Tuesday, January 22, 2008

We hardly knew thee

Fred Thompson Quits Presidential Race

NAPLES, Fla. (AP) - Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson quit the Republican presidential race on Tuesday, after a string of poor finishes in early primary and caucus states.

"Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort," Thompson said in a statement.

Thompson's fate was sealed last Saturday in the South Carolina primary, when he finished third in a state that he had said he needed to win.

Actually that's not true. We knew lots of things about Fred. He came in as the most well reasoned intellectually solid candidate on either side.

However you can't be a successful campaigner without appealing to the sensationalistic nature of the American people. Couple that with the fact that the general public is really in the mood for 'change' and it is easy to see why things didn't go well.

It's very disappointing for me. I was sure that Fred, as a professional communicator, would be successful in cutting through all of the silly campaign rhetoric and clearly present conservative ideas in ways that appealed to a broad spectrum of people.  Sadly this was not the case.

Fred Thompson Quits Presidential Race