Oops--FDT and Cubans

It looks like we have FDT's first gaff of the election season. He apparently said some overly generalized things about Cubans getting apprehended while coming into the U.S. He was called on the carpet for it and wrote a clarification.

Personally I would like to read the entire contents of the speech to get the context of the statement. But occasionally everyone says something wrong. In this case, his statements do not seem to be in line with his actual beliefs. Hopefully it will not cause too much trouble.

Fred Coming To Indiana!

I just heard that FDT will be speaking at the Midwest Republican Leadership Conference on Saturday August 25th.

We look forward to seeing him here!

New Poll Roundup

A couple of new polls out regarding FDT. The first is a head to head poll of FDT against Edwards by Rasmussen. FDT trails by 9 points, down from 13 points earlier in the month, so things are trending better.

Suffolk University has put out a survey for the New Hampshire Republican primary with FDT tied in third place at 13% to Romney's 26% and Giuliani's 22%.

Strategic Vision has a new Iowa poll out with FDT in second behind Romney 23 to 17%. They also polled in Georgia in which FDT is leading Giuliani 25 to 20%.

Quinnipiac University has released polls from Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania. In these polls FDT comes in second in all three polls to Giuliani, 27-21, 25-17, and 29-15 respectively.

In summary: In the early GOP primaries/caucuses, FDT is either leading or very close in South Carolina, Georgia and Nevada. He is solidly in second place in Iowa and Florida. As he is becoming better known, he is improving in his head-to-head matchups with Democrats.

Fred Responds to Dems

This is one of the reasons that I love FDT. He phoned in a response to some of the recent criticisms aimed at him by the dems. Just like his response to Michael Moore, he responds with great humor.

Health Care

Another issue that will certainly be a major part of the next election is health care. FDT gave his take on what the Democrats will be proposing (whether it is HRC or Obama)--socialized medicine. I am guessing that the term that will be used is "single payer". FDT simply observes the Canadian and British systems and notes that we do not want that.

I agree with him. I look closer to home, however. We already have two single payer systems in place in this country--Medicare and the VA. Problems in the VA system were noted within the last year. But even the last two days have brought about discussions about the problem with the Medicare system.

The AMA has taken out ads calling for Congress to stop the cuts in Medicare payments because it will result in physicians taking on fewer patients. Basically this is fundamental economics--the government cuts payments, and doctors cut down on how much Medicare work they take on. What happens when all of the money comes from a "single payer" and that payer tries to cut the costs because it is taking the federal budget into the abyss? Doctors will start treating dogs, or go into consulting, or work for pharmaceutical companies, or ... anything else. Then you have the Canadian or British systems.

Hopefully FDT will go beyond coming out against the system that the Democrats will propose and make proposals of his own for reducing medical costs and making health insurance more accessible.

FDT Closing on Obama

A new Rasmussen poll has FDT behind Obama 43 to 41. The only problem with this report is that Real Clear Politics lists three other current polls (CNN, Cook and Newsweek) that have Obama up 11 to 14 points. The difference between the polls is that Rasmussen used "Likely Voters" and the others used "Registered Voters".

FDT is now up 4 points against Giuliani in Rasmussen's poll for the Republican nomination. These are strange polls with CNN has Giuliani up 30 to 19; Cook has the race at 20 to 20 Giuliani tied with McCain (who are they talking to?); Newsweek has Giuliani up 27 to 19. My guess is that there is a similar difference in these polls as in the general election polls: Rasmussen are probably doing Likely Voters versus the others doing Registered Republicans.

NEWS--FDT Was A Lobbyist!!!

The Associated Press has written a shocking article showing that FDT was a lobbyist for over 20 years!

Here is the summary put on the article by CNN:

• Fred Thompson has earned more than $1 million lobbying the federal government


• Actor-politician continues to position himself as a political outsider


• He is considering a run for president in 2008

OK, let's deal with this. We are talking about more than 20 years. Let's do a bit of math here: $1M over 20 years is $50,000 per year--it does not sound to me like he was a very busy lobbyist. If he was busy, he was either not effective or at least inexpensive.

On the specific people that he lobbied for, Power Line does a good job reviewing the specifics.

Why is the AP doing this? This is an attack piece. The basic premise is that FDT is "position[ing] himself as a political outsider". The only problem is that he has never (that I have read) said anything of the nature. If you mean by positioning that he is differentiating himself from everyone else in the race, then I would say he is.

This is not "news". This is an editorial with a desired outcome. I find it interesting (but not surprising) that the AP is writing articles based on the DNC talking points.

FDT Gaining in CA

A new poll released by San Jose State University puts FDT in second in California ahead of McCain. He is behind Giuliani 25 to 16.

DNC Attacking FDT

The Politico reports that the DNC is preparing mailings and talking points to start bashing FDT. It sounds to me like they feel threatened, which is encouraging. It also means that FDT will get plenty of more free publicity courtesy of the DNC.

Virginia Virtucon reports on the same article, but Riley took the time to read through the comments where he found several professed Democrats agreeing with FDT. The point that Riley was making is part of the reason that the DNC is attacking FDT is that they are afraid of his crossover appeal.

I'm not convinced that the quotes that he found are indicative of crossover, but I do think FDT will get the crossover vote when people start hearing him.

What Do the Polls Mean?

Michael Barone has written an article on Townhall.com trying to interpret poll results. He points out that the Democrat race seems to be fairly static while the Republican race is very fluid. Those of us following FDT are very aware and thrilled about the current fluidity of the Republican race.

I find very interesting is his explanation of WHY the Republican race is so fluid one main point:

Another reason is that Republican voters this cycle, like Democratic voters in 2003-04, fear their side will lose and are looking for a candidate with "electability." Democrats last time settled on John Kerry -- a miscalculation, it turned out. Republicans this time are still looking around. For that reason, Thompson's standing in pairings against Democrats may be as important for his candidacy as anything else. He's got to show that he's as electable as Giuliani, who has led Democrats in most but not all polls this year.

I have actually been wondering why FDT has not taken off MORE than what he already has. He clearly is more in line with Republican values than Giuliani, yet he is only 1 point up (Rasmussen). I think this is probably the reason.

Until just recently, Real Clear Politics combination poll has had Giuliani in front of Clinton. That just changed in the latest revision. FDT is consistently behind Clinton by 6%+. His deficit behind Obama is even greater (12%).

So, to this point, Giuliani is "more electable" than FDT. I am guessing that as FDT becomes more well known and his comparisons between the Democrats and FDT narrow, his lead over Giuliani will grow.

Time will tell.

FDT Leads in NV

A new Mason Dixon poll shows FDT leading Romney 25 to 20.

FDT To Announce Next Week?

WSMV in Nashville is reporting that FDT will announce next week (Tuesday) that he is running. The announcement is to be made in Nashville in what will become his headquarters.

There seems to be some disagreement about whether or not the announcement will be about FDT running. It seems a bit early to me, but it is certainly possible.

Fred and Tax Cuts

One major policy areas for any presidential candidate is taxes. In yesterday's Fred Thompson Report FDT wrote about the Bush tax cuts having a positive effect on the wellbeing of children.

He previously wrote an article in the Wall Street Journal talking about the economic growth that was brought about by those tax cuts.

It is clear that FDT is pro-lower taxes. What is not clear at this point is if a Thompson President would propose additional tax cuts. It is clear that he would work to make the Bush tax cuts permanent.

What Does FDT Believe?

I came across an article on Blogger News Network by Michael Fields concerning FDT. First, he asserts that he thinks that FDT's recent articles have been written by a ghost writer. I suppose it is possible, but based on his response to Michael Moore and other observations that I have read about him, I do not believe that assertion. Second, he asserts that FDT's positions are not well known. That may be. But I would argue that even those announced in the race only have their positions known in caricature. Do you really know how McCain would deal with Iran? The economy? Earmarks?

Fields then pulls out some of FDT's statements and then messes up the analysis.

I have been thinking for a couple of days now that FDT has done a great job laying out how he thinks about things. In the next few days I will make several posts bringing together things that FDT has written or said on various issues to lay out what he thinks.

I hope people will find it useful.

I've Got A Crush on Fred Thompson's Politics

I ran across an entertaining music video on YouTube.

Enjoy.

FDT in Second--Gallop

Angus Reid reports on a Gallup poll just released that puts FDT behind Giuliani 28% to 19%. I think the difference between the Gallup poll and the Rasmussen poll is that Gallup is asking Republicans and Republican Leaning voters, while Rasmussen is asking voters likely to vote in the primary. That makes sense to me in that the ones that are likely to vote in the primary tend to be more conservative (and passionate about it) than those who are Republicans, but not primary voters.

I hope it also means that they haven't been paying attention and will be won over when they start hearing FDT.

Fred Second in Iowa

MSNBC is reporting that a new Mason-Dixon poll is out that places FDT second in Iowa, 8% behind Mitt Romney 25% to 17%. BUT he is in third place if you count "undecided" at 21%. This is the first major poll from Iowa this month. The highest that FDT had polled in prior polls was 10%. Giuliani is dropping some (18.6% to 15%), but McCain is dropping WAY off. He was averaging 19% in the 5 prior polls and only gets 6% in the Mason-Dixon poll. Mitt went from abut 20% in to 25%.

Fred Comments in England

Townhall has posted FDT's comments at the Policy Exchange in London.

FDT's comments were largely aimed at the rising danger of Iran and the need to be unified in dealing with the problem there. Fred emphasized the strength of the relationship between Great Brittan and the United States. He also emphasized the use of NATO in context of international agreement. He did not explicitly disparage the UN, but it was remarkable that when talking about international cooperation FDT talked about NATO rather than the UN.

Fred Leads!

In the latest Rasmussen Report, FDT leads Giuliani 28% to 27%. The difference in the poll from last week is that Newt Gingrich was excluded from the poll this week due to various statements that Newt has made indicating that he will not run.

This is the first time that Rasmussen has polled anyone in the lead for the Republicans except Giuliani.

In a related poll, FDT trails Hillary by 5 points.

Indiana Fred Connection

A new article in The Weekly Standard shows an Indiana connection to the FDT growing campaign--David McIntosh. Those of us in Indiana remember him for two things: first, being an effective Representative from Muncie; second, being a terrible Republican candidate for Governor in 2000. He was a terrible candidate not because of his positions, but rather because he ran an ineffective campaign.

He is very conservative and is apparently being used by FDT as a policy adviser to the campaign. I consider this very good news.

How Will the Left Attack FDT?

Here is the first view at how the left (read Mainstream Media) will try to attack FDT. This is a Newsweek article by Holly Bailey that attempts to disparage FDT's conservative credentials.

The allegations are:

1. FDT did not go after Bill Clinton as if he was the anti-Christ.
   
2. FDT really supports abortion rights because he opposed criminalizing abortion and because he did not favor an amendment protecting life.
   
3. FDT's support for Campaign Finance Reform
   
4. FDT's including Republicans in his campaign finance investigations in the Senate
   

Now this is being treated as new information by Newsweek. I think most of us have known about these issues already and understand that, in several ways, his positions on these items are MORE conservative rather than less. But the point that I find interesting is that the attack will be that FDT is not a true conservative.

I think this will be a failed approach by the MSM. First, it is not correct, so true conservatives will not be detered. Second, it will make him very palatable by the "moderates" or conservative Democrats. So, it will not hurt him in the primary season and it will help him in the general election.

Works for me.

FDT Not To Run?

I ran across a couple of articles by the PR director of the Constitution Party, Tom Kovach. If you don't know who they are, that is OK. They are just one of the groups that were disgusted with the lack of conservative principles in the Republican party that decided that the way to fix it was to go form another mini-party that will never have influence. As a side note: I remember a quote from Norman Swartzkoff autobiography from when he was disgusted with the Army. He was ready to leave and a wise friend told him that he could leave the Army or he could stay until he had enough seniority to fix the problems. But if he left, the bad guys won. That is my problem with groups like the Libertarian Party, Constitution Party and for that matter the Green Party.

Anyway, Tom Kovach has an article in Renew America that basically alleges that FDT is not intending to run, but rather has already set himself up to raise a bunch of money, declare his lymphoma to be a problem, then give the money back to the GOP. Kovach thinks that he will be unable to raise the money he was hoping due to Bush's position on immigration.

Kovach also had an article in World Net Daily back on May 4th basically stating that the main thing that he did not like about FDT was that he is a "globalist" due to the fact that he voted for expanding NAFTA.

Now Kovach, from my point of view, is a bit of a nut. In the World Net Daily article, he takes the NAFTA vote and alleges that FDT is anti-borders. In the Renew America article, he takes the conservative base's dislike for Bush and the immigration debacle and thinks that the money will flow to the Constitution Party. Kovach misinterpreted the reason for FDT revealing his lymphoma. It wasn't so he could have an "out", but rather to make sure that it would not become a campaign issue later. He also misinterprets the reason for FDT NOT announcing his candidacy for the Presidency even though he accurately sees the attention that FDT is getting by NOT announcing. He is getting better traction as a candidate without declaring this early.

FDT will announce when he is ready. Don't let weird stuff like this worry you.

FDT in Great Brittain

Wondering where FDT is? Politico reports that he has headed across the pond to meet with Lady Margaret Thatcher and make a foreign policy speech.

FDT Leads In SC!

A new AP/Ipsos poll puts FDT at 25% and Giuliani at 21%. There has been a lot of talk about who Fred hurts most coming into the race. I don't know if it is directly attributable to Fred, but McCain has dropped to 7% in South Carolina.

AP Article Handicapping Early State Races

Here is an opinion article (which aren't?) from the AP talking about the Republican races early primaries and caucuses.

I'm With Fred Review

This link is to a review of the "social media" friendliness of FDT's web site from Elephant Biz. The site has reviewed all of the other Republican candidate's web sites as well.

FDT on Harry Reed

FDT has written an article on Harry Reed's public statements regarding the war in Iraq and those leading it.

Welcome

I would like to provide a place for supporters of Fred Thompson in Indiana to gather and share ideas about his candidacy. We will post items of interest regarding Fred Thompson--news accounts, polls, policy statements, articles written by FDT. Hopefully as time goes on we will begin to talk about events here in Indiana to support FDT for President.

If you would like to help with this blog, please email me at joelharris@comcast.net.