Washington has caught the Thompson Wave!!

This article was published in the Seattle Times today and was penned by David Postman :

Actor and former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson of Tennessee won the Washington State Republican Party's first straw poll Saturday night. Not bad for a guy who's not yet a presidential candidate. (Or maybe that's part of the appeal.)

Chairman Luke Esser's e-mail update sent Monday night says Thompson got half the votes at the party's 25th annual gala dinner and auction. More than 570 people were there, though only about 29 percent of them voted.

The results: Fred Thompson, 50 percent; Mitt Romney, 16 percent; Rudy Giuliani, 15 percent; Duncan Hunter, 10 percent; John McCain, 5 percent; and Tom Tancredo, Tommy Thompson, Mike Huckabee and Newt Gingrich, 1 percent each.

"Clearly the other candidates have some work to do to match the support that former Sen. Thompson is receiving from grassroots activists," Esser wrote. "Two presidential candidates — Sen. John McCain and Rep. Duncan Hunter — had
representatives campaigning at the event (every presidential campaign was
invited to participate)."

Washington has caught the Thompson Wave!!

Rasmussen Poll

The latest Rasmussen poll has Fred Thompson four points ahead of Romney inspite of Romney's television adds in the last several weeks. But the most significant change in the poll is that Giuliani has dropped five percent to his lowest poll average this year of 25%.

The race for the Republican Presidential nomination is getting closer. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani remains on top, but his lead has fallen to single digits.

The latest Rasmussen Reports national telephone survey shows Giuliani at 25%, eight points more than Arizona Senator John McCain’s 17%. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson has not entered the race, but is just a single point behind McCain. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney is at 12%, the only other candidate in double digits. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich remains in fifth place with 8% support.

Giuliani leads Thompson by four points among men and leads McCain by ten points among women.

It is interesting to note that 38% of Republican Primary Voters either express no preference or are supporting a candidate not in the running at this time (Gingrich or Thompson). That is just one indicator of how wide open the race for the GOP nomination remains.

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Thompson Overtakes McCain

The Rasmussen Poll is reporting:

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani remains on top in the race for the GOP nomination and now enjoys support from 30% of Likely Voters. That’s more than twice the total of any other candidate. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson and Arizona Senator John McCain are tied for second at 14%.

Thompson has been in the 12% to 14% range for each of the five surveys since his name was floated as a possible candidate.

McCain, once considered the dominant frontrunner, has struggled in recent months. His support among Likely GOP Primary voters has fallen eight percentage points since January. His numbers now are strongest among independents likely to vote in a Republican Primary. In Election 2000, McCain did best in open primaries that allowed independents to vote. Then Governor Bush did best in Primary states where only Republicans could vote.

Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney remains the only other candidate in double digits. Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich remains in fifth place with 8% support.

Poll frenzy in California

This article appeared today in the SFGate.com. They are shocked that Fred is running strongly even before he has declared. California is catching the Fred Thompson wave!

California's Feb. 5, 2008, primary is only about nine months away, so it's time to look at some of the various polls that are bouncing around the state, worrying candidates and perplexing voters.

On the GOP side, a straw poll at last weekend's California Republican Assembly convention in Ontario showed that many of the states most conservative activists want to see former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson as the country's next president.

Thompson Listed 3rd in SC by Zogby

The new Zogby poll has Fred with 11% of the GOP support. Zogby states that McCains candidacy is in trouble in SC.

Fred Thompson has edged Mitt Romney out of the top three among South Carolinians likely to vote in the Republican primary early next year.

McCain leads among Republicans with 22% support, while Giuliani trails closely behind at 19%. And while he has not declared his candidacy, actor and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is in third-place in the first Southern state to vote for President next year with 11% support, just ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who receives 10% support.

At his point in the race, this is good news for Fred Thompson. Twenty seven percent of SC like GOP voters had not made up their minds. I expect Fred Thompson to pickup a large chunk of them plus, the conservative vote is split amoung several candidates. By the time we get to the election, the race will be down to three people.

NY Sun Politics

Here is an interesting quote by the NY Sun Politics:

Still, Fred Thompson remains the wild card. The more polls that stack up, the clearer it is that he cuts significantly into Mr. Giuliani's support.

He also negates the logic behind the Romney candidacy, but Mitt doesn't have far to fall.

No comment really necessary.

New TIME poll

A new TIME poll, conducted by SRBI Inc., finds

While some Republicans have pinned their hopes on the fresh face of Mitt Romney, he's too fresh for most voters to have an opinion about him — though they have at least heard of him. In January, 58% said they had never even heard his name; that's down to just 23%. No doubt, however, he has some more introductions to make: 11% of respondents say they know "a great deal" about Romney, 28% know "some." More good news for Romney: those who do know him find him "likeable" (49% say it accurately describes him) and believe he is "a true conservative on family values" (39%), a victory for a campaign that's been struggling with the perception that the former governor is a late comer to those views.

This poll ignored Fred...hmm

New Poll Puts Thompson Solidly in Second Place

The Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll contacted 1,373 adults nationwide by telephone April 5- 9. There were several interesting findings in this poll. The report on the poll laminents the fall of John McCain and John Edwards in the poll. The poll also noticed that Fred Thompon is finding traction amoung Reagan conservatives.

The poll quotes some of the poll respondants.

"Thompson is a Reagan conservative, and that's what I want," said Robert Little,
a poll respondent in Duluth, Ga., who views other leading Republican candidates
as unreliable allies on social issues.

Giuliani …...............................29%
F. Thompson …......................15%
McCain …...............................12%
Romney …...............................8%
Gingrich.…...............................7%
Huckabee ….............................3%
T. Thompson …........................3%
Brownback …............................2%
Hunter …..................................2%
Tancredo ..................................2%
Someone else/ Don't know......17%

Giuliani is still down after Thompson's announcement that he was considering entry into the race. Romney and Gingrich are stuck in the single digits.

Commentary: Get The Buzz: Fred Thompson

Last month Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson stated in an interview with Chris Wallace that he is considering running for president. Since then Thompson has generated much interest among conservatives. Today, the The Washington Post reported that Thompson, “catapulted into the top tier of Republican presidential nomination hopefuls on the basis of a single TV interview a month ago.” In the same article, Iowa Republican Party Executive Director Chuck Laudner lauded Thompson as, “the biggest buzz in the state.”

Yesterday, The Tennessian indicated that 45 percent of Republican voters preferred Thompson to the other Republican presidential hopefuls. Matt Towery of InsiderAdvantage said, “What's surprising is his lead over possible opponents and the magnitude of support for a man who has only hinted at a run.” In this poll Rudy Giuliani received 15 percent; Newt Gingrich received 11 percent, followed by Senator John McCain at 10 percent.

Earlier this week, Robert Novak reported that Fred Thompson may be one step closer to becoming a presidential candidate after Congress returns from their Easter recess on April 18. He plans to meet privately with a large number of Republican members of the House. Novak indicated that many Republican member of the House backed Romney after former Speaker Dennis Hastert endorsed him. However, Romney is rapidly loosing support and many of Congressmen are now looking to support another candidate such as Fred Thompson.

Thompson announced today that he is suffering from cancer. The diagnosis was two years ago. He was not telling us to send him get-well-soon cards. He was telling us that he is getting ready to run for president and wanted to clear the decks before announcing it.

--CB

Fred Thompson Leads Poll in Tennessee

The Tennessian reports that in a poll of 600 Republicans Fred Thompson is by far the most popular presidential candidate among Tennessee Republican voters, with 45 percent of those surveyed making him their top choice. The margin of error in the poll is 3% and was conducted March 31-April 1. Guiliani got 15%, Gingrich 11% and McCain 10%.