Morning Briefing

Morning Briefing: 01.04.07

Posted on January 4th, 2008
By Sean Hackbarth in Conservative, On The Road

4 Days until the New Hampshire Primary
15 Days until the South Carolina Primary
25 Days until the Florida Primary

• Associated Press:
  

  Republican Fred Thompson remained upbeat despite failing to win or finish second in the Iowa caucuses.

  Thompson congratulated his opponents — Mike Huckabee won the vote and Mitt Romney finished second — and said he was looking forward to the contests in New Hampshire next Tuesday and beyond.

  As of midnight, Thompson and John McCain were in a close race for a third-place finish.

  “It looks like somebody is going to need to carry a strong, consistent, conservative message — and it looks like it ought to be me,” Thompson told a cheering crowd of about 200 supporters at a downtown hotel. “I don’t know whether it’s going to be a definitive third or tied for third, or whatever, but it’s pretty clear that we’re going to have a ticket to the next dance.”

• National Review Online:
  

  Lopez: If Thompson’s apparent third-place showing sticks, does that give him new life in South Carolina?

  Dawson: Each candidate has something to be encouraged about after tonight including Fred Thompson. Iowa doesn’t have the make-or-break history that our State’s primary enjoys, and I believe Thompson is one of a number of Republican presidential hopefuls who can move forward tonight with confidence.

• Tapscott’s Copy Desk:
  

  Let’s see now: Fred Thompson started way late, has had a tumultuous staff lineup, spent virtually nothing compared to others like Mitt Romney, was almost unseen in Iowa until three weeks ago, was either ignored or written off by the mainstream media (and many in the Blogosphere) and for the most part depended upon Internet devices like YouTube to get his message out.

  Despite it all, Thompson finished third in Iowa, nosing ahead of the revived media darling John McCain , trailing only Multi-millions Mitt and the political pop-bottle rocket from Arkansas. That 17-minute conversation on YouTube earlier this week keyed a gathering recognition detected by Zogby that Thompson has a serious case to make.

  And yet, hardly anybody among the talking heads this morning seems to be talking about Thompson. Even with a mediocre showing in New Hampshire next week, Thompson to have positioned himself to make this thing a three-way race heading into February. [source]