Thompson withdraws from GOP race
Fred Thompson announced today he is dropping out, further winnowing the Republican presidential field before the key Jan. 29 primary in Florida.
"Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort," Thompson said in a statement.
Thompson, the former actor and US senator from Tennessee, was once seen as a savior by conservatives, but waged a campaign largely viewed as lethargic. He waited until September to enter the race and he briefly appeared at the top of national polls. But he never caught on with the Republican rank-and-file. After declaring South Carolina's primary to be his last stand, he finished a disappointing third on Saturday.
The race will now be on for Thompson's supporters and for his endorsement. Thompson has long been close to Senator John McCain of Arizona and backed him in the 2000 campaign.
Mike Huckabee said he expects that Thompson's withdrawal will boost his support among conservatives.
The former Arkansas governor said Thompson hurt him in South Carolina, where he finished second to McCain.
"I'm waiting for the rest of them to drop out, then I'll be a very happy guy," he said, jokingly, on MSNBC.
Huckabee said he is streamlining his campaign because he does not plan to go into debt for his campaign. He also joked that he couldn't print money like the federal government. "As much as I want to go to the White House, I don't want to go to the Big House," he said.
Mitt Romney issued a statement, saying that Thompson "brought a laudable focus to the challenges confronting our country and the solutions necessary to meet them. He stood for strong conservative ideas and believed strongly in the need to keep our conservative coalition together."
Bye Fred! See you on the reruns of L&E.
Hopefully, Mit, the empty suit, Romney will be next to drop out. I could certainly live with John McCain as our President ,but Mit represents another eight years of George, the destroyer of the economy , Bush.
Bye Fred! See you on the reruns of L&E.
Hopefully, Mit, the empty suit, Romney will be next to drop out. I could certainly live with John McCain as our President ,but Mit represents another eight years of George, the destroyer of the economy , Bush.
He never gave anyone the impression that he wanted to win.
I think Mitt will benefit the most from Thompson leaving, followed by Huckabee. Mitt is the only other true economic AND social conservative, and has the intelligence to solve our economic problems and help us compete globally.
Huckabee is still a social conservative. I don't mean to diminish him.
We will miss Fred, who EARNED his spot as my second favorite candidate after Mitt.
Willard Romney's assertion that Thompson was a conservative is implying that he, Romney would know what a conservative stands for and has simialr issues.
Romney running for the U S SEnate in Massachusetts was Pro choice because the voters there were prochoice. Then faced with MCCain, Thompson, Huckabee record on the Right to life side, Romney changed his position for political gain.
I honestly cannot vote for Willard Mitt Romney..
In a Republican party where everybody seems to have divergent opinions, it is sometimes hard to stand back and appreciate the similarities, not only between the candidates, but between a candidate and his party's platform. For many Republicans, and most true conservatives, this cycle has been a disappointing, if not alarming one. It comes on the heels of two terms of expansionist foreign adventurism, deficit spending, wasteful government programs, gross federal mismanagement, and repeated scandal. That the very nature of conservatism has become a prime issue to Republicans is indicative of the fractures in the party and its electorate.
If you take away the names and the (R)'s and the rhetoric and look, side-by-side at the records of the Republican candidates, some trends become apparent. The majority of Republicans seeking nomination do not set any sort of conservative standard in their projects or voting record. Some could even be classified objectively as liberal! Mass amnesty for illegal immigrants? No Child Left Behind? Raising taxes 47 percent? One called Barry Goldwater an "incompetent, confused, and sometimes idiotic man." The list goes on, but the party will not, if candidates think that a hawkish foreign policy and some lipservice to small government are the only credentials necessary for success.
The Ron Paul community has always had a bit of a soft spot for Fred Thompson. He isn't taken to cackling at ideas of small government, he isn't keen on snap judgements, and he cares about the core of the Republican party. When our candidate was excluded from a Fox Debate, Fred brought up many of the same issues that Ron may have raised. While it is a competition, we always felt glad that at least somebody else understood the principles of conservatism, and the important thing was that the message was being heard. But now Fred Thompson has left us, after rough showings in states that wear their philosophy on their sleeves until it comes time to actually vote. This is disheartening, because the future of our party and of the very word 'conservative,' we feel, has now been winnowed down to one last candidate... Ron Paul.
We need a coalition of thinkers, of people who can look past the rhetoric, see beyond the posturing. We need conservatives in mind and spirit. This is our party, and it is a confused one. But we must never confuse our principles. By refusing to do so, we can light the way to victory and a restoration of real values in government
Will you join us?
Fred Thompson on the issues:
http://www.fred08.com/Principles/PrinciplesSummary.aspx?View=OnTheIssues
http://www.ronpaul2008.com/issues
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