THOMPSON UPDATE: He's in

Republican Fred Thompson will formally announce his long-anticipated presidential candidacy on a webcast next Thursday, he and his top aides told supporters wired into a conference call today.

The Times' Joe Mathews reports that the call also revealed that after the webcast airs and Thompson files the necessary paperwork with federal election officials, he will travel to the key early states in the nomination battle: Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.  And he will conclude his opening tour with a stop in his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., on Sept. 15.

Mathews was told that during the call, which was not open to reporters, no mention was made of an effort to schedule a Thompson appearance on "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno" next Wednesday -- the same night of a Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire.  But Mathews reports that sources close to Thompson say negotiations between the campaign and NBC remain in the works.

On the money front, Thompson's backers were told that he has raised about $6 million -- far less than the two leading contenders in the GOP race, Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney.  Not surprisingly, Thompson plans to focus on picking up his fundraising pace. The Times Joe Mathews has the complete story here on this website now and in Friday's print editions. You can also vote there on whether you think Thompson waited too long to enter the race.

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Robert Lewis Howard]

Senator Thompson should stay on television. He offered nothing for this Great Country while in the Senate. Americans are tired of Lawyers and power grubbers.

What is he going to do as President for America? He is due credit for being pretty good on T.V.

RLH

[David in Los Angeles]

The entire election process is completely wacked. Candidates in both parties have been campaigning since the beginning of the year, and it's still over a year until the next election! Both parties need to work together to reform a system that is broken: no formal annoucment of intent to run until the year of the election, and mix up the states/regions that "go first" in the primaries! Why in the world New Hampshire goes first every four years is idiotic!

[Mark F.]

Who cares anymore? The guy's an idiot.

[Dan Schmidt]

Hope he ain't a gay walking around with a pretty your thing on his arm to fake everyone out. I'll vote for him.

[Johnny]

FINALLY, SOMEONE I CAN VOTE FOR!!!

[elise]

Now it gets interesting. Look out Mitt.

[Ken White]

Who cares? Thompson is not relevant to the 2008 elections. He is wasting our time.

[Bewildered Bystander]

didnt this guy get elected as a Democrat and then on the eve of being sworn in declare himself as a Republican?

(Ans: No.)

[John A. Rovenolt]

Fred Thompson reminds me of the fat old man gorging himself with plates of starchy food at one of those buffet restaurants. Just what this country needs after a president no gutts....a president with a fat gutt!

[Charmaine Bailey]

Whatever Fred Thompson represents, I don't want any of it. It appears to me that he's in it for the fame and power, not the good of the country. Heaven knows the country is desperately in need of a president who has integrity, intelligence, humility and the intent to work within the constitutional structure of our country, with equal power in all three branches and who can reach out to mend relations and encourage cooperation within the United States, as well as in the rest of the world.

[optomyst]

Give the man a chance people. How could he be any worse than what we have or that charming Clinton. We need a fresh face and a "real man" in the driver's seat.

[Devil Dog]

I don't think money is a factor.

Look, Thompson has far less money than the other, yet he is second in a most polls.

People can make their minds up, unless your an independent!

[Greg Sandlin]

It is about time. Thompson is a great American story. He hasn't craved the office for 25 years like Hillary. He is willing to step up to make the tough calls that need to be made right now - on health care, immigration, foreign policy. He is the right man for these divisive times.

[The Political Brandwagon]

THE RACE IS ON!

For Democrats, Fred Thompson is going to be the man to beat. His "brand" is clear and uncomplicated. Whether you describe him as "Southern-Fried Reagan" or "Ben Cartwright," Sen. Thompson presents that patriarchal archetype that is foundational to American perceptions of the idyllic Republican candidate: conservative, plain-spoken, tough, and commanding.

At the same time, Sen. Thompson's partisanship has been tempered by a pleasant demeanor and his historical willingness to "cross the aisle," when necessary. His is a career built on being "consumable" -- firm, yet comforting.

His is a candidacy that should make Democrats VERY concerned about who will best match the Republicans in both the presidential election -- and in 2008's congressional races. Sen. Thompson could have VERY long coattails, particularly in places like Indiana, Ohio, Montana, and North Carolina, where Democratic success in 2006 came about by running candidates whose views and "brands" ran to the right of Blue State norms.

That said, he's got to run hard––fast. Elections are won on the ground. If Sen. Thompson wants to win the presidency, he needs to win the Republican nomination and that means he'll need to a lot of dedicated supporters to pound the pavement from September 4 to February 5.

Game on.

Peter S. Cohl

[Bryant]

Fred the Dumb in the race. lol Fantastic. Hope they nominate him. Dem shoe in to the WH.

[Lawyer, Senator, Actor - Hmm - He's overqualified]

So basically he's Hillary more experience - he's been a paid professional actor. I guess Hillary has just been acting that Bill's not just out hunting interns. All in all, he's as qualified as anyone else in the race.

[Randy]

Oh boy, another blithering idiot Repuglickan pandering to the right-wing bigots and the war profiteers, just what this country needs.

[Michael L. Wagner]

I've got a feeling (a feeling deep inside) that Fred Thompson would make a very, very scary leader of the Free World...

Thompson says global warming is caused by the sun--not by human activity: "The science is absolutely decided. There's a consensus."

"NASA says the Martian South Pole's ice cap has been shrinking for three summers in a row."

"There is so much carbon dioxide that it does not all go away in one summer--in fact it may take hundreds of thousands of years to disappear," Mars Global Survey, Mars Orbital Camera, Release No. MOC2-297, 12/06/01.

"Maybe Mars got its fever from Earth. If so, I guess Jupiter caught the same cold, because it's warming up too, like Pluto."

A study of Jupiter by two University of CA, Berkeley professors states: "The global (Jupiter's) change cycle began when the last of the white oval-shaped storms formed souh of the Great Red Spot in 1939. As the storms started to merge between 1998 and 2000, the mixing of heat began to slow down at that latitude and has continued slowing ever since."

MIT's James Elliot talks of eruptive activity as the culprit: "There could be more massive activity on Pluto, since the changes observed in Pluto's atmosphere are much more severe."

On the issue of Free Trade (no trade pacts to protect us against cheap foreign labor) Fred Flintstone (oops, sorry, I meant Fred Thompson) says: "Free trade and market economies have done more for freedom and prosperity than a central planner could ever dream and we're the world's best example of that."

"Japan is challenging US technological leadership, not only in mature industries such as autos and steel, but alos in high-tech sectors such as machine tools, computers and electronics. Although the internal problems of the US economy have contributed substantially to these deeper problems, Japanese strategic trade policies and industrial targeting have also had a significant effect. JAPAN HAS KEPT ITS DOMESTIC MARKETS EFFECTIVELY CLOSED TO MANUFACTURED IMPORTS, while targeting export markets in one industry after another," The Japanese Trade Challenge and the US Response, D. Salvatore.