Great Resource

I don't have any time to write anything down but here is a good resource provided by Fox news on the Presidential candidates.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/youdecide2008/index.html

I will review this material at a later date. I just wanted to get it up.

Draft Fred Thompson

While I was looking up these video clips i came across this video that if I were to guess Thompson's exploratory committee put out. all the candidates have one and this may be Thompson's.

Applause Please?

I had read in a newspaper that has a liberal reputation about how Fred Thompson had to ask for an applause. Here is a clip, mind you I have not listened to it yet that goes over this same subject.

Fred Thompson Presidential Announcement on Tonight Show

I finally found this video. Fred Thompson turned down an invitation to the UNH Republican Debate to announce his run on the tonight show.

Show me the money

Show me the money



These are some figures for the republican side for total monies raised and spent over this election thus far.

http://www.opensecrets.org/pres08/index.asp

Fundraising again

Fred Thompson has recently established a new "Tennessee finance leadership team". According to current reports Thompson has raised just north of 2.5 million dollars from Tennessee and his campaign believes this amount will continue to rise. Thompson has collected around 13 million dollars nationwide. The new team consists of

"Thompson’s fundraising team, announced Wednesday, includes an array of businessmen and Republican activists.

East Tennessee regional chairmen were listed as Mike and Kelly Conley of Knoxville, Jim Haslam II, Jim Powell, John “Thunder” Thornton and Steve West of Maryville.

Others on the list include two former Republican National Committee chairmen, Joe Rodgers and Mike Curb, both of Nashville, and former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary of Murfreesboro."

It seems that Tennessee has a lot of money to offer and it would be wise to continue and watch it donate money to the various candidates.





http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/oct/18/teamfredwell-isnot-dry/

National Polls

This is a collection of National Polls for the Republican Party. Not all of these polls are creditable but they do however give us a general sense of how the candidates are doing.

The "True" conservative?

Who is the true conservative in this race for the party nomination? Is that a good thing? As of right now, Thompson has come out ahead of the game in this respect. Thompson has had questionable choices in the past for this title such as fighting for the right to have an abortion, etc. However, his opponents such as Giuliani and McCain have much larger stains on their records such as Romney's choices in giving money to democratic candidates in the past and even voting for a democratic president. These sort of issues are appearing on the stage and while Thompson has some faults as well they are minimal compared to those the other candidates have hidden in their closets. This has allowed Thompson to pull ahead in the race to be the next Ronald Regan.

Have some fun

Something that is important in Iowa and NH is the fact that the candidates need to get down and dirty with the voters. Going to the bar and having a drink with the voters watching the patriots game is just one of the many ways a candidate may connect with the voters. Lobster shacks and barbeque's are also popular ways to show voters you are just like them. if a candidate does not have the ability to blend in to these two states they will have a significantly less of a chance to secure these states in their primaries. Candidates need to learn to be spontaneous and go with the flow. If the candidates are always rushing off after speeches and the like they might as well opt not to come. NH and Iowa are special places where we demand a high quality from our candidates. If you can't play by our rules, get off the field.

Can he debate?

I know everyone tuned into the Republican debate last week and saw Fred Thompson debate with the other GOP candidates for the party nomination. Thompson had a unique style of debating that allowed him to hold his ground combined with low expectations, this debate helped Thompson get out of the gutter so to speak. Candidates as Romney may have taken a few jabs at Thompson but these were taken in stride and Thompson maintained his composer. The main focus that Thompson wanted to hammer home were his economic policies if he were president. "For example, to make Social Security sound he'd slow the growth of benefit increases for future retirees by indexing them to inflation. To help middle-class taxpayers, he'd postpone the automatic growth of the alternative minimum tax."

This is one obstacle down but the nomination is far from being decided.