Fred speaks: “Stand strong;” Update: “Like a funeral”
Update 8:45pm Eastern. “Like a funeral.”
From Columbia, SC. Is this the end? Liveblogging…:
“Well, it may be early to declare victory…awkward pause..”
“Speaking from his heart to thank his supporters…We will always be bound by a close bond…we have traveled a special road together for a very special purpose…It’s never been about me. Not even about you. It’s about our country, our party’s role in that future…and because of your efforts…our party has to look into the mirror and decide where it’s going…who it is…”
“…we need to deserve to lead. That’s what this is all about. Deserving to lead.”
Fox cuts away from Thompson because of audio problems. Switching to another cable network…
“…stepping up to the plate, stepping up to do the right thing…the rule of law…” Extolling market economy, federalism, principle that we don’t spend money that we do not have…”
Ends a standard stump speech:
“I’m proud to stand with you. Stand strong together. We’ll always stand strong. Stand strong.”
Sounded like a non-withdrawal withdrawal speech. Just a matter of time…
***
Latest county results exit polls via CNN:
McCain 12,914 35%
Huckabee 10,635 29%
Romney 5,591 15%
Thompson 5,195 14%
Paul 1,480 4%
Giuliani 951 3%
Hunter 72 0%
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Trackbacks
- Michelle Malkin » Nevada and South Carolina go to the polls; AP/Fox: Romney nabs gold in Nev.; Update: Voting problems in SC; Update: Hispanics in Nevada boost Hill to victory; Update: Obama wins Nev. delegate vote?
- Looks like Fred is going to bow out… | And Rightly So!
- McCain Wins S.C., Fred Heads Home; Plus: The end of Huckabee? » American Pundit
- Michelle Malkin » Fred Thompson withdraws
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Oh Fred, don’t let it be the end. I’m not ready for the Huckster or Straight Talk to take our party into a 2008 defeat.
I hope not. I was going to vote for Fred on Super Tuesday.
The primaries shouldn’t be considered over after just a few small states. It’s not right. We need a change.
Damn CNN
Fred was my first pick, but withut him, I’ll throw my in Mitt’s ring.
Fred spooked me for a minute there. Whew!
Michelle, what’s your take on this? Bad night or is he calling it quits?
Ditto, brooklyn red.
Sounded like a non-withdrawal withdrawal speech.
Just a matter of time…
He’s done. I think the only reason he didn’t make it official is that it’s still too close to call as to whether he’s in 3rd or 4th.
Rats.
I like Fred quite a bit, but he knows he can’t win. All he’s doing now is helping out McAmnesty.
So I assume those in single digits will drop out now? If not why not?
I agree Michelle,it sounded like a non-withdrawal withdrawal,but it could be a wait and see.Remember how long he took to finally announce his candidacy.
Mais, non!
Fred is solidly in third place right now.
Stay in it Fred!
So we’ve now heard from the all-knowing, all-negative MM. Parroting the MSM, predicting Fred’s demise after SIX states have voted. If Fred does bow out conservatives will have them to thank. Oh, and that fire in the belly thing. Apparently that’s the Number One qualification. And if that’s what we’re looking for we should all vote for Hillary. She’s damn sure got it.
Damn, we’re turning into the nutroots! Quick, we need our candidate to be relevant! What do they do? Let’s do the opposite– it might work.
Uhhh, mad_cow, the belly is in the front… just sayin.
hahah ghouliani is dead in the water. Even Ron Paul is beating him.
I would really hate to see Fred bow out. It is bad enough that we lost Duncan Hunter today. Hang in there for “Super Tuesday” some of us will be voting for you Fred!
My gut feel is that Thompson will drop out and endorse McCain–they’re old Senate buddies. I hope not.
If Thompson were to line up behind Romney, conservatives finally would be unified…but it would require Thompson to subvert his friendship in the name of principle.
Guess we’ll see.
Uhhh, brooklyn red, thanks. I didn’t know that…Learn something new every day.
Get your gut some pepto because that would be disastrous.
Now this just sucks!! I was going to vote for Duncan Hunter in March and he
pulled out and now Fred is sounding as if he is going soon. Maybe we need to
have across the country primaries all on the same day like we do election day,
because those of us that wait for super Tuesday don’t get to vote for the
candidates that start the race.
I’m sorry, but Duncan never had a chance. At least Fred has made a dent.
I look forward to Thompson making a surge.
If he doesn’t, there will be no “unification”. There will be the great GOP tune-out.
No dis mad_cow, just a cheap shot at hillary
Went right over my head, brooklyn red. Thanks for setting me straight.
At the rate we’re going, we are in BIG trouble folks.
Look, Fred is not going to make any decision until all the facts are out.
Anyone who has followed his decision making would know that.
With 61% of precincts in, Thompson is in 3rd place. Given where he was a few weeks back, if he holds 3rd place, it would be hard to fold the tent.
Stay strong, Fred, stay strong! I can’t stomach voting for any of the other candidates!
If it’s Hillary/Obama vs. Romney/McCain/Huck, I’m voting third-party. I’m not going to lose any sleep or interest over those five.
Fred says he got in this for the country not for something he wanted to do, I myself appreciate that candor. Now so many speculate he will throw his support to “good old friend McTraitor” after years of friendship. hmmm…is Fred saying his friendship with a conservative traitor is more important than the country that he feels needed him?
If that is the case he does, did not deserve any real conservatives votes…and I’ve been leaning towards him since he threw his hat in the ring and my favorites Tancredo and Hunter had no chance, thanks to the damn MSM and the squimish Republican Party.
The Republican Party does not have the same values as conservatives, PERIOD.
Ok, I feel better now.
On January 19th, 2008 at 8:34 pm, TXRose said:
Now this just sucks!! … Maybe we need to have across the country primaries all on the same day like we do election day,”
Brilliant! Can I vote for you?
I’ll remember to have the Democrats send you a thank-you card after the election.
Fred would have helped himself if he would have taken Michelle and Bryan up on that request for an interview at Hot Air Vent… if he stays in, he should call Michelle tomorrow (after church, of course).
I have a feeling, come November, it may come down to this…taking a swig from a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. “Sir, why are you taking a swig from that bottle?” “I’m a citizen and have to vote.” “Yes, but why the bottle?” “Have you seen the candidates?” “Yes”. “Well, so have I and I rest my case”…taking another swig.
The Republic is in serious distress.
The symptoms are clear.
The remedy available.
The ability to recognize it is weak.
The media have done their best
to cover up this nation’s best
that it has to offer.
and I’m out of beer.
Wish I was there tonight.
Re: Thompson.
Fredheads: I’m one of you. SO hold on on calling me a “troll”. I’ve been trying to organize out here in Colorado since early March of 2007. And you can look up my blog Colorado For Thompson as well. It goes back to then. Been sparse the past 3 months - see below for why.
The fact is that Fred has run his campaign organization terribly. He has the best message but has been terrible at getting it out around the MSM’s “cone of silence” and Huckbee/McCain boosterism.
What happened to the Youtube? The Blogs at variosu conservative sites? The Webcasts? The Radio? They all disappaeared. I don’t know who told him to drop that but whoever did was a fool.
As the FIRST “Fredhead” in Colorado, I can tell you that he has continuously lacked a clear chain of command. I had several hundred people lined up, county leaders across the state and several state Reps and State Senators ready to step up. In JUNE/JULY. But the Thompson campaign seemed to stop dead in its tracks right about when Mark Corallo left.
They never got back to me, and they stood up 3 conference calls, and never called the Reps and Senators to let them know where things were headed. Just silence. And I kept trying all the way through November, at which time it was clear that Thompson didn’t have time to look at Colorado, it woudl only have divided his limited resources — he only had time for Iowa and SC.
So now all those Colorado politicians and volunteers have faded away and the Colorado Caucuses will go to Romney, Guiliani and McCain, all of whom organized in this state and have wrapped up the local and state politicians.
The central campaign simply didnt exist as far as I could tell from Colorado.
Sad. Ultimately the one guy that had me with every position and policy he holds simply never staffed right nor ran it well.
What’s a conservative to do?
I’ll post that in a bit. Feel free to disagree.
With Hunter dropping out, and Fred looking like he is on his way out:
I am completely demoralized.
The Republican Party seems bound and determined to elect a non-conservative.
McCain is OK on the War in Iraq/Afghanistan, but terrible on Taxes, Terrible on interrogation and almost deserving of impeachment for his actions on the border & immigration, and is bad on several other areas.
And Huckabee? “Gomer” as glib and clean as Bill Clinton, and as great on foreign policy as Jimmy Carter, and as honest as Nixon.
Guiliani? Liberal and wrong, especially on 2nd amendment, life and judicial issues.
Romney? He’s spent unless he can convince voters that he’s not the Plastic Slickster he seems to be. The only way he is going to get me and many other conservatives engaged is if he somehow proves that his “flip flops” are genuine conversions. And given his pandering in Michigan, I dont think so.
Get ready to hear this from Conservatives: There’s simply no candidate I can vote for.
For me this is becoming the same as the past several elections: vote agaisnt someone, and for the lesser of 2 bad candidates.
I’m sick and tired of voting against someone as the lesser of 2 evils. This time I refuse.
So, I guess I may end up sitting this election out. Maybe not. But I refuse to give my sanction to someone that I honestly beleive is bad for the nation.
It’s coming down to what Reagan said of him and the Democrat Party:
I didn’t leave the Republican Party, it left me.
As for the future, after the 2008 cycle, I’m probably going to find a third party thats conservative. The Republicans have refused to use my time and money well, so they have seen the last of my time and money. I won’t get fooled again.
Michelle do you have any insight or line to Fred to know if he plans to swing toward McCain? Do you think Fred really understands how much the conservative base cannot stomach McCain?
Much as I like Fred, I think he blew it before he even started. He didn’t DO anything. He gave it away. Very disappointing.
All the commenters who post at blogs that I go to can’t stand McCain, so what is going on?
One last thing:
You’ve done us conservatives proud MM and AP. /sarc
Thanks Michelle for “supporting” Fred with your constant negativity, spin and snark. You helped the MSM trash the only Conservative who was competitive in the race - you still have not apologized about reposting the Politico smear.
Admittedly Fred was not a good campaigner, so he bears most of the blame. But you bear your share of the blame too MM and AP. Pouring gasoline on a fire helps the fire and makes you an accomplice.
Get ready for President Obama.
You worked awfully hard clearing the path for Obama by tearing down people who could be opposing him. so you deserve him.
And with that, barring some sort of Conservative Miracle, Im headed back to lurk mode (assuming they don’t ban me for criticising MM and AP here).
Get ready for the Immigration/Border follies that will surely happen with President Obama or McCain. I’ll support that fight with everything I have.
Pray - we will need it more than ever.
McCain. Are all of these people on crack?????????????????
Guess I’ll be spending the next couple days churning over whether conservatism has any place in 21st-Century America. Judging by what has transpired thus far in the primary/caucus season, I’m going to be extremely negative.
Norm, there should still be time for a beer run (unless your apologetic governor is going after alcohol next).
May be a matter of time, but maybe, just maybe, if Romney does end up with the nomination, he’ll choose Fred as his running mate.
Let’s not count the guy out just yet.
Although born in the US, I lived most of my life far away from these shores, only to return in 2001. I may have to reassess that decision over the coming year - the US seems to be increasing its velocity into the merciless black hole known as the liberal democrat way of
lifecontrol.Alas, poor America, for I knew her well..
My final word from my blog:
And MM - get your head out of your rear - you have been actively aiding the destruction of the only Conservative candidate in the race.
What the heck is wrong with you Michelle?
I’ll believe it’s over when I hear it from Fred. On his website, his supporters have an incredibly long thread going encouraging him to keep at it–and they’re putting their money where their mouth is.
If he’s not doing any better after Super Tuesday, I might could see hanging it up. But walking away now would be giving up to easily.
Great mind’s thin alike. I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I thought he’s going to go to Tennesse to see his Mother God bless her, and announce his withdrawl sometime next week. I hope not I hope he stay’s in until Feb.5, but the end for him may be near.
That needs to be said. ‘actively aiding the destruction of the only Conservative candidate in the race.’ But not to worry, MM & AP will come out for a candidate very soon! Didn’t AP say he really likes Fred yesterday???
“DEFY THE SCOFFERS!!” Vote Thompson 08
Should Senator Thompson quit after a third place finish in South Carolina, as some seem to be suggesting? This is very interesting. Why is it that Mayor Guiliani who has not won one primary or caucas, and is now in single digits according to the latest Rasmussen national poll, is not asked to leave the race; yet Thompson is?
Senator Thompson has finished ahead of Mayor Guiliani in Iowa; and in South Carolina he placed ahead of both Guiliani and Governor Romney! This is remarkable reasoning. Read the complete assessment here:
http://sheetanchor.wordpress.com/2008/01/20/should-senator-thompson-quit/
You make excellent points, SheetAnchor. I think a lot of the talking heads try to make themselves look smart by trying to predict the losers. With so many candiates in the race, there will be a lot of losers and only one winner. They’re more likely to be right by predicting the losers.
Is it too early to start the “Fred12″ campaign?
If he’s still in the race by the end of this week, he gets my mail-in vote for our primary.
But if he does bail out, he d-mn well better not endorse Señors Amnesty McCain or “I ♥ Illegals” Huckster just to angle for the Veep position on the general election ticket. If anyone in his campaign reads this blog, they need to get the word to Mr. Thompson and advise him to be careful lest he be too clever by half and end up sabotaging his conservative street cred.