your only hops is that Rudy can take out McCain in FL which will be hard if he has won everything except for a couple of states (WY, IA)
January 11th, 2008 at 9:20 pm
How can Fred be the “true conservative” that he is pretending to be when:
1. He pushed hard for McCain/Feingold.
2. He helped kill tort reform.
3. He thinks killing children is a states’ rights issue, as a matter of principle. Therefore, he must not think that unborn children are persons, who would have protection under the Constitution. I wonder what he thinks of Brown v. Board of Education.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:23 pm
#30 MWS
He is perceived to be the most conservative out of candidates. That’s different than the “true conservative”.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:26 pm
MWS,
http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?print=yes&id=24398
January 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Tommy, your Wall Street Journal link goes to an article about Hillary courting the Hispanic vote.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:31 pm
Tommy,
You’re link goes on and on about Fred’s voting record. Big deal. Dozens of other senators could make the same claim since he was elected.
What I’ve asked you repeatedly is what Fred did in the Senate besides be one vote in 100.
What did he DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO??????????????????????/
I can’t think of one front page piece from you demonstrating Thompson’s leadership and accomplishments in the Senate. Lots of hit pieces on Huckabee, but nothing that shows Thompson ever contributed anything besides 1 vote in 100.
January 11th, 2008 at 9:39 pm
One example of Senator Thompson’s leadership was his masterful stewardship of the Chief Justice John Roberts nomination. Fred mentored the young Roberts and pulled off what many believe was a flawless presentation in the Senate. Fred was downright Presidential during this and his gravitas was on full display in all its glory.
MoFredtum 08!
January 11th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
the gop is in complete disarray right now. every candidate takes their turn surging afterwich to be knocked down. will we yet another surges just to see him be batted down.
mccain does seem to be surging at the right time. who will stop him? huck, romney, thompson? who will it be?
January 11th, 2008 at 11:24 pm
mws, lets not tlk about what candidates did. you don’t want to go there. huck as made it his campaign strategy not to talk about what he did.
instead he thinks up gimmicks like supporting fair tax so he can say, i want to get rid of irs so those who hate taxes won’t look at his record.
instead he gets minute men and tells them he will completly flop and offer a constitutional amendment if he will endorse him.
then he puts crosses floating in the background to get the evangelicals foaming at the mouth.
these gimmicks may work to some degree in a primary, but they can’t get him elected president
January 12th, 2008 at 1:25 am
Fred has to win SC.
No way in the world Fred can beat Mac & Huck there.
Ergo Fred has ZERO chance.
I’m man enough to admit that my gut Mittens has very little chance now – but infinitely more chance than Fred.
If you really think he can win put $1000 on him at the markets and you will make %50,000 if he wins!