Thompson Drops Out — For Real This Time
Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson quit the Republican presidential race on Tuesday, after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states. “Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States.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’s fate was sealed last Saturday in the South Carolina primary, when he finished third in a state that he had said he needed to win.
He didn’t endorse any other candidate in his farewell speech, but he was one of the few members of Congress who backed John McCain in 2000. Former South Carolina Gov. David Beasley harshly attacked him after Saturday’s primary, blaming him for Mike Huckabee’s loss and accusing him of working to make sure McCain won. While Fred didn’t win anywhere, he’s still polling around 9 to 10%, approximately the gap right now between McCain and Huckabee. I’m sure either front-runner would love to have Fred’s supporters, although Beasley’s remarks aren’t likely to endear him to Huckabites. Or vice versa. Stay tuned.
Edited for clarity — sometimes carpool time arrives before I finish my thought process.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:12 pm
While running around my office like a chicken with my head cut off this afternoon — trying to get shipments out and already late to pick up a kid at school — I had 3 people stop me and ask, “Have you heard?” I thought someone had been killed or something…. One (a grown man!) then asked, “Now, who will you vote for?” I swear he was tearing up. I just looked at him and smiled and said, “Hillary, still.”
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
And I’ll bet he was gobsmacked at the thought. Fred’s supporters must have been living in the fair state of denial for some time now.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:46 pm
He had an incredulous look on his face and then muttered, “Oh yeah, I forgot. You’re one of them.” Gobsmacked is a good word. Life in Fred Country today is quite Blue.
January 22nd, 2008 at 4:58 pm
“…one of them.”
Color me completely unsurprised at that response.
January 22nd, 2008 at 6:00 pm
Nancy, you have just joined my heroines list.
January 23rd, 2008 at 8:58 am
Bill, I am honored! Are you guys Letterman fans? He was in rare form on last night’s show.
January 25th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Nancy, we can’t stay awake long enough — something I suspect we have in common with Fred. Maybe the only thing.