Fred Thompson sings for his supper with good speech, then asks for money

ST. PAUL -- Conventions are intended to get the faithful revved up, and get millions of voters excited about the presidential candidates.

They also offer excellent fundraising opportunities.

Hours after former Sen. Fred Thompson grabbed the limelight with a partisan speech attacking Barack Obama on Tuesday here at the Republican National Convention, he announced the formation of a new political action committee named, appropriately enough, Fred PAC.

The money would not be for him, he says. Rather, Thompson promises in a mass e-mail to donors, that he intends to use the money to help other Republicans win office this November.

“It’s clear that we need men and women in Washington and in the statehouses across America who believe, as we do, in the fundamental principles of limited government restricted by enumerated powers,” said the appeal, sent 15 hours after his speech.

“That is why I am announcing the formation of Fred PAC, a political action committee dedicated to helping elect candidates who stand for the principles you and I hold dear -– principles that are the only sure salvation for America.”

For more about Thompson, please visit our friends over at The Swamp.

Democrats do the same. On Wednesday, Mark Warner, the front-running candidate for U.S. Senate in Virginia against Jim Gilmore, followed his keynote speech given to the Democratic National Convention last week with a pitch for money.

“There's no better way for you to help our country move beyond the failed policies of the past eight years than by investing in Mark's campaign,” says the plea, signed by his wife, Lisa Collis.

Warner’s twist: for $50 you can get a DVD of him delivering the convention remarks, which were free on TV.

--Dan Morain