Fred Thompson

[American Patriot]

Poll: Thompson, Clinton widen their leads in Georgia
The Savannah Morning News ^ | October 25, 2007 | Larry Peterson

Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson has soared to a nearly 2-to-1 lead over his closest Republican rival in the latest statewide poll.

In survey results announced Wednesday by Strategic Vision, the former U.S. senator from Tennessee led Rudy Giuliani, 39 percent to 20 percent.

Thompson added 4 percentage points to the advantage he enjoyed over the former New York mayor in a Strategic Vision poll taken last month.

All the other Republican candidates are in single digits.

Meanwhile, U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York widened her lead over U.S. Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois in the Democratic campaign.

Clinton led Obama, 40 percent to 27 percent.

Former North Carolina senator John Edwards was a distant third at 11 percent. No other Democrat had more than 5 percent.

Clinton's increasing strength in Georgia reflects a trend demonstrated by national polls and surveys in other states.

In Georgia, Clinton is outpolling Obama even among his fellow African-Americans, said David E. Johnson, chief executive officer of Strategic Vision.

Thompson's dominance in the Peach State stands out against his numbers in other states, which have been mostly flat in recent weeks.

"Much of this can be attributed to former supporters of Newt Gingrich going for Thompson, now that Gingrich is officially out of the race," Johnson said.

Gingrich, a Georgian and a former U.S. House speaker, was backed by 9 percent of the Republicans surveyed by Strategic Vision in September.

University of Georgia political science professor Charles Bullock speculated that much of Thompson's support might be coming from north Georgia.

He's likely to be especially well-known there, Bullock said, because of exposure in the Chattanooga media market, based in the candidate's home state.

Johnson confirmed that Thompson's support was strongest in north Georgia and in southern Georgia, including Savannah.

Giuliani, he said, did relatively well in the Atlanta metropolitan area.

Many Chatham County elected officials, including all of the area's GOP state legislators, have endorsed Thompson.

Johnson cited the numbers of undecided voters - 13 percent of the Republicans and 12 percent of the Democrats.

That's "fairly high" this close to primary elections that begin in January and suggests that the numbers are still subject to change, he said.

Bullock restated what many others have said: Georgia's Feb. 5 primary election might not matter much.

In both parties, he said, it's at least possible that one of the candidates, especially Clinton, may build up unstoppable momentum in earlier contests.

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LATEST statewide STRATEGIC VISION POLL*

Republicans

Fred Thompson, 39 percent

Rudy Giuliani, 20 percent

John McCain, 9 percent

Mike Huckabee, 7 percent

Mitt Romney, 6 percent

Ron Paul, 3 percent

Tom Tancredo, 2 percent

Duncan Hunter, 1 percent

Undecided, 13 percent

Democrats

Hillary Clinton, 40 percent

Barack Obama, 27 percent

John Edwards, 11 percent

Bill Richardson, 5 percent

Joseph Biden, 3 percent

Chris Dodd, 1 percent

Dennis Kucinich, 1 percent

Undecided, 12 percent

* Oct. 19-21 survey that included 368 Republicans voters and 328 Democrats, all considered "likely voters." Margin of error for those groups, plus or minus 6.5 percent.

Source: Strategic Vision

[Brian Baldwin]

Border Security and Immigration Reform Plan (Fred Thompson)


In the post-9/11 world, immigration is much more of a national security issue. A government that cannot secure its borders and determine who may enter and who may not, fails in a fundamental responsibility. As we take steps to secure our borders and enforce our laws, we must also ensure that our immigration laws and policies advance our national interests in a variety of areas, and that the immigration process itself is as fair, efficient, and effective as possible.

Securing the Border and Enforcing the Law
A fundamental responsibility of the federal government is to secure the nation's borders and enforce the law. The following policies and initiatives will put the nation on a path to success:

1. No Amnesty. Do not provide legal status to illegal aliens. Amnesty undermines U.S. law and policy, rewards bad behavior, and is unfair to the millions of immigrants who follow the law and are awaiting legal entry into the United States. In some cases, those law-abiding and aspiring immigrants have been waiting for several years.
2. Attrition through Enforcement . Reduce the number of illegal aliens through increased enforcement against unauthorized alien workers and their employers. Without illegal employment opportunities available, fewer illegal aliens will attempt to enter the country, and many of those illegally in the country now likely will return home. Self-deportation can also be maximized by stepping up the enforcement levels of other existing immigration laws. This course of action offers a reasonable alternative to the false choices currently proposed to deal with the 12 million or more aliens already in the U.S. illegally: either arrest and deport them all, or give them all amnesty. Attrition through enforcement is a more reasonable and achievable solution, but this approach requires additional resources for enforcement and border security:
   1. Doubling ICE agents handling interior enforcement, increasing the Border Patrol to at least 25,000 agents, and increasing detention space to incarcerate illegal aliens we arrest rather than letting them go with a promise to show up later for legal proceedings against them.
   2. Adding resources for the Department of Justice to prosecute alien smugglers, people involved in trafficking in false identification documents, and previously deported felons.
   3. Maximizing efforts to prosecute and convict members of criminal alien gangs, such as MS-13 and affiliated gangs. These gangs have brought unusual levels of violence to more than 30 U.S. states and have also become very active in drug-smuggling, gun-smuggling, and alien-smuggling.
   4. Implementing fully and making greater use of the expedited removal process already allowed under federal law.
   5. Enabling the Social Security Administration to share relevant information with immigration and law enforcement personnel in a manner that will support effective interior enforcement efforts.
3. Enforce Existing Federal Laws. Enforce the laws Congress has already enacted to prevent illegal aliens from unlawfully benefiting from their presence in the country:
   
   1. End Sanctuary Cities by cutting off discretionary federal grant funds as appropriate to any community that, by law, ordinance, executive order, or other formal policy directs its public officials not to comply with the provisions of 8 USC 1373 and 8 USC 1644, which prohibit any state or local government from restricting in any way communications with the Department of Homeland Security "regarding the immigration status, lawful or unlawful, of an alien in the United States."
   2. Deny discretionary Federal education grants as appropriate to public universities that violate federal law by offering in-state tuition rates to illegal aliens without also offering identical benefits to United States citizens, regardless of whether or not they live in the state, as required by 8 USC 1623.
   3. Deny discretionary Federal grants as appropriate to states and local governments that violate federal law by offering public benefits to illegal aliens, as prohibited by 8 USC 1621(a).
4. Reduce the Jobs Incentive. Ensure employee verification by requiring that all U.S. employers use the Department of Homeland Security's electronic database (the E-Verify system) to confirm that a prospective employee is authorized to work in the U.S. Now that the technology is proven, provide sufficient resources to make the system as thorough, fast, accurate, and easy-to-use as possible.
5. Add to the Cost of Hiring Illegal Aliens. Deny a tax deduction to employers for the wages they pay to illegal aliens, thereby dramatically increasing the real cost of employing illegal aliens. Businesses that do not play by the rules should not be rewarded under our tax system.
6. Bolster Border Security. Finish building the 854-mile wall along the border by 2010 as required by 8 USC 1103. Extend the wall beyond that as appropriate and deploy new technologies and additional resources to enhance detection and rapid apprehension along our borders by 2012.
7. Increased Prosecution. Deploy the additional assets outlined above to prosecute alien smugglers ("coyotes"), alien gang members, previously deported felons, and aliens who have repeatedly violated our immigration laws much more vigorously.
8. Rigorous Entry/Exit Tracking. Complete the implementation of a system to track visa entrants and exits, as has been required by federal law for more than ten years, and connect it to the FBI's National Crime Information Center (NCIC), in order to curb visa overstays and permit more effective enforcement.

Improving the Legal Immigration Process
The United States is a nation of immigrants. We must continue to welcome immigrants and foreign workers who come to our country legally, giving priority to those who can advance the nation's interests and common good. Immigrants and foreign workers who play by the rules need to be rewarded with faster and less burdensome service, not delays that last years. Advancing the following initiatives will require close cooperation between all levels of government, the business community, and concerned citizens:

1. Maximize Program Efficiency. Reduce the backlogs and streamline the process for immigrants and employers who seek to follow the law. Also, simplify and expedite the application processes for temporary visas. This can be accomplished by hiring more personnel at Citizenship and Immigration Services and the FBI. Caps for any category of temporary work visa would be increased as appropriate, if it could be demonstrated that there are no Americans capable and willing to do the jobs.
2. Enhanced Reporting. Improve reporting to the government by businesses that rely on temporary workers so that the government can track whether the visa holder remains employed.
3. Modernize Immigration Law/Policy. Change the nature of our legal immigration system to welcome immigrants who can be economic contributors to our country, are willing to learn the English language, and want to assimilate.
   1. Reduce the scope of chain migration by giving family preference in the allocation of lawful permanent resident status only to spouses and minor children of U.S. citizens, and no one else (no siblings, no parents, no adult children, etc.).
   2. Eliminate the diversity visa lottery.

4. English As Official Language. Make English the official language of the United States to promote assimilation and legal immigrants' success, and require English proficiency in order for any foreign person to be granted lawful permanent resident status.
5. Freedom from Political Oppression. Preserve U.S. laws and policies to ensure that the United States remains a beacon and a haven for persons fleeing political oppression, while assuring appropriate admission standards are maintained.
6. Service to Country. Place those foreign persons who are lawfully present in the country and who serve honorably in the Armed Forces of the United States on a faster, surer track to U.S. citizenship.

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1953579/posts

Fred Thompson's Illegal Immigration stance is just what we need. The thing that pisses me off is that every one of the candidates knows this too.

[American Patriot]

Fred Thompson Quits Presidential Race (Patrick Cox commentary)
PajamasMedia ^ | 01/22/2008 | Patrick Cox

I was Fred Thompson’s first hire. In fact, I moved from ABC Radio, where I worked with him on the Paul Harvey show, first into the exploratory committee and then the campaign proper. When the campaign turned its focus and limited resources to the mechanics of traditional primary politics, my role ended.

FDT’s decision to drop out of the race at this point is entirely logical. It is, nevertheless, truly depressing.

This is a particular moment in history. After a brief respite, during which it appeared that the dangers posed by imperialistic totalitarian ideologies had abated, we are facing more seriously deranged enemies than ever. This time, however, they have billions in petrodollars and at least the possibility of acquiring nuclear or biological weapons.

Here on this island where I live, just off the West Coast of Florida, we regularly have high-speed boats land dozens of foreign nationals on our beaches — having totally avoided our Coast Guard and other so-called defenses. Boats this big and powerful are capable of delivering to any coastal city in America even conventional nuclear weapons. Truly miniaturized weapons, if they exist, could be carried on foot across the border into even Chicago, Washington D.C. or Las Vegas. The possibility that one of the petro-rich madmen who has promised to see America destroyed is thinking right now about finding a way to give some suicidal terrorist group an untraceable nuclear weapon is, in my opinion, too great a danger to ignore.

FDT clearly understands this. Just as critically, he also understands that our own government represents a danger in and of itself. More than any other candidate, I think he presented the best chance of keeping the beast quick and strong enough to deter our enemies but fully in check. His Federalist insistence on the separation of powers and decentralized governance irritated big government types from both parties, but it would have provided a non-partisan and tolerant middle path at a time of vicious partisanship. He also made it clear that he understands that the national debt and uncontrolled spending are just as existential a threat as nuclear terrorism.

So what happened?

In retrospect, I suspect that the critics who said he started too late were right, though not for the reasons that most posited. Fred was correct when he quipped on Leno that the American people would not hold it against him that he waited a few months to officially declare. Everybody I know, however, underestimated how important it is to have political allies lined up ahead of time.

Most of the leading candidates were working behind the scenes for years, making unofficial deals with the people in every state who know how to wield influence and mobilize the rank and file. Fred, on the other hand, honestly never lusted for the power of the presidency. He agreed, upon significant urging, to run because he believed it was the right thing to do for his children and the country. Politics, however, apparently requires more.

I spoke with a good friend of mine here in Florida who controls one of the state’s most sought-after forums for candidates. An experienced political veteran, he tells me that the value of staff, both paid and volunteer, is demonstrated in the wake of a candidate’s appearance. Both Mitt Romney and FDT have appeared at this venue, and they both generated considerable enthusiasm and interest among local politicians and activists. Romney’s organization was prepared to harvest the excitement he generated, having spent years forming a national organization capable of doing so. The buzz that FDT created was just as great if not greater, but the organization he put together so late in the game was not on the ground to take advantage of the good will he created for himself.

The consensus of GOP insiders in Florida seems to be that it may have been impossible for Fred to create that organization so late in the game. Romney, Giuliani and McCain had already cherry-picked the best and the brightest; especially Romney. I’ve heard from people who had committed to other candidates well in advance of the campaigns but deeply regretted not having been able to join the Thompson Team without breaking promises. Ultimately, I think, this disadvantage proved to be insurmountable.

Certainly, one can argue that he might have overcome that disadvantage if he had done things differently. In theory, at least, I agree. In practice, however, I think that he was battling other and formidable disadvantages.

One was anti-Southern prejudice that I found particularly distressing. I’m not, y’all, actually Southern, having been raised in the linguistically neutral Northwest, but I was surprised by the sniping from our side at Fred based on his sincere and gentlemanly Southern manners. Several important conservative bloggers, including some here at Pajamas, made repeated jokes about his language and style as if they are affectations. They are not. The problem, though, is larger and there is a Northern prejudice that interprets the slower, deliberative Southern style as just dim.

I also think that the political classes, including conservatives, managed to marginalize Fred’s wife, Jeri Thompson. Jeri is extraordinarily astute and created some of the RNC policy shop’s most effective new media strategies in her day, which came well after she had already built a noteworthy and trail-blazing career as a woman at the corporate level for Coldwell Banker in Chicago. By making her an issue and blaming on her the problems that came from late entry to the race, they kept her out of the fray where she would have been extremely effective — as we began to see late in the campaign.

FDT is a brilliant and compassionate conservative, able to recognize both the dangers of a government unable to protect Americans from our enemies and the dangers of a government that can rob its citizens of their civil liberties. He was the only authentic heir to the Reagan tradition in the race, though I still hold out hope for one or two of the remaining candidates.

My editors here are asking for some copy so let me finish up by saying that FDT’s campaign was immensely good for the country. He reminded the movement what it was about, and his consistent principled standards will remain a part of the debate.

Moreover, his constitutional and moral bone fides are better known and admired by those who matter than ever before. Personally, I’m hoping that he does not accept one of the political appointments, which he shall surely be offered. Ultimately, the reason that his ideas couldn’t overcome the advantages of organization is that ideas still do not count for as much as they should in the 21st century. Fred, however, is in a better position today to spread and explain those ideas than he ever has been; sort of a Newt Gingrich without the baggage.

His clout and connections in Hollywood put him in a unique and valuable position. If the good Senator chooses to do so, he can do for the entertainment business what Rupert Murdoch did for television news. Just as a monolithic leftist media bias opened a hugely profitable door for Murdoch to walk through, Fred Thompson can use the door created by a a leftist and exclusionary Hollywood. In the end, he may be able to use his increased respect and visibility to create a pro-freedom, pro-American studio that teaches the principles of the Enlightenment not just to Americans but to the world. If he does, he may actually accomplish more than a Thompson presidency could have.

[American Patriot]

Just so everyone knows, I started writing letters to Thompson more than two years ago, asking him to consider running as the next President of the United States, and to help keep Hillary Clinton out of that office forever.

I never doubted for a minute that he'd run. I had the idea that he'd stick it out, but also thought that eventually he'd either quit or something wouldn't work out.

It's my firm belief he'll be back, but not necessarily as a VP candidate, but perhaps as was mentioned in the article above, to "teach the world" how to be pro-American.