Fred Thompson Drops Out
January 22nd, 2008 at 03:27pm Matt Margolis
Inevitable for sure… but still shocking, considering all the hype leading up to his entering the race.
Republican Fred Thompson, the actor-politician who attracted more attention as a potential presidential candidate than as a real one, quit the race for the White House 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“Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States.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,” the former Tennessee senator said in a brief 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.
In the statement, Thompson did not say whether he would endorse any of his former rivals. He was one of a handful of members of Congress who supported Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2000 in his unsuccessful race against George W. Bush for the party nomination.
Reaction later.
UPDATE: So, what’s my reaction? I’m not sure what to think. I never understood the Fred Fever that boiled in the months leading up to his officially throwing his hat in. But he dominated in our online straw poll, and most bloggers I knew were all for him. I said some months ago that Fred Thompson’s best day happened before he got in the race, and that appears to be the case. While his message may have resonated, his performance otherwise was lacking. The big question now is whom will his supporters turn to now? There’s no simple answer. Thompson came into the race as an alternative to the original slate of candidates… I’m not sure if Thompson’s support was really about Thompson himself or if it was about a desperate desire to find anoint someone as the next Reagan.
Who will this help? Some are saying it will help Huckabee, but I’m not so sure. If it does, than that should be a concern for Rudy Giuliani, who is banking his entire candidacy on Florida and is in 3rd place with 19%, according to the latest Rasmussen poll, with Huckabee at 13%.
The fact is, it is a different race now than it was last fall. Thompson supporters may be more open to the original top tier candidates than they were. I guess we’ll find out soon who is really helped by Thompson’s departure.
Entry Filed under: Campaign 2008, Republicans
21 Comments
1. Magnum Serpentine | January 22nd, 2008 at 3:31 pm
I bet huck had wished he had dropped out before South Carolina. Good luck Fred Thompson.
2. Joe | January 22nd, 2008 at 3:34 pm
What? Fred is gone? How am I going to get any sleep now?
Seriously… did the guy ever really make you feel that he wanted to be President?
So if we could just get someone in between the extremes of sleepy Fred and ol’ Mitt who will say and do anything, we may be ok.
3. Brian | January 22nd, 2008 at 3:48 pm
Like, say……McCain?
4. Joe | January 22nd, 2008 at 4:13 pm
Gramps McCain would be fine.
Of course if he does something crazy like take Huckabee or something as a VP just to get any social conservative votes, then there are other issues to consider.
5. Wwe » Fred Thompson&hellip | January 22nd, 2008 at 4:23 pm
[...] BuddyTV - TV Shows, News, Spoilers, and More. wrote an interesting post today on Fred Thompson Drops OutHere’s a quick excerptFred Thompson drops out . Republican Fred Thompson, the actor-politician who attracted more attention as a potential presidential candidate than as a… [...]
6. keefer | January 22nd, 2008 at 5:35 pm
So long, Fred–wish you’d caught fire long ago, and made the race interesting.
If McCain wins the nomination, I pull the lever for noone. As if it matters here in MD, and I’ll be casting an absentee ballot anyway. It won’t even get counted…
7. keefer | January 22nd, 2008 at 5:37 pm
Lack of leadership on the right, and pandering on the left. What’s a soul to do?
Matt, this reminds me of 1996…
8. Ricorun | January 22nd, 2008 at 5:40 pm
Fred Thompson Drops Out
Given that Mark proclaimed his allegiance to Fred Thompson within the last week, and assuming that contingency is a causative force, the only conclusion is… it’s Mark’s fault.
BWWAAAAHAAAHAAA!!
Just kidding, of course. To accuse Mark of that would be profoundly stupid. After all, neither contingency or even concurrence implies causation in and of themselves.
You might want to think about that, Kahn, when you claim a causal relationship between the invasion of Iraq and the evidence that one or more countries “abandoned” their nuclear weapons ambitions. Of course, if that’s the only evidence you have, then it’s equally right to blame Mark for Grampa Fred dropping out. But like I said, that’s profoundly stupid.
9. Fred Thompson Drops Out |&hellip | January 22nd, 2008 at 5:43 pm
[...] post by The Wrestling Post - Where the Wrestling World Meets its Match [...]
10. keefer | January 22nd, 2008 at 5:55 pm
Rico, it was David Limbaugh’s endorsement that did it, and Rush said he was gonna call David and get him to endorse McCain and Chucklebee. lol
11. Casper | January 22nd, 2008 at 6:16 pm
I have a feeling that if Thompson had started earlier and pushed himself a little harder on the campaign trail, he might have done a lot better. Unfortunately, He came off to me as someone that was never that interested in being president in the first place.
12. Bruno Calipeatro | January 22nd, 2008 at 6:36 pm
Yeah Mr. Keefer. So R.G. can drive around an empty NASCAR track in his 20,000 lb looser bus burning fuel like it’s 1950?
And thinking about his first wife. The 13 year old cousin or whatever…
And then dreaming about being the worlds superman. “Here I come to save the day”
Or is that Mighty Mouse’s theme song?
That’s what the Limbaugh brothers intimated today. (I heard the self agrandizing pig too.)
Yeah! Like he will should be the Republican nominee.
After all, all he does is instill hate because no Repub is runing on any continuance
of GWB.
363 days and counting.
I’d rather see Rush nominate himself.
13. liberalT | January 22nd, 2008 at 7:14 pm
hmm lets see what other former actors Mark could vote for:
(1) Alf
(2) Paris Hiltoon
(3) Ashton Kutcher
any other morbidly unqualified dumb as nails out of work actors to ellect?
14. Doug | January 22nd, 2008 at 7:25 pm
This on the same day I get my Right to Life newspaper with old Fred on the cover. Those idiots should have endorsed Huckabee and would have if they would have waited a couple more weeks.
McCain doens’t need Huckabee on his ticket - Rudy does. McCain needs Thompson on his ticket. Nobody can help Mitt out (except for maybe Mr. Utterson), he’s an electoral college disaster.
15. Reg Dwight | January 22nd, 2008 at 7:34 pm
This was just Dole II. A tired old GOP white man who wanted to be crowned President and not work up sweat doing it.
16. plainjane | January 22nd, 2008 at 7:37 pm
President Bush has put one of the final nails in what is known as the conservative movement. Poor Fred, if you are conservative even a majority of Republicans don’t want you.
17. Bruno Calipeatro | January 22nd, 2008 at 7:53 pm
Worse than that LiberalT. Faux noise ran an on line article that said with all athority that Paris Hilton said Brittany Spears was a role model for mothers.
Go figure….
The drooling leading the limping.
18. js | January 22nd, 2008 at 9:27 pm
Fred really did have a good message behind all the silence.
He actually blew it. If he had put out alot more talke and just a bit less think, he might have had a chance.
19. Jack DeMaris | January 23rd, 2008 at 7:35 am
The unfortunate thing with Thompson dropping out is that he was the most conservative candidate who could have used his conservatism to convince the middle classes to vote republican. He would promise them the things that they really want, such as supreme court justices who will overturn Roe vs. Wade, perhaps a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage, and as long as they got that, they don’t seem to notice that all the tax breaks are going to the upper class. Also, he would keep the war going, which economically benefits the upper class, while sacrificing only the lives of the lower classes. So in that sense he was a great candidate for us, as he could most easily bamboozle “the heartland.”
It’s unfortunate that he’s no longer a viable candidate. I’m concerned that someone like McCain may try to enact a more reasonable tax scheme that more fairly spreads the burden, instead of sticking it with the middle class. I run a hedge fund, and make well over seven figures, but pay income taxes at a rate of only 15%, which is even less than someone making 50 grand pays. Plus my kids aren’t getting drafted and aren’t volunteering, so there’s no worry about them getting knocked off in the great war. So I just hope we get a candidate who can convince the heartland and evangelicals to ignore their economic screwing as long as they’re getting their social issues advanced.
20. Sunny | January 23rd, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I heard on the news driving to work this morning that Fred had been shooting for the “second seat” from the beginning. In other words, vp for McCain. Apparently McCain and Fred are best friends - the McCain’s even went with Fred and his wife on their honeymoon. Will you consider voting for McCain (should he get the nomination) if Fred is his vp?
21. Joe | January 23rd, 2008 at 3:09 pm
That would be the same as saying mcCain is running by himself. Slow Fred won’t be much of a bonus to Gramps McCain.
If it was McCain vs Hillary, I would consider McCain, but still probably not. I didn’t like Fred and Gramps is like 72 yrs old. Not sure I’d want Fred that close to the Oval Office.