I liked this answer from Fred when asked by a women if he, as a Christian, would continue Bush’s AID’s initiative:

“Christ didn’t tell us to go to the government and pass a bill to get some of these social problems dealt with. He told us to do it,” Thompson said.

“The government has its role, but we need to keep firmly in mind the role of the government, and the role of us as individuals and as Christians on the other.”

He received a round of applause for his answer, and went on to expand on the role of government in fighting AIDS and other diseases.

“I’m not going to go around the state and the country with regards to a serious problem and say that I’m going to prioritize that,” he said.

“With people dying of cancer, and heart disease, and children dying of leukemia still, I got to tell you – we’ve got a lot of problems here, and we all may have our one that’s affected us the most, but it’s a broad array. And a president who will tell you the truth is that we have to look across the board and do what we can and what we should based upon the severity of the problem and the chances that our research money will do some good in these areas.”

Outstanding.

This goes along with the research that has been done about charitable giving from different sectors of the country, with Republicans leading in the most given category. While liberals believe its the role of government to fix the worlds ills, I believe its the role of the community to do that.

Meanwhile did you hear? He attacked McCain once:

And again on the Glenn Beck show:

How do you explain with conservatives going out to vote, how are they supporting John McCain? What is this — where is this coming from?

SENATOR THOMPSON: I think the basis of it is national security, national defense. John was right, I think, with regard to Iraq and he stood tough during tough times and I think he turned out to be right. And I was the same place the whole time and have been. We agree on that. But John is wrong on some other important things and he was wrong when he voted against the Bush tax cuts.

GLENN: But wait a minute. I mean –

SENATOR THOMPSON: He says he’s changed his mind about that now and, you know, sobeit. But, you know, I was there during part of that time and I voted the other way. I believed the other way then, I believe the other way now. He’s certainly wrong with regard to the immigration bill that they tried to get the American people sign off on last year and they gave a resounding no and now everybody’s getting tough on the border. But on taxes and immigration, especially, you know, I think he’s wrong. But so is Huckabee as far as that’s concerned.

GLENN: But he’s also wrong with McCain/Lieberman where he wants to sign treaties for global warming. He wants to give away sovereignty on global warming. This guy is not a conservative.

SENATOR THOMPSON: No, I think he’s in the wrong direction on that, too. I think that that’s absolutely true. But, you know, he’s like everybody else. You know, he has his strong suits and his weak suits. But I think that the direction that he and Huckabee and others really, I think Giuliani and where Romney has been in the past all are going in a so-called moderate direction, which is going to lead to, you know, so-called big government conservativism or bigger government conservativism anyway.

And even more reason to pray John McCain doesn’t get the nomination:

“No drilling in ANWR, nor in the Everglades, nor off the coast of Florida, nor off the coast of Florida… If states want to have drilling off their coast, as Louisiana does, that’s their right. As a federalist, I will respect that as well.”

“To think that drilling in ANWR is the solution to our incredible energy needs is frankly, is not keeping in the reality of what’s there, and what it would take to get it out.”

This guy hasn’t heard a Democrat talking point he didn’t like it seems.

UPDATE

Fred on Hannity tonight:

Ending comment by Sean – “Remind me never to debate you!” This was after Sean asked the same question about four times and Fred finally called him on it.

Heh!

Meanwhile in other Fred news Rasmussen has Fred in a statistical tie for second place in South Carolina:

Over the past several days, the only real movement in South Carolina’s Republican Presidential Primary has been a four-point gain for Fred Thompson and a five-point decline for Mike Huckabee.

The big winner from that trade-off is John McCain.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows McCain at 28%, Huckabee at 19%, Mitt Romney at 17%, and Fred Thompson at 16%. Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul are tied with 5% support. Giuliani is betting his entire campaign on a strong showing in Florida, where he is now tied for the lead with three others.

And he is now 45 thousand short of one million dollars raised since Jan 5th.

And he was on Wolf Blitzer last night:

UPDATE II

New Fred ad in SC:

And he received a endorsement from a key evangelical:

Senator Fred Thompson is far and away the best conservative candidate to represent those who live in Jesusland, according to David Jeffers, author of Understanding Evangelicals: A Guide to Jesusland. “Evangelicals are looking for a candidate who is strongly pro-life, is for traditional families, and who is an actual Reagan Conservative.” Jeffers explains, “Every GOP candidate is espousing Reagan-like characteristics, but only Thompson has the record to back it up.”

Jeffers claims that many in Jesusland are enamored with Governor Mike Huckabee because of his Southern Baptist roots and strong social conservative values. “There are three important agendas in the Reagan Conservative and while the social agenda is certainly important, Huckabee is weak on the foreign policy and fiscal agendas,” Jeffers said.

Jeffers reminds evangelicals that Thompson has been endorsed by the National Right to Life Committee, Human Events newspaper (which was Reagan’s favorite newspaper), and is solid in all three important conservative agendas.

“Senator Thompson has a 100% pro-life voting record, is a strong defender of 2nd Amendment rights, and is a proven fiscal conservative.” Jeffers states if conservatives and Evangelicals are going to be intellectually honest they should closely examine all Republican candidates under a true conservative microscope.

Fredmentum! Catch the Fevah!

From Instapundit:

THE NEW YORK TIMES reports that Fred Thompson is surging in South Carolina. And I just got an email from a journalist who says that crowds at Thompson events are suddenly over-capacity. Is it a tipping point for Thompson, or just a blip? Stay tuned.

Maybe its because Mike has endorsed a Fred vote for South Carolina?

Meanwhile that fund drive for Fred that hoped for 540 grand to get some airtime in SC has surpassed its goal. We’re now closing in on one million dollars:

And the list of bloggers endorsing Fred grows!

Human Events, the paper of choice for Ronald Reagan, has endorsed Fred Thompson for President of the United States:

We begin by recalling the profound words of Ronald Reagan at the Conservative Political Action Conference Feb. 15, 1975: “A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency or simply to swell its numbers.” We believed that then, and we believe it now. The issue for us — and for the conservative community — boils down to which of the candidates is most representative of the fundamental conservative principles we believe in. The answer is Fred Thompson.

To reach that conclusion, we looked closely at the former Tennessee senator and his opponents to judge whether they measure up to conservative standards. Some come close, and others clearly do not.

~~~

We make this endorsement on the basis of much research, having interviewed Sen. Thompson and some of his opponents, as well as examining what they have all said and done. We conclude that Thompson is a solid conservative whose judgment is grounded in our principles.

In his Senate years, Mr. Thompson compiled an American Conservative Union lifetime rating of 86.1, which is higher than both Sen. John McCain (82.3) and Rep. Ron Paul (82.3). The Club for Growth has praised Thompson as someone who has a strong commitment to limited government, free enterprise and federalist principles.

On the issues that matter most to conservatives, Sen. Thompson’s positions benefit from their clarity. He is solidly pro-life. He said that he was in favor overturning Roe v. Wade because it was “bad law and bad medical science.” As the National Right to Life Committee said in its endorsement of him Nov. 13, 2007, “The majority of this country is opposed to the vast majority of abortions, and Fred Thompson has shown in his consistent pro-life voting record in the U.S. Senate that he is part of the pro-life majority.”

Thompson’s record is solid on voting to preserve gun owners’ rights, cut taxes, reduce government spending and drill for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He has voted consistently against gay marriage. Thompson is by no means perfect. He strongly supported the McCain-Feingold bill, did not support the impeachment of Bill Clinton on perjury and more than once voted with the trial lawyers against limitations on liability in defective product and medical malpractice cases.

We like the way Thompson unhesitatingly attacks the liberal ideologues and their activists such as MoveOn.org… and the ACLU, and the way he reaches out to those we knew as the Reagan Democrats.

The question now is whether Sen. Thompson will do what he has not yet done: Take the advantages he is given by his intelligence, his principles, his political skills and this endorsement and make the best use of them.

As the primaries and debates speed by, we would like to see Sen. Thompson continue to invigorate his campaign to carry him successfully through Tsunami Tuesday and to nomination at the Republican convention.

Sen. Thompson, you suffer, like most conservatives, from the built-in problem of not being a professional politician. It’s precisely as Rush Limbaugh said of you: “The problem with Thompson is, and a little bit with me, is I’m a depth guy. I like depth. Television doesn’t reward depth. Television rewards zingers, one-liners, cutesyisms. Fred Thompson produced a brilliant 17-minute video that was on YouTube that explains everything about every issue that he cares about. It’s clear he’s thought deeply about a whole lot.”

In the next week, you have the opportunity to connect with the conservatives in South Carolina who will be eager to hear your message. We were encouraged when you told Iowans, “I think I know how to talk to the American people about the [Democrats] and the danger their victory would pose to the principles we hold dear.” Now is the time you have to do it.

The problem is just as Human Events said it is, we live in a day and age of one line zingers. The 17 minute video is watched by only the die hard political junkies or FredHeads. It’s sad, but true.

But last night he laid out the one line zingers.

His coffers are filling up, he needed $540,000 by today which he surpassed by 100 grand. More support is coming in and he is trucking along in his red pickup truck. If he can take South Carolina then this is a whole new ballgame folks.

Work took me away from watching the debate so all I can gauge how it went on is other bloggers and man o’ man, does it look like Fred took it or what? The best take on it tonight comes from Jim Geraghty:

Tonight, Fred Reminded Me of Roy Hobbs.

Winner: Thompson. This performance was so commanding, I wanted his last answer to echo back to the lights in the back of the auditorium, blow out all the lamps and spotlights, for the theme to “the Natural” to play, and for him to trot around the stage in slow motion while sparks showered down in the background.

Classic!

Even Mitt Romneys biggest cheerleader, Hugh Hewitt, called it for Fred:

Fred had a great night, Mitt a good one and Rudy did fine as well.

Michelle Malkin:

The debate is finished. Fred will be declared the clear winner. There are a lot of folks on our side of the blogosphere who were pulling for him. He delivered his one-liners better than anyone else. He aggressively attacked Huckabee, showed humor, and looked comfortable on stage.

Mark Levin:

Fred … win, place and show.

Stop the ACLU:

Thompson came out of the gate swinging tonight!

Gribbit’s World:

Winner? Fred Thompson. And that isn’t based on my bias, he actually won the debate.

Blackfive:

The Fred is finally in the house, he is killing

Society for Independent Thinking:

Fox’s focus groups just called Fred Thompson the Big Winner of the Debate. I think out of the group of 40 only 4 didnt pick Fred as the winner. A great Debate for Fred tonight!

John Podhoretz:

[Fred]…is not only winning this debate, he is giving the most commanding debate performance we’ve seen from any candidate in either party since the beginning of this endless primary process.

Redstate:

Fred Thompson owned this debate. He owned it. He dominated.

Bob Owens:

The Republican debate in Myrtle Beach was a clear win for Fred Thompson, and that seems to be the building prevailing sentiment. Everyone else seemed content to play defense and just attempt to hold ground. They failed.

Captain’s Quarters:

Who put the vitamins in Fred Thompson’s oatmeal? We have waited for Thompson to show up on the campaign trail, and tonight he finally did. He had energy, focus, a command of detail, and a willingness to finally engage with the other candidates on the stage. He took almost everyone else aback, and seized momentum that he only occasionally relinquished.

~~~

UPDATE: Fred ate more Wheaties between the debate and his appearance on Hannity & Colmes. He’s smacking Alan Colmes around on Iraq and Iran. He’s looking for battles and winning them. It’s pretty amazing.

Damnum Absque Injuria:

It’s official: Fred? is finally a Presidential candidate. He’s got my vote, and may even lose the obligatory question by the middle of his first term if he wins.

Misunderestimated:

He’s got the fire in the belly we’ve been waiting for.

Betsy’s Page:

I thought Fred Thompson was the best he’s been in any of the debates and he was the best on the stage tonight. What I liked is that he could clearly articulate conservative principles. Sometimes I feel that these candidates are just mouthing slogans but don’t really believe in any of these principles deep down. Or if they believe in the conservative ideas of small government they can’t explain why and would not be able to persuade anyone who didn’t already agree with them. Tonight, Fred Thompson could do that. All I could think was, where has that guy been?

Born Again Redneck:

Pundits and regular people are starting to realize that Fred is the most intelligent, well-informed, thoughtful and GROWNUP guy in the race. I’ve known that all along but not everyone can read subtle signs like I can and they need to sometimes be hit over the head with a ten-pound claw hammer – claw-side down.

The rest of the horses in the race are clever – like sophomores are clever. Only Fred is wise like a grown man should be.

More as I come across them. To think the one night I couldn’t watch it Fred demolishes them all….dammit.

Here are a few of the videos going around right now. First up is Fred’s take on the Iranian boat’s rushing our ships:

And next up is his take on Huckabee. He’s nothing but a Democrat:

Here is too hoping Fred gets a bump out of tonight…..

Here is the focus group:

And Sen. George Allen’s take on the debate:

South Carolina State Senator Ray Cleary on Fred tonight:

This from The Corner:

Just got off the line with someone close to the Thompson campaign–and, more to the point, to Thompson himself. His reading of what took place tonight? Fred Thompson was riled. “Nothing ever upset Fred Thompson more than the story [on the day of the Iowa caucuses] that he was considering dropping out to endorse McCain.” Thompson, my friend explained, has a kind of Reagan-like innocence about him. He can’t understand why anyone would circulate such a rumor–or how the rumor has remained alive. “He’s just not the sort of person who would drop out. And he likes John McCain, always has. But endorse McCain? Are you kidding? He took a swipe at McCain tonight. Didn’t everybody see that? That’s not how you get to be somebody’s running mate. Anyway, the idea that Fred is the kind of person who would run for vice president is just absurd.”

Also, he may be getting major endorsement tomorrow.

Until then, please drop a few coins into Fred’s warchest today:

UPDATE

Check out Right Wing News and their poll of bloggers about who they wanted for President. 57% want Fred out of the whole field. In different scenerios of candidates he won them all. The big one was when he is put against the other major contenders. Mitt, Mike, Rudy, & John. 72% want Fred.

California Conservative runs down Fred’s answer on the recession:

Fred had a great answer, saying that he’ll defend Rudy’s tax cut plan because “it sounds an awful lot like the plan I introduced months ago.” He then stated that revenues are always more than the so-called experts predict before saying that “we’ve got too many two-handed economists”, saying on the one hand this, on the other hand that.

While I would have no qualms about voting for Rudy if he was the nominee (well, maybe a little. He is a bit too socially liberal for me but strong on national security), I have to agree with Fred. That tax plan of Rudy’s was a few months too late and was almost taken verbatim from Fred. But maybe thats a compliment. He liked it so much he copied it.

With Mitt Romney pulling up shop in South Carolina it leaves only three candidates with a shot at taking at that state. Huckabee, McCain and Fred. So now Rick Moran and the rest of us FredHead bloggers are asking for a bit of help:

Fred Thompson’s campaign is once again at a critical juncture and again I am showing my support for the candidate of my choice by organizing a Blogburst in hopes that we can raise the funds necessary for Fred’s campaign to be competitive.

This time, it’s South Carolina where Fred is staking all in hopes of a breakthrough victory. A clinical analysis of the GOP race for President shows that it is still anyone’s ballgame. Rasmussen’s most recent 4 day rolling average has Fred in 4th at 12%, ahead of Giuliani and just 9 points out of the lead held by Mike Huckabee at 22%.

~~~

I realize that many bloggers who support Fred have been hitting their readers hard for donations recently – especially since Fred’s campaign has set as a goal raising $540,000 by tomorrow in order to finance his ad campaign. As of Thursday morning, the effort has realized $420,000 towards that goal.

My hope is that once again, speaking with one voice and calling on our readers to dig deep, we can duplicate our success from December’s blogburst, putting Fred way over the top and give the campaign a rocket powered boost into South Carolina and beyond.

We’ve done it before and we can do it again. If you’re a blogger, please participate in this Blogburst for Fred by asking your readers to donate. If you haven’t already, join Jim Lynch’s The Marblehead Regiment and add your blog to his blogroll.

Man the oars and start pulling for Fred. The hour is late and the need is great. Time to pony up if we want to see a true conservative in the White House next November.

He is up to $430,000 grand of this writing, 110 more is needed by the end of the day tomorrow. We can do this. Fred can do it. If 2,750 of us pony up 40 bucks each we can reach that goal.

If your a blogger on not on this massive list of supporters for Fred please leave a comment with a link to your blog and I will add you asap.

While your at it, check out Fred’s latest policy paper where he lays out his plan to reduce spending:

This issue gives me an opportunity to let you know about Fred’s latest policy paper. Fred Thompson has become the only Republican candidate with a substantial plan to reduce federal spending. One element is earmark reform:

1. Provide President with Line-Item Veto Authority. Congress can provide this authority without a Constitutional amendment. Such authority would better control spending and prevent the use of public funding for wasteful earmarks.

2. Direct Agencies to Ignore “Soft” Earmarks. “Soft” earmarks are those included in Congressional report language, but not in actual legislation. Failure to include such earmarks in the bill language itself makes it easier for Members of Congress to hide their earmarks and prevents the full House and Senate from voting on them. Federal agencies must not fund these “soft” earmarks unless they otherwise meet agency standards for a funding award.

3. Propose Legislation on Earmark Procedures. Promote greater transparency by urging Congress to approve legislation that requires the posting of all earmarks on the Internet

Read the entire paper. A Fred Thompson administration would work to end wasteful spending and force Washington to live within its means.

The updated list of bloggers and politico’s endorsing Fred Thompson for President:

Bill at 10ksnooker, A Newt One, Absolute Moral Authority, Darrell of Alpha Patriot, Mike at AmeriCAN-DO Attitude, Kristopher at An Idiot’s Blog, Kate at An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings, Misha of Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller, ArtcTrish’s Musings, Val Prieto at Babalu Blog, Toni at Bear Creek Ledger, Beejiggity, Beers With Demo, William Dyer of Beldar Blog, Larry from Blog From The Jungle, Ala from Blonde Sagacity, Heidi Ann Jackson at Big Girl Pants, Bob’s Blog, Bob Krumm, Patrick at Born Again Redneck, bRight & Early, Rick at Brutally Honest, Cao at Cao’s Blog, Ben from Carnaby Fudge, Casey at Casey’s Critical Thinking, Mike Hendrix of Cold Fury, Bob Owens from Confederate Yankee, Josh Painter at Conscience of a Conservatarian, Vivian at Conservative Belle, Martin at Conservative Blog Therapy, Brandon at Conservative Superiority, Bill Quick of Daily Pundit, Daniel, ConcreteBob at CProtestWarrior, John Ray at Dissecting Leftism, Gayle at Dragon Lady’s Den, DoublePlusUndead, Daniel Owen at DOwen, Dumb Ox at Dumb Ox Daily News, ilja at Elusively Yours, Curt at Flopping Aces, Jim Robinson, founder of Free Republic, Paul at Gazizza, Goodboys Nation, Gribbit at Gribbit’s Word, Jennifer at Hard Starboard, Bill Hennessy at Hennessy’s View, Lemuel Calhoon at Hillbilly White Trash, Frank J. at IMAO, Mred at Invincible Armor, Nate of Irate-Nation, Just A Grunt from JammieWearingFool, Joe Gringo, Quilly Mammoth and Marcus Atrocious from Justbarkingmad, Kender at Kender’s Musings,Kim du Toit, Kim Sharp, Aaron at LifeLike Pundits, MacRanger of Macsmind, Manly Men dot Org, Marie at Marie’s Two Cents, Marvin at Marvin’s World, Kathy at Michigan Redneck, Mike O at Musings of a Political Wonk, Morgan at My Two Cents Worth, Beth at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Doug at My View On Politics, Nice Deb, Vince at No Hillary Clinton!,  No Runny Eggs, Terresa Monroe-Hamilton at NoisyRoom.net, CalTechGirl at Not Exactly Rocket Science, Chris at One Man’s View, S. Sunder at Ox’s Take on the World, TraderRob of Opinipundit, PawPaw’s House, Steve at Pencil Nub, Pete Fanning at PeteRepublic, William Teach of Pirate’s Cove, Chad at Pirates! Man Your Women, PTG at Plains Feeder, Paul Tevis at Political Inversion, Polipundit of Polipundit, Jason McBride at Post Political, Denis Ambrose at Provoking the Muse, Ryan at Pro Patria, Tommy Oliver from Race 4 2008, Rat Chat, Ray Robison, Reality Hammer, Erick Erickson and Pejman of RedState, Michele at Reformed Chicks Babbling, John Hawkins of Rightwing News, Rick Moran of RightWing Nuthouse, Justin Higgins of Right on the Right, Right Thinking Brothers, Debbie Hamilton at Right Truth, Joe at Right Wing Rebel, jroosh at Roosh Five, RovinsWorld, Bob Port of Say Anything, Seeker Jar, Slantright, Melissa at Simple Country Girl, Noel at Sharp Knife, Bill from Small Town Veteran, Kevin D. Korenthal at SoCalPundit, Society for Independent Thinking, Stephen Bainbridge at stephenbainbridge.com, Stix of Stix Blog, Matt K Cassens at St. Blogustine, Jay at Stop the ACLU, Strait Talk, Jimmie of the Sundries Shack, Target Rich Environment, Texas Fred at Texas’s Fred, Scott Miller at The Conservative Post, Babu Ranganathan at The Conservative Voice, Cookie and The Cookshack–Gab & Grub, The Discerning Texan, The Four Questions, John Benton & Ken Taylor at The Liberal Lie/The Conservative Truth, D. Martyn Lloyd-Morgan at The Liberty Sphere, The Maritime Sentry, Kevin at The Smallest Minority, Stlpatriot at The St. Louis Patriot, K T Cat at The Scratching Post, Eric Spotsylvania at The Pool Bar, David Hinz at The Report, The Sniper, Eugene Volokh of The Volokh’s Conspiracy, Jonathan Adler at The Volokh’s Conspiracy, David at Third World County, John at This Ain’t Hell, Colin at To get rich is glorious, Try To Focus, Tam from View From The Porch, Phoenix from Villains Vanquished, Stephen Green at VodkaPundit, Rob Huddleston at VOLuntarilyConservative, Susan Clos at Wake up America, apackof2 at World According To Me, Jay Tea at Wizbang.

Not to mention Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Former Sen. George Allen (R-VA), Former Sen. Al D’Amato (R-NY), Former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK), California State Sen. Tom McClintock, Rep. Steve King (R-IA), former CA State Senator Dick Mountjoy, California State Senator George Runner, Tom Tancredo’s former Iowa State Chairman Bill Salier, and Pat Buchanan’s former Iowa campaign director for his 1996 run and current Republican Iowa Third District State Central Committee member, Loras Schulte.

(If you have endorsed Fred and don’t see your blog listed please put it in the comment section and I will update)

Some sites made to further along Fred’s run for President include Fred Thompson 101, Fred Thompson, Falcons for Fred, Fred Thompson and “The Doctrine of Original Intent”, The Marblehead Regiment, SW Ohioans 4 Fred Thompson, and Ohio 4 Fred

Fred is in South Carolina campaigning away and is getting close to his mark of $540,000 in donations by January 11th:

Click the picture to send him a few coins if possible. The man is the only true constant conservative in this race who hasn’t seen the light and suddenly become something he is not.

He is basically all in at this point as Jim Geraghty notes:

Second, after chatting with one of the Thompson Associates, I hear Thompson is going to announce a move that says he’s all in at this point. (Or doubling down; pick whether you prefer poker or blackjack metaphors.) The bottom line is, Thompson and the people around him know that South Carolina is a must-win. Mitt Romney may look very damaged by the time South Carolina votes, however, and Team Fred thinks they’re a likely first choice for Romney fans losing faith in their man. (Would Mitt fans go to “Don’t Mormons believe Jesus and Satan are brothers” Huckabee or “You are the candidate of change” McCain?)

So lets get him some money to put up a fight and pray that the people of South Carolina understand what a true conservative is. He can do it.

In addition, he was on the O’Reilly show Monday night:

I like his answer on Pakistan. Bill thinks we should just cut the money to the leader of Pakistan unless they allow our troops into his country. Either choice will destabilize that regime and allow a fanatical Islam leader to take over. We cannot allow that to happen with a country that has nukes. Just can’t happen. It shows how naive Bill is actually.

The updated list of bloggers and politico’s endorsing Fred Thompson for President:

Bill at 10ksnooker, A Newt One, Absolute Moral Authority, Darrell of Alpha Patriot, Mike at AmeriCAN-DO Attitude, Kristopher at An Idiot’s Blog, Kate at An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings, Misha of Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller, ArtcTrish’s Musings, Val Prieto at Babalu Blog, Toni at Bear Creek Ledger, Beejiggity, Beers With Demo, William Dyer of Beldar Blog, Larry from Blog From The Jungle, Ala from Blonde Sagacity, Heidi Ann Jackson at Big Girl Pants, Bob’s Blog, Bob Krumm, Patrick at Born Again Redneck, bRight & Early, Rick at Brutally Honest, Cao at Cao’s Blog, Ben from Carnaby Fudge, Casey at Casey’s Critical Thinking, Mike Hendrix of Cold Fury, Bob Owens from Confederate Yankee, Josh Painter at Conscience of a Conservatarian, Vivian at Conservative Belle, Martin at Conservative Blog Therapy, Brandon at Conservative Superiority, Bill Quick of Daily Pundit, Daniel, ConcreteBob at CProtestWarrior, John Ray at Dissecting Leftism, Gayle at Dragon Lady’s Den, DoublePlusUndead, Daniel Owen at DOwen, Dumb Ox at Dumb Ox Daily News, ilja at Elusively Yours, Curt at Flopping Aces, Paul at Gazizza, Goodboys Nation, Gribbit at Gribbit’s Word, Jennifer at Hard Starboard, Bill Hennessy at Hennessy’s View, Lemuel Calhoon at Hillbilly White Trash, Frank J. at IMAO, Mred at Invincible Armor, Nate of Irate-Nation, Quilly Mammoth and Marcus Atrocious from Justbarkingmad, Kender at Kender’s Musings,Kim du Toit, Aaron at LifeLike Pundits, MacRanger of Macsmind, Marie at Marie’s Two Cents, Marvin at Marvin’s World, Kathy at Michigan Redneck, Mike O at Musings of a Political Wonk, Morgan at My Two Cents Worth, Beth at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Doug at My View On Politics, Nice Deb, No Runny Eggs, Terresa Monroe-Hamilton at NoisyRoom.net, Chris at One Man’s View, S. Sunder at Ox’s Take on the World, TraderRob of Opinipundit, PawPaw’s House, Steve at Pencil Nub, Pete Fanning at PeteRepublic, William Teach of Pirate’s Cove, Chad at Pirates! Man Your Women, PTG at Plains Feeder, Paul Tevis at Political Inversion, Polipundit of Polipundit, Jason McBride at Post Political, Denis Ambrose at Provoking the Muse, Ryan at Pro Patria, Tommy Oliver from Race 4 2008, Rat Chat, Ray Robison, Reality Hammer, Erick Erickson and Pejman of RedState, Michele at Reformed Chicks Babbling, John Hawkins of Rightwing News, Rick Moran of RightWing Nuthouse, Justin Higgins of Right on the Right, Right Thinking Brothers, Debbie Hamilton at Right Truth, Joe at Right Wing Rebel, jroosh at Roosh Five, RovinsWorld, Bob Port of Say Anything, Seeker Jar, Slantright, Melissa at Simple Country Girl, Noel at Sharp Knife, Kevin D. Korenthal at SoCalPundit, Society for Independent Thinking, Stephen Bainbridge at stephenbainbridge.com, Stix of Stix Blog, Matt K Cassens at St. Blogustine, Jay at Stop the ACLU, Strait Talk, Jimmie of the Sundries Shack, Target Rich Environment, Texas Fred at Texas’s Fred, Scott Miller at The Conservative Post, Babu Ranganathan at The Conservative Voice, Cookie and The Cookshack–Gab & Grub, The Discerning Texan, The Four Questions, John Benton & Ken Taylor at The Liberal Lie/The Conservative Truth, D. Martyn Lloyd-Morgan at The Liberty Sphere, Kevin at The Smallest Minority, Stlpatriot at The St. Louis Patriot, K T Cat at The Scratching Post, Eric Spotsylvania at The Pool Bar, David Hinz at The Report, The Sniper, Eugene Volokh of The Volokh’s Conspiracy, Jonathan Adler at The Volokh’s Conspiracy, David at Third World Country, John at This Ain’t Hell, Colin at To get rich is glorious, Try To Focus, Tam from View From The Porch, Stephen Green at VodkaPundit, Rob Huddleston at VOLuntarilyConservative, Susan Clos at Wake up America, Jay Tea at Wizbang.

Not to mention Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Former Sen. George Allen (R-VA), Former Sen. Al D’Amato (R-NY), Former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK), California State Sen. Tom McClintock, Rep. Steve King (R-IA), former CA State Senator Dick Mountjoy, California State Senator George Runner, Tom Tancredo’s former Iowa State Chairman Bill Salier, and Pat Buchanan’s former Iowa campaign director for his 1996 run and current Republican Iowa Third District State Central Committee member, Loras Schulte.

(If you have endorsed Fred and don’t see your blog listed please put it in the comment section and I will update)

Some sites made to further along Fred’s run for President include Fred Thompson 101, Fred Thompson, Falcons for Fred, Fred Thompson and “The Doctrine of Original Intent”, The Marblehead Regiment, SW Ohioans 4 Fred Thompson, and Ohio 4 Fred

Great Fred moment in tonight’s debate over the Immigration issue (although it seemed to be the Mitt & Huck show tonight since they had about 3/4 of the air time it seemed) in which he points out that being soft on immigration reform actually hurts both countries and their people.

UPDATE

Looks like Fred didn’t make the Fact Check list, but these guys did:

• Romney claimed that the 47 million Americans who lack health care are not covered because they say “I’m not going to play. I’m just going to get free care paid for by everybody else.” Experts say that very few who are offered insurance turn it down and that the uninsured get worse care.
• Giuliani falsely blamed President Clinton for cuts in the military that occurred in large part under President George H.W. Bush and Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney. He said that “the Army had been at 725,000; it’s down to 500,000.” That’s true, but it was down to 572,423 by the time Clinton took office.
• McCain recalled that he “strongly disagreed” with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and had “no confidence” in his Iraq strategy “at the time.” But he didn’t say publicly that he had no confidence in Rumsfeld until December 2004, after Bush was reelected and well after the war began.
• Romney falsely denied that an attack ad called McCain’s immigration bill “amnesty,” though it does. One of his Web ads also attacks McCain for supporting “amnesty.” He conceded during the debate that McCain’s bill “technically” isn’t amnesty.
• Giuliani claimed that “economists” say health insurance rates would fall by up to 50 percent if millions more shopped for policies individually. Once again, his campaign was unable to produce a single economist who supports that figure.
• Romney claimed his Massachusetts state insurance program had reduced the number of uninsured in Massachusetts by 300,000. That’s the number who have gained coverage under the system, but many were covered previously through other means.

Great interview of Fred this morning:

That interviewer, how should I say this…is a glaring example of an empty head.

Even better was this minute and half interview where he refused to pander to the media in their horse race reporting and instead tried to focus on why he is the best man for the job.  When it came to MSM reporting, he had a few words to say: (h/t Newsbusters)

Work prevented me from watching the debate tonight but judging from the reactions across the blogosphere, Fred appears to have won the thing:

The Atlantic:

On points, Fred Thompson won the debate.

Every answer was thoughtful and well-crafted; his tone matched the
tone of the question; he wisely refrained from interjecting in the back
and forth squabbling. He very deftly reminded viewers that he served on
key Senate national security panels and is bringing his experience to
bear. Even his insults were subtly and gently constructed In some ways,
Thompson did McCain’s bidding. You skeptical readers can tell me that
if Thompson had finished a solid fourth in Iowa, I might not be writing
about Thompson at all, that said, he’s still a candidate, and his
performance tonight tells me his mind is not elsewhere.

Rick Klein:

…he came to play tonight.

…Fred Thompson talking some serious substance too — man, maybe I underestimated him.

Rich Lowry:

Let me join the bandwagon: he was good tonight.

Andy McCarthy:

Rich and Mark Steyn are right, and I was wrong. I always think it’s
strange when the great athletes talk about letting the game come to
them. But that’s how this format worked for Fred, and when called on he
did great. I thought his explanation of healthcare economics was
staggeringly good — I don’t see how you could do it better in this
format. And when he went into trial lawyer mode, cross-examining the
other candidates, he did in the effective way — no screaming, but
pressing (patiently but insistently) for an answer. Very nicely done.

Bryan Preston:

A man of few words, Fred Thompson, but the few words he does uses, he
uses well.

[...]Fred wins. He said the least but what he said was most worth listening
to. He managed to come across as the sage in the race, too wise to get
into the fray but not above smacking the kids around when he has to.

Rick Moran:

Fred was at home in this format and showed it. He was
sharp as a tack and actually quite eloquent at times. He skewered
Romney on health care, flustering the former governor to the point that
he actually said he liked health insurance mandates. And his dismissive
answer about oil company profits was vintage Fred.

I wish Fred had engaged the other candidates more in the sidebars
and back and forths. Nevertheless, many, including Marc Ambinder,
thought Fred won. Perhaps, but it won’t do him any good in New
Hampshire. Elsewhere — like South Carolina or even Michigan — we’ll
have to see.

Peter Robinson:

With respect to Brother Jonathan, in my judgment Fred Thompson turned
in a very fine performance, the more effective for proving underplayed.
The others fought, bickered, attempted to demonstrate their brains.
Naturally enough, they commanded the viewer’s immediate attention. But
did they look like chief executives of a great nation? Or like
candidates for a student council? Thompson stood, in effect, to one
side, quiet and dignified, speaking less often, perhaps, but with
cogency and principle. Thompson alone conveyed a sense of gravitas. He
looked, spoke, and comported himself like a president.

Gary Gross:

Still, the night belonged to Fred. Tonight’s performance is what I envisioned when I first started talking about Fred 23 months ago. I told my fring King Banaian that Fred’s depth of knowledge on all the issues would make him a great debater. Tonight, Fred showcased his debating skills.

I will be reading as much as I can about the debate tonight but Gary’s rundown of a few questions were interesting:

When Mike Huckabee was asked what he meant when he said that President Bush’s foreign policy was too arrogant, Gov. Huckabee explained that he meant that we should’ve sent in more troops into Iraq.

Fred immediately pounced on that, saying that “I think the Governor has rethought what he said because now he seems to be saying that we were arrogant because we didn’t go in with enough troops.” It isn’t the type of thing that changes the course of the rest of the debate but it’s something that Fred will use when the campaign moves to South Carolina. It’s something that Huckabee will have to ‘rethink’ again.

Another great Fred moment was one of Mitt’s low moments. Charlie Gibson asked, in the context of talking about Mitt’s health care plan, if Mitt liked mandates, to which Mitt said “Oh no, I like mandates.” Fred jumped in, saying “I didn’t think you’d admit that tonight.”

When Ron Paul talked about health care, he said that Charlie Gibson had provided the answer why we don’t have universal health care. Paul said that we don’t have health care because we’re waging a “trillion dollar war” and that we need to “stop printing new money.” Fred’s response was direct. “So you’re saying if we stopped printing more money, we could get out of Iraq and give everybody health care”?

Frankly, Ron Paul is giving libertarianism a bad name with some of his answers. When he talked about the terrorists’ war against civilization, Rep. Paul asked why the terrorists haven’t hit Canada. He said that terrorists aren’t hitting other nations. Rudy jumped all over that, saying that terrorists had hid Bali and London, then asking why the terrorists had hit the 1972 Munich Olympics or killed Leon Klinghoffer. Mitt Romney cited the Madrid train bombings.

Sounds like it was an interesting debate and even better, Fred did well.  On the Democrat side it appears this best illustrates it:

The updated list of bloggers and politico’s endorsing Fred Thompson for President:

Bill at 10ksnooker, Absolute Moral Authority, Darrell of Alpha Patriot, Mike at AmeriCAN-DO Attitude, Kristopher at An Idiot’s Blog, Kate at An Ol’ Broad’s Ramblings, Misha of Anti-Idiotarian Rottweiller, ArtcTrish’s Musings, Val Prieto at Babalu Blog, Toni at Bear Creek Ledger, Beejiggity, Beers With Demo, William Dyer of Beldar Blog, Ala from Blonde Sagacity, Heidi Ann Jackson at Big Girl Pants, Bob’s Blog, Bob Krumm, Patrick at Born Again Redneck, bRight & Early, Rick at Brutally Honest, Cao at Cao’s Blog, Casey at Casey’s Critical Thinking, Mike Hendrix of Cold Fury, Bob Owens from Confederate Yankee, Josh Painter at Conscience of a Conservatarian, Vivian at Conservative Belle, Martin at Conservative Blog Therapy, Brandon at Conservative Superiority, Bill Quick of Daily Pundit, Daniel, ConcreteBob at  CProtestWarrior, John Ray at Dissecting Leftism, Gayle at Dragon Lady’s Den, DoublePlusUndead, Daniel Owen at DOwen, Dumb Ox at Dumb Ox Daily News, ilja at Elusively Yours, Curt at Flopping Aces, Paul at Gazizza, Goodboys Nation, Gribbit at Gribbit’s Word, Jennifer at Hard Starboard, Bill Hennessy at Hennessy’s View, Lemuel Calhoon at Hillbilly White Trash, Frank J. at IMAO, Mred at Invincible Armor, Nate of Irate-Nation, Quilly Mammoth and Marcus Atrocious from Justbarkingmad, Kender at Kender’s Musings,Kim du Toit, Aaron at LifeLike Pundits, MacRanger of Macsmind, Marie at Marie’s Two Cents, Marvin at Marvin’s World, Kathy at Michigan Redneck, Mike O at Musings of a Political Wonk, Morgan at My Two Cents Worth, Beth at My Vast Right Wing Conspiracy, Doug at My View On Politics, Nice Deb, No Runny Eggs, Terresa Monroe-Hamilton at NoisyRoom.net, Chris at One Man’s View, S. Sunder at Ox’s Take on the World, TraderRob of Opinipundit, PawPaw’s House, Steve at Pencil Nub, Pete Fanning at  PeteRepublic, William Teach of Pirate’s Cove, Chad at Pirates! Man Your Women, PTG at Plains Feeder, Paul Tevis at Political Inversion, Polipundit of Polipundit, Jason McBride at Post Political, Denis Ambrose at Provoking the Muse, Ryan at Pro Patria, Tommy Oliver from Race 4 2008, Rat Chat, Ray Robison, Reality Hammer, Erick Erickson and Pejman of RedState, Michele at Reformed Chicks Babbling, John Hawkins of Rightwing News, Rick Moran of RightWing Nuthouse, Justin Higgins of Right on the Right, Right Thinking Brothers, Debbie Hamilton at Right Truth, Joe at Right Wing Rebel, jroosh at Roosh Five, RovinsWorld, Bob Port of Say Anything, Seeker Jar, Slantright, Melissa at Simple Country Girl, Noel at Sharp Knife, Kevin D. Korenthal at SoCalPundit, Society for Independent Thinking, Stephen Bainbridge at stephenbainbridge.com, Stix of Stix Blog, Matt K Cassens at St. Blogustine, Jay at Stop the ACLU, Strait Talk, Jimmie of the Sundries Shack, Target Rich Environment, Texas Fred at Texas’s Fred, Scott Miller at  The Conservative Post, Babu Ranganathan at The Conservative Voice, Cookie and The Cookshack–Gab &  Grub, The Discerning Texan, The Four Questions, John Benton & Ken Taylor at The Liberal Lie/The Conservative Truth, D. Martyn Lloyd-Morgan at The Liberty Sphere, Kevin at The Smallest Minority, Stlpatriot at The St. Louis Patriot, K T Cat at The Scratching Post, Eric Spotsylvania at The Pool Bar, David Hinz at The Report, Eugene Volokh of The Volokh’s Conspiracy, Jonathan Adler at The Volokh’s Conspiracy, David at Third World Country, Colin at To get rich is glorious, Try To Focus, Stephen Green at VodkaPundit, Rob Huddleston at VOLuntarilyConservative, Susan Clos at Wake up America, Jay Tea at Wizbang.

Not to mention Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-TN), Former Sen. George Allen (R-VA), Former Sen. Al D’Amato (R-NY), Former Rep. J.C. Watts (R-OK), California State Sen. Tom McClintock, Rep. Steve King (R-IA), former CA State Senator Dick Mountjoy, California State Senator George Runner, Tom Tancredo’s former Iowa State Chairman Bill Salier, and Pat Buchanan’s former Iowa campaign director for his 1996 run and current Republican Iowa Third District State Central Committee member,
Loras Schulte.

(If you have endorsed Fred and don’t see your blog listed please put it in the comment section and I will update)

Some sites made to further along Fred’s run for President include Fred Thompson 101, Fred Thompson, Falcons for Fred, Fred Thompson and “The Doctrine of Original Intent”, The Marblehead Regiment, and Ohio 4 Fred

Fred put out the call for donations for the South Carolina campaign today.

This is a wide open race. In Iowa Fred showed there was a hunger for
clear conservative leadership. Republicans want someone who will keep
the Reagan coalition together. Fred has the conservative ideas, the
leadership, and the experience to do that.

Like he did in Iowa Fred will be traveling South Carolina talking
directly to the people telling them the truth. But he’ll need
commercials on TV to support him. $540,000 will do that.

We added an additional challenge. We want 50,000 new Friends of
Fred. We want more people to be a part of our movement. Now, you have
two ways to help Fred: get your friends and neighbors to become Friends of Fred or donate to Fred’s conservative cause.

And already he has raised close to $140,000 grand. 

Please consider dropping a few bucks his way.  We have seven days to do it and at this rate we should make it.