Run Fred, Run......................

[hammAR]

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0907/5665.html

Fred Thompson finally announces run
By: Mike Allen

At 7:57 p.m. Eastern time Wednesday, while taping "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" for broadcast later in the evening, Fred Thompson finally said: "I'm running for president of the United States."

The studio audience responded with thunderous applause.

Thompson rejected the notion that he has waited too long to get into the race for the White House.

"People treat politicians sort of like the dentist -- they don't have anything to do with them till they have to," he said.

"A lot of people have been, of course, running for some time. Everybody kind of changed the rules.

" Usually you don't announce until after Labor Day, but they started running a lot earlier, spending millions of dollars and so forth, and everyone said that you couldn't run this year without raising a hundred million dollars and starting much earlier. I don't believe that," Thompson said, adding that he doubts voters will say: "That guy would make a very good president, but he didn't get in soon enough."

Leno joked with Thompson about how long he has been "testing the waters," asking: "Are you starting to get a little wrinkly?"

"These wrinkles don't come from the water," Thompson, 65, replied, to laughter. Referring to a guest announcement Leno made just before the segment, he joked: "I've been mistaken for Dr. Phil."

The "Law & Order" actor and former U.S. senator from Tennessee plans to begin an announcement tour in Iowa on Thursday.

Aides said Thompson will travel in a bus emblazoned with the slogan, "United in Our Core Beliefs," along with the key themes of "security," "unity" and "prosperity."

A key adviser said the two biggest issues motivating Thompson are "Islamic radicalism and the threat of terrorism reaching our shores," and a sense that "politics has broken down in the domestic arena, too."

Thompson plans to announce some politically dicey policies, including a plan to overhaul a system of entitlements -- Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid -- that some experts argue is not financially sustainable.

The former senator joins a field where the candidates, led by Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani, have been scrapping for months. In a decision that drew complaints from some activists, he skipped Wednesday night's debate at the University of New Hampshire for the Leno appearance.

Hitting airwaves

Thompson's campaign is running an ad during the debate, being carried by Fox News Channel.

In the spot, the candidate says: "We can't allow ourselves to become a weaker, less prosperous and more divided nation. Today, as before, the fate of millions across the world depends on the unity and resolve of the American people."

The commercial was taped this weekend in the office of Thompson's home in McLean, Va.

Thompson seemed excited about finally launching a race that he said began "around the kitchen table in late March," telling Leno: "It starts right here."

The folksy Southerner is supplementing his Leno appearance, and previewing his Iowa kickoff, with a 15-minute announcement video on his Web site, http://www.Fred08.com.

Thompson has not raised money at the clip that some of his early advisers had suggested he would, but he has come in first or second place in several state polls.

His campaign, based in Nashville and Northern Virginia, has undergone several shakeups that have produced bad publicity, but his backers contend everything until now has been pre-season.

"I think the ship is righting itself," one adviser said in an e-mail.

"If the public responds and he has a good fund-raising month, he's in business. The staff turmoil is clearly out of the ordinary and disturbing, but the campaign now has the team it wants, and they'll be able to work together. We will know soon enough how well the stuff in front of the curtain plays."

After the Iowa events, he'll head on to New Hampshire, then down to South Carolina next week and on to Florida. He's also debuting a 30-second ad with a title that says it all: "I'm In."

[Srigs]

Finely he is in! Hurray

[BRIT_in_the_weeds]

Neat strategy, wait to declare, don't spend much money and still be in the top 3 in the polls.

Should now get interesting.

[ttousi]

Watched him announce on Leno last night. The old boy has good stage presence as well as some good strategies. Yes it will be interesting.

[Aquaholic]

jitcrunch.jpg (32.07 KB) Viewed 1771 times

[hammAR]

[brauchma]

I am glad he is in... I read his piece on federalism and loved it... the video is good as well...granted...all talk for now, but I like it so far.

Before anything else, folks in Washington ought to be asking first and foremost, “Should government be doing this? And if so, then at what level of government?” But they don’t. - Fred Thompson

Bingo...

[hammAR]

Fred Thompson Says Bin Laden Should be Caught, Killed, But Receive Due Process
Monday , September 10, 2007
AP

GREENVILLE, S.C. —
Republican presidential contender Fred Thompson said Monday that while Usama bin Laden needs to be caught and killed, the terrorist mastermind would get the due process of law.

In his first campaign trip to South Carolina, the lawyer and former Tennessee senator answered questions about his recent statements about the man considered responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 Americans. Last week, a new video with bin Laden surfaced, the first in three years.

On Friday, Thompson told reporters in Iowa that bin Laden is "more symbolism than anything else" and said his presence in the "mountains of Pakistan or Afghanistan is not as important as there are probably Al Qaeda operatives inside the United States of America."

The remarks drew criticism from some Democratic rivals and later in the day, Thompson adopted a tougher line, saying bin Laden "ought to be caught and killed."

On Monday, Thompson said he wasn't suggesting that bin Laden's death would happen immediately after his capture.

"No, no, no, we've got due process to go through" depending on the circumstances, he said. "I'm not suggesting those things happen simultaneously."

Later, a Thompson spokesman explained that Thompson meant "the same rules ought to apply to him as to everyone at Guantanamo Bay, and there ought to be due process thru a special military court or commission."

"For anyone to suggest that we shouldn't squeeze out every last bit of intelligence information has absolutely no understanding how to fight a long term global war on terrorism," spokesman Todd Harris said. "It would be very dangerous for the long-term security of our country to not try to milk bin Laden for every ounce of information he has."

Thompson also told reporters removing bin Laden would not end threats to the United States.

Bin Laden "needs to be located and killed. But we also need to understand that there will be people who can replace him. You know, that top dog in Iraq that we killed a while back, you know, that was a great big deal, too. But how much changed after that?" Thompson said.

During his campaign stop, Thompson also explained his work aiding a fellow lawyer representing two Libyan intelligence officials charged in the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland.

The New York Times reported on Sunday that Thompson provided advice to a colleague at the Washington law firm of Arent, Fox, Kintner, Plotkin & Kahn when he worked there in the early 1990s.

"As I recall, one of the senior partners at a law firm, asked me questions about -- I believe it was about -- venue; where a trial like that would take place," Thompson said.

Thompson said he had a background in handling that type of question and was only consulting with the other attorney.

Thompson spoke to about 350 people who crowded into a hotel banquet hall to see him wrap up his three-state campaign trip that began in Iowa last Thursday and included stops in New Hampshire during the weekend.

Thompson also railed against same-sex marriage and judges whose rulings allow it. Thompson said the U.S. is a nation of laws, but judges "more often than not are the main violators of the rule of law."

He said the "same-sex marriage business" is a "judicially created thing and needs to be addressed by a constitutional amendment." He was referring to an amendment that would limit the role of judges on the matter.

Thompson wrapped up his South Carolina swing in a Columbia parking lot, where a crowd of close to 400 sweltered on the black top or sought shade under nearby trees. He said the U.S. is a nation of immigrants who have worked and waited in line to become citizens.

"This is their home, this is our home. And together, we get to decide who comes into our home," Thompson said.