Newcomers to the race

Great Resource

2007-10-18T10:39:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-18T09:23:00.001-07:00

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?

2007-10-18T09:19:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-18T09:15:00.001-07:00

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

2007-10-18T09:00:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-18T08:46:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-17T12:49:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-10-17T12:39:00.000-07:00

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

2007-10-17T12:33:00.000-07:00

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?

2007-10-17T12:16:00.001-07:00

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.

Silent run

2007-09-26T10:02:00.001-07:00

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/08/15/us/politics/15thompson.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Email from Friends of Thompson

2007-09-26T09:53:00.001-07:00

This is an email letter that I received from the Friends of Thompson organization. It claims to be a weekly update but ironically this is my first letter. Thats beside the point though. This is an example of candidates continuously trying to get their messages out. If you don't constantly remind people who you are they won't remember you on voting day and in this case they want your money. It appears that Thompson will be using matching funds from the government thus everything he raises will be public and limited. As such candidates need large numbers of small contributions and this is one way to get some money.

"Dear Friend,

As Fred Thompson continues to bring his positive message of security, unity, and prosperity to American voters, an important deadline is approaching. September 30th marks the last day of the 3rd quarter fundraising period, and we need your help to finish out this quarter strongly.

Poll numbers indicate that support for Senator Thompson is strong. His conservative message and common-sense approach to government is resonating with voters across the country. With a strong showing of support from friends like you, his campaign can build on the success of the first month and go into the primary season well-prepared.

There are numerous ways that you can help out:

* Join the Kick-Off Champions today. Even though it's entering the final days of competition, there is still time for you to pledge and meet your fundraising goal. Those who meet their goal will receive a special kick-off champion pin.
* Make an individual contribution at fred08.com. Between September 6th and September 30th, we're tracking the community in America with the highest per capita contribution amount to Fred's campaign through our Hometown Heroes program. While on the campaign trail, Fred will personally visit the winning hometown. All of those who contribute will be invited to participate... regardless of the amount of donation. Contribute today and bring Fred to your town.
* Sign up today to make a monthly recurring donation today. This program will automatically deduct your selected amount monthly, so you can continue your support for Fred Thompson in the future with automated convenience.

Fred entered the race with less than 30 days in the quarter. We need a final push. You can be confident that each individual contribution to this effort has a direct impact on Fred's campaign. Make the difference. Support Fred today."

Bang, Thompson shot critics.

2007-09-24T12:12:00.000-07:00

Fred Thompson made had a good performance the other day while making a speech about gun control according to an online article that I was reading.

http://campaignspot.nationalreview.com/post/?q=ZDVlY2I2OTRmOTU5YjI2ZDIwZjUyYWVjMTA2ODcwNjY=

Is this surprising? I hope not. Hes a republican and the NRA is one of the most powerful lobby group in the nation. If you challenge the NRA they may just be your kryptonite. The NRA has ruined a many of good candidacies and thus taking a position in favor of this lobbying group is a wise decision. I suppose Thompson would know about the sheer power of the NRA given the fact that he was a lobbyist himself. It may be a relatively unorganized lobby till you challenge them. They take mailing campaigns and media campaigns to a new scale. I'm not surprised on his position. I believe experience told him this.

Fundraising in Texas

2007-09-24T08:54:00.000-07:00

I've been trying very hard to get information on Fred Thompson's funding plans and for this reason I decided to dedicate yet another entry to his search for more money.

In an article that I was reading it lays out how Texas will bankroll Thompson's candidacy.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/5158538.html

"But Thompson is banking on Texas, with its track record as a political ATM for conservative causes, to fuel his campaign. Aides say he also is counting on Texas, with its 140 delegates to the Republican National Convention, to propel him to the front of the pack if no candidate clinches the nomination before the state's March 4 primary."

Well I suppose this is a start. He is behind the other candidates in funds but at least he is starting his fund raising for a national campaign. Maybe Thompson simply needed a grace period to get the lay of the land. Apparently there were a few representatives and senators from Texas that signed a petition to get Thompson in the race. If this is true then maybe Thompson will loose NH and get Texas. This might be a small glimpse at Thompson's plan and it may work since there are a lot more delegates in Texas than in NH but he would be sacrificing the momentum gained in NH and would thus make it even harder then it is now to raise money. Fred is finally entering the race.

Funding?

2007-09-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

I'm happy to see that Thompson is showing some signs of life, I was beginning to think that he died somewhere along the way. I saw an article online about Fred Thompson fund raising that I was so shocked I had to read it.

http://www.knoxnews.com/news/2007/sep/24/thompson-set-for-fundraising-run/

Campaign spokesman Darrel Ng outlines the route by which Thompson will take by hosting a series of lunches and dinners to support his campaign. If you have $250-1000 just lying around maybe you should attend. This is one way to get around the national laws against fund raising and matching funds. Just make people pay for really expensive meals. I hope theres at least good entertainment. Apparently Thompson's campaign managers believe that most of Thompson's support comes from Tenn and thus his campaign will focus around it.

Thompson is moving away from the online fund raising and toward the states.I look forward to watching this unfold and seeing if he can raise enough money to stay in this race.

Demographics of NH

2007-09-24T05:28:00.000-07:00

We need to understand our make up in order to understand our political positions here in NH. In the past NH has been well known for its industrial base but currently NH has switched to a more service based economy. NH currently has one of the highest rates of income in the United States and one of the lowest unemployment rates. This leads to a solid middle class state which makes representation kind of hard for candidates who stress their policies to help the underprivileged. There has been a population change in NH where more and more people are coming from out of state (most of which have higher income and education). These new comers form two groups, those from the Midwest who are democrats and Republicans from the Boston area who are fed up with the democrats. The Republicans move into the state due to the taxes and cheaper homes while those from the Midwest are moving to get better paying jobs.These are very important factors because party identification rarely changes. Once your a Republican your a Republican and vice versa for the Democrats. Once these new comers come they remain affiliated with their previous party and bring their political backgrounds with them.

What is the impact of this population change? Well its simple. There has been an increase in housing cost as supply and demand dictates as well as a decrease in school age populations. NH will be one of the oldest states in the United States in a few years which means we have more old people to take care of that are not supporting the economy. NH does however like I mentioned before have one of the unemployment and poverty rate in the nation.

With all these new arrivals to NH the political landscape is slowly changing. NH has been primarily a Republican State up until recently I would say citing the recent midterm elections where the Democrats took over. There is a decline in religion and an increase in education. In NH there are 43% of the voters who register as undeclared. This may be a little unclear or misleading due to the fact that these voters really are not undeclared. They are actually leaning toward one party or another but simply don't wish to tell you which party they are leaning toward. So in retrospect, I would like to point out that there is a difference between undeclared and independent.

When looking at the undeclared vote we need to keep a few things in mind. For example, NH allows you to register as an undeclared, vote for a party, and then return to undeclared status after you voted. This coupled with registration on voting day (motor voter bill) was designed to increase voter turnout. 90% of registered Republicans and Democrats vote while only 50% of the undeclared vote. Those who register under a party affiliation are simply more politically aware and active than those who are undeclared. We also have people moving into the state as previously mentioned who simply don't know where they stand on particular issues and become undeclared. Eventually the politically active individuals will become party affiliated and leave their undeclared status behind.

As it is evident, NH is in a constant state of flux due to the perpetual inflow of individuals. We have one of the fastest growing states in the nation and our numbers even surpass the national average. Put these together and we can start to see our political landscape here in NH.

Front Runners and the Media

2007-09-24T05:21:00.000-07:00

We need to ask ourselves a major question when we are talking about the primaries. Is it a good thing to be a front runner? This is actually a loaded question, more so then one would realize. Yes being a front runner has its advantages like, "hey, people are actually going to vote for me!", but with the good comes the bad. As a front runner the media and citizens generally tend to target you as a viable news story. Front runners need to be consistent due to the fact they are always in the spot light. Positions taken up in say NH need to be consistent with those taken up in say Florida. Finally, front runners are always being judged by the media and their chances at winning. This leads to the factor that front runners need to do better then everyone expected in order to combat the mundane news coverage that they received else their victory would be short lived and they would lose all the positive momentum they would have gained from the early primaries if they had not been front runners.

Electability and Coalitions

2007-09-24T05:11:00.000-07:00

Coalitions are important when running for president.This is a major factor in determining your electability and thus your party nomination. There have been party nominations in the past who did not win the primary simply because they were seen as better suited to unite larger masses of people of different socio-economic status then their opposition. The elite score is a scale by which coalitions may be judged. If the score is 1 then the candidate has been able to appeal to both the underprivileged as well as the better off equally. A score under one leads toward the underprivileged and vice versa, a score over one the rich. Well balanced coalitions look very appealing to potential investors allowing candidates to fund raise more efficiently in an ever more competitive primary.

The Eisenhower factor

2007-09-24T05:01:00.000-07:00

In 1952, Eisenhower ran for president. Running his campaign from France, working with NATO he never once stepped foot in the United States. Why did he have such a good showing? Well the answers simple, his campaign managers turned his candidacy into entertainment making Eisenhower look interesting. Eisenhower had a military record and had a large name recognition facto going for him. This combined with hitting lots of issues over and over again gave Eisenhower an edge. Eisenhower was, we will use this term sparingly, electable. His sheer popularity carried him through the race.

Now we have Fred Thompson,who has hardly been in NH and has some entertainment value seeing as he is an actor on the hit show Law and Order. Will this same scenario likely to occur again? I don't think so. Since that time NH has evolved in political awareness. Our primary in the past was insignificant but now in the lime light our significance has increased as has the political awareness of our citizens. NH citizens expect more of the candidates which Thompson is not giving and this will cripple him more by giving him bad press coming out of NH and lead to a decrease in funding in later states.

Poll

2007-09-20T10:48:00.000-07:00

I would just like to take a moment and comment on the recent post I just put up. I put this poll up for a reason. This reason is very simple, don't always trust the facts and figures you are given. Polls can be useful when done right and they can also be very harmful. Sometimes the media uses polls just like this one to generate stories. Internet polling is hard for several reasons including people may vote more than once, your democratic is not diverse, and its missing the element of randomness needed to give polls credibility. Just for fun, vote in this poll. It will not influence any commentaries of mine nor will it serve any more of purpose then its fun to do. SO next time when your participating in a poll or listening to the news that cites poll data. Make sure the information and or process is credible and that everything was carried out in the proper manor.

Poll

2007-09-20T10:44:00.001-07:00

Grassroots?

2007-09-20T09:06:00.002-07:00

Can we really call Fred Thompson's campaign a grassroots run in the primary? To answer this question I decided to look at the base station based out of NH where in my opinion one of the most important primaries is being conducted. I can't find one. Events held by supporters is not the same as campaign managers putting together a strong coalition. A professor of History, having a strong background in the history of the NH primary, who wishes to remain anonymous believes that Thompson may run in NH simply by name recognition. This would involve a strategy of few appearances and keeping away from negative media until the primary sometime in near January. This may be hard for two very important and almost crippling reasons. the first reason pertains to the media. Fred Thompson simply keeps getting bad press. There goes a saying that no press is bad press but in this situation this is horrible press. If a candidate is trying to bypass the NH primary, like Eisenhower in the past, will need all the support he can get. NH citizens have come to expect a lot from their candidates which is the second reason. NH citizens may not vote for Thompson simply based on the principal that he did not show up. Failing to make a good showing in NH would be like amputating an arm or leg. It would make life very difficult in the future primaries. This being said, there is still plenty of time to make a change in the way this campaign is being conducted but that time is running out and with out changes this candidacy is doomed to fail.

Fred Thompson Announces Plans to Enter Race Sept. 6

2007-09-20T09:06:00.001-07:00

This is a video of Fred Thompson announcing his run in the primary.

Illegal Immigration

2007-09-19T13:22:00.001-07:00

While I was at it, I thought I might put this video up as well for you to watch. Things to keep in mind while you watch the video: How he presents himself, his policy, and how well he supports his reasoning. This list almost exactly mirrors what citizens in NH look for in their candidates as they come through the state.

Abortion

2007-09-19T13:18:00.001-07:00

Abortion seems to be a big issue with not only college students but everyone. Here is Thompson on the issue.

Does he have a clue?

2007-09-19T13:04:00.000-07:00

You would think that if you are campaigning in a particular state you would know the issues for that state. According to an article published by the associate press Thompson's response to one of the questions was none other than, "Gosh, no one has told me that there's any major reserves in the Everglades, but maybe that's one of the things I need to learn while I'm down here,". I must say this looks bad at first glance. A result of this particular situation could have drastic ramifications on the general public faith in his competency. Thompson took it with a light heart but this may not be a laughing matter. He needs to stop playing catch up and get ahead of the crowd.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gAWfZAurPPogCq24HY4xcOZEAwOw

Missed the eight ball again

2007-09-19T12:57:00.000-07:00

According to Boston Globe, Fred Thompson was one of the only presidential candidates to not know about the October debates in NH being canceled. This may hurt Thompson some more in this state because he really needs to make an impression on the citizenry in order to have a good showing. Without a good showing in NH he may not have enough momentum to carry the other states and over all party nomination. This is a very competitive game of pool with very few chances to hit the eight ball. Thompson needs to sink his shot and do it quickly.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/new_hampshire/articles/2007/09/18/octobers_nh_debates_canceled_thompson_didnt_know/

Long awaited hero?

2007-09-17T08:33:00.000-07:00

The question that everyone seems to be asking is whether or not Fred Thompson is the long awaited hero of the Primary season. In past primaries the republican party has had strong front runners or a unified collalition backing a single candidate. This time it seems to be flip floped as the democrates have their two contenders as Obama and Clinton. The republicans need a unifying force and it appears that Fred Thompson will not be ray of light in the darkness that everyone had hoped for.

What seems to be hurting Thompson more than anything was the bar was set so high for him. HE may be doing well compared to other candidates but he could still loose if he does not meet expectations. That is how it works in the world of the national nomination. Candidates who win but win by slight margins when they were expected to have a landslide victory may find themselves without the party nomination in favor of a candidate they beat. Its the way things work and this may be the cause of Thompsons recent lack of support.

Ive been focosing on the major medias such as the Washington Post and the New York Times for most of my news. I'm going to start looking at a new age of media that is starting to emerge as a new twist on something old. I'm going to look at bloggers and other internet based reporting mediums to see what they have to say.

The start of the obsticles

2007-09-17T08:15:00.000-07:00

Watching from the sidelines as his polling numbers went up is one thing, now being in the presidential race is a completely different ball game. Reading an article on the fox news website

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,296882,00.html

It appears that Fred Thompson is having a rough start in his campaign. This article is a big Thompson bashing fest. One of its major points is that Thompson is not in tune with the republican party but does not even know about land mark issues such as Terri Schiavo. It appears from first glance that these seemingly, no comment answers are giving the general public the perception that Fred Thompson is just fooling around in his campaign. I still reserve no comments to that effect pending more research.

Going further down this same page it goes on to talk about as a lawyer Fred Thompson represented some really bad people such as terrorist from Libya as well as defending pro-choice though he claims to be pro-life. I will not defend these actions past, he was a lawyer. What I did see this particular article mention was that Lawyers may not always choose their cases. For example, someone has to defend the known murderer of a little school girl . Its the way our legal system works. I will simply leave it at that.

A warm reception

2007-09-13T10:00:00.001-07:00

As most of you probably know, there was a Republican Debate held in the town of Durham NH (site of the University of New Hampshire campus) on September 5th 2007. On this nationally televised debate, hosted by big news network Fox news, the Republican candidates each eagerly awaited their turn to bash or verbally abuse the new arrival. Thompson was absent from the debate just having announced his candidacy and the proctors first question pertained to his absence. The candidates explained how they have been campaigning for months making hundreds of appearances at town hall style meetings all throughout New Hampshire and getting to know the New Hampshire electorate. It's out of respect to NH to come early and get to know the people claimed the candidates on stage. It appeared to be a general consensus that Thompson should not run.

However, is this the case? According to Dante Scala (well known political scientist) and James Pindell (Boston Globe) in an interview with New Hampshire Public Television, the republicans and the voters seem to be waiting out for a candidate to come in and save the day. Whether or not Thompson will be that candidate it still remains to be seen. In addition, these two individuals remarked on the newcomers obstacles to be overcome. They claimed that everyone who needed to be talked to has been talked to by the other candidates and that staking a claim this late in the game may be hard. It's not impossible claims Scala. If Thompson was to spend several weeks in NH he may have a chance. Both experts agree however that it will be difficult due to the fact there is no guarantee that Thompson will stay in NH for that long and he may suffer as a result. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens.

If anyone would like to watch this interview go to the URL: http://www.nhptv.org/outlook/sprogramdate.asp?prog_num_id=1493

That was the New Hampshire Public Television link to the Show NH Outlooks. Click on the view episode on the right hand side of the screen and you can watch the interview in its entirety.

Primary Dates

2007-09-13T09:45:00.000-07:00

I was going through the Washington Post when I discovered this map with a few dates put in.

There are a few comments I would like to impose on these dates. I talked with Secretary of State Gardner (for those of you who don't know who he is, he sets the date for the NH primary) and he told me that NH has not designated a time for its primary, he will not tell anyone about his thought process, and only local newspapers will hear about it first. I will explain in more detail how this date came to be in a different entry.

Voting Record

2007-09-13T09:39:00.001-07:00

I was looking around for information on our favorite new candidate when I stumbled across his voting records. I got this particular chart from the Washington Post and I thought I would share it with you.

"Date	Vote	Position	GOP opinion	DEM opinion
11/19/02	Vote 253: H J RES 124: H.J.Res. 124; A joint resolution making further continuing appropriations for the fiscal year 2003, and for other purposes.	Yes	Yes	Yes
11/19/02	Vote 252: H R 3210: H.R. 3210 Conference Report ; Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002	Yes	Yes	Yes
11/19/02	Vote 251: On the Cloture Motion: Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Conference Report to Accompany H.R. 3210; Terrorism Risk Insurance Act of 2002	Yes	Yes	Yes
11/19/02	Vote 250: On the Nomination: Confirmation Dennis W. Shedd, of South Carolina, to be U.S. Circuit Judge	Yes	Yes	No
11/19/02	Vote 249: H R 5005: H.R. 5005, as amended; Homeland Security Act of 2002	Yes	Yes	Yes
11/19/02	Vote 248: On the Cloture Motion: Motion to Invoke Cloture on H.R. 5005, as amended; Homeland Security Act of 2002	Yes	Yes	Yes
11/19/02	Vote 247: H R 5005: Thompson For Gramm Amdt. No. 4901; To establish the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.	Yes	Yes	No
11/19/02	Vote 246: On the Motion: Motion to Waive CBA Re: Thompson Amdt. No. 4901; To establish the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.	Yes	Yes	No
11/19/02	Vote 245: H R 5005: Lieberman Amdt. No. 4953; Of a perfecting nature.	No	No	Yes
11/15/02	Vote 244: On the Cloture Motion: Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Gramm Amdt. No. 4901; To establish the Department of Homeland Security, and for other purposes.	Yes	Yes	No
11/14/02	Vote 243: S 1214: Conference Report to Accompany S. 1214; Maritime Transportation Security Act of 2002	Yes	Yes	Yes
11/13/02	Vote 242: H R 5005: Motion to Table Feingold Amdt. No. 4900; To provide that Members of Congress shall not receive a cost of living adjustment in pay during fiscal year 2003.	Yes	Yes	Yes
11/13/02	Vote 241: H R 5005: Motion to Table Lieberman Amdt. No. 4471; To provide a substitute.	Yes	Yes	No
11/13/02	Vote 240: On the Cloture Motion: Motion to Invoke Cloture on the Gramm Amdt. No. 4738 to H.R. 5005, upon reconsideration; To prevent terrorist attacks within the United States.	Yes	Yes	Yes
10/16/02	Vote 239: H R 5010: Conference Report H.R. 5010; Department of Defense Appropriations Act, 2003	Yes	Yes	Yes
10/16/02	Vote 238: H R 3295: H.R. 3295 Conference Report; Help America Vote Act of 2002	Yes	Yes	Yes
10/11/02	Vote 237: H J RES 114: H.J.Res. 114; Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq Resolution of 2002	Yes	Yes	Yes
10/10/02	Vote 236: S J RES 45: Durbin Amdt. No. 4865; To amend the authorization for the use of the Armed Forces to cover an imminent threat posed by Iraq's weapons of mass destruction rather than the continuing threat posed by Iraq.	No	No	Yes
10/10/02	Vote 235: S J RES 45: Levin Amdt. No. 4862; To authorize the use of the United States Armed Forces, pursuant to a new resolution of the United Nations Security Council, to destroy, remove, or render harmless Iraq's weapons of mass destruction, nuclear weapons-usable material, long-range ballistic missiles, and related facilities, and for other purposes.	No	No	No
10/10/02	Vote 234: S J RES 45: Byrd Amdt. No. 4868; To provide statutory construction that constitutional authorities remain unaffected and that no additional grant of authority is made to the President not directly related to the existing threat posed by Iraq."	No	No	No

Unintelligent people?

2007-09-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

This is going to be a very simple post and one of the last posts that I'm going to use from Thompson's website. I found it a curiosity that when you elect to sign your friends up it gives you this preexisting template. Whether this is a good thing or not I will allow you to decide. I find it deplorable as I feel it completely undermines the NH political awareness that its citizens posses.

"I'm one of tens of thousands of Americans supporting Sen. Fred Thompson for President. I'd like you to join with me and Fred and all our friends in changing the political landscape in 2008. Senator Thompson has entered the Presidential race, and to show my support I signed on as a "Friend of Fred Thompson." I'm writing to ask you to consider doing the same.

Senator Thompson has been a prosecutor, a Senator, and yes, he's had a couple of movie roles. More importantly, he's exactly what we need right now - a consistent conservative who can unite our nation and help lead us in fixing our problems, not exploiting them for political purposes.

He's plain-spoken and means what he says. On the immigration bill, for example, Fred calls it like he sees it: "No matter how much lipstick Washington tries to slap onto this legislative pig, it's not going to win any beauty contests. We should scrap this "comprehensive" immigration bill until the government can show the American people that we have secured the borders -- or at least made great headway."

On folks in Washington who want to raise our taxes: "They only want to target the rich. They're off target again, just like they were with the alternative minimum tax. Remember, that was supposed to just target the rich. A word of advice to anyone in the middle class - don't stand anywhere near that target."

On leadership: "We're going to have to be more focused, we're going to have to be smarter and we're going to have to be more determined and we're going to have to be more together as a nation than we've ever been before."

Fred is going to do things differently. He wants to focus on returning to our founding principles of self-governance, free markets and the rule of law. Those are ideas we're all invested in - focused on building a stronger, more competitive and innovative America that remains a beacon for the world today and for the next generation.

I'm supporting Fred Thompson for President and I hope you will too. Visit www.Fred08.com to sign up. Thanks for your interest. I hope you'll join me and support Fred Thompson for President.

Sincerely,

You Name goes here"

The Long and Winding Trail

2007-09-13T09:11:00.000-07:00

For those of you who were thinking? Where will Thompson go? Here is an answer from his website. Thats a long and winding trail, hopefully he won't get lost along the way.

In case any one wants to see Thompson as he comes through NH here are some times and locations you might be able to catch him.
1) Portsmouth, NH Saturday, September 8 Evening
2) Manchester, NH Sunday, September 9 Afternoon
3) Nashua, NH Sunday, September 9 Evening

The Lion's Den

2007-09-13T08:33:00.000-07:00

A logical place to start a project such as this would be in the lion’s den. We should go and take a look at the candidate’s website.

Fred Thompson’s website (although rather dainty) is located at the URL: http://www.fred08.com/index.aspx

Without a true base of operations in NH, Thompson appears to be running his “grass roots” campaign from the internet. The site gives people the opportunity to donate money, raise money, tell friends about his candidacy, talk to local media organizations, track his success (as it arises) through the media, and plan events for supports such as you.

Trying to take advantage of the new media just like other candidates, Thompson has made available downloads of the sorts. From speeches to little widgets (Small programs designed to run on your computer) all promoting Fred Thompson.

Preliminary analysis of this issue suggests that Thompson may have some difficulty in NH. A state that has traditionally made itself accustomed to special treatment by the candidates. They want the candidates to come in person, to set up a base of operations that they have access to, and they want to get to know the “real” candidates before the voting takes pace. A website such as this may be helpful in a national bid for the presidency once a candidate has his or her party nomination but it may find become more of a burden in this particular state.

His background is important when we are discussing candidates. So let’s take a look and see what his website has to say about his back ground and his policies.

Glorified childhood of a saint, I’m sure that’s how it was.

According to the website, Thompson Married when he was in high school which may play a role in some of his policies later on and being the first member of his family to go to college he attended Memphis State University for a undergrad degree in philosophy and political science. Thompson did manage to get a law degree from Vanderbilt University so this proves that well … it actually doesn’t prove anything.

Finding my way in life, only getting lost a few times

Thompson starts his young adult years as campaign helpers for numerous individuals meeting lots of influential people and served as a lawyer of a great many years which lead him to his career as a movie star. Those of you who enjoy a good law show/ mystery might recognize Thompson as a character from the hit TV show Law and Order where he portrays a district attorney. Taking a break from the show biz, Thompson ran for the US Senate and was reelected for a second term.

Legislation, so few it may be summed up in three words: Taxes, Security and weak government

Need I say more? Thompson spent his time in the senate pursuing a weaker national government returning power to the states and the individual, looking for tax breaks, and increasing national security.

Now, what would the Republican Party say to that?

Thompson married in high school, been divorced, and remarried. Would this influence his policies on family structure? We will just have to keep on looking through his past. I just found the answer. In recent years Thompson has been making lectures to the American people on such subjects as the war on terror, national security, the economy, and that’s right “[t]he need to support families and to protect our children from the harder edges of culture”.

Well let’s just say that already there seems to be some contradictions, nothing serious but I’m still a little skeptical about his chances in NH without a solid foundation to which he may base his operations out of and the complete lack of a grass roots campaign. Only time and further research will tell.

Objective

2007-09-13T06:07:00.000-07:00

This blog was designed primarily to follow and observe the political campaign of Fred Thompson. Throughout these postings we will look at various elements of the campaign.
1) Evaluate the background of the candidate
2) Observe the political landscape in NH
3) The campaigns fundraising
4) The strategy for the campaign
5) The campaigns organization
6) How the campaign uses the media
7) How the media protrays the campaign
8) The message the campaign is trying to get across
9) Evaluate the success or failure of the campaign

In order to accomplish these tasks I have joined the campaign trail with Fred Thompson in NH. I will not only use that information but will also be conducting interviews with such prominent political minds such as Dante Scala. Students perspectives will be included as time goes on and im hoping to get some politcal campaign managers involved with this as well. The final medium will be a 13-15 page paper on the above topics.