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Staff Writer
SEVIERVILLE - Fresh from the last debate before the Iowa caucuses, presidential candidate and former Tenn. Sen. Fred Thompson was in Sevier County Thursday morning on a fundraising swing.
Thompson supporters gathered at Five Oaks Convention Center for a $1,000-a-plate breakfast that featured the Republican contender as keynote speaker.
B.C. "Scooter" Clippard, chief fundraiser for Thompson's campaign, said Sevier County was chosen for the home-state tour - which included stops in Cleveland, Nashville and Memphis - because of the large number of high-dollar donors locally.
Contacted after the event, both McCord and Ogle said they were "very impressed" with Thompson.
"I thought he did a great job of reaffirming why I and so many others support him," McCord said. "It's nice to support a Tennessean, but it's really nice to support a Tennessean like Fred Thompson. He brings a common sense balance to complex issues."
Ogle agreed the crowd, already in Thompson's camp, left even more convinced they've picked the right man for the 2008 race.
"He did an outstanding job today," Ogle said. "He prompted the crowd to think about the worst foreign leader or the worst disaster they can think of, then think of who they want sitting on the other side of the table dealing with that issue. Thompson is one of the best public servants we've ever had in Tennessee."
While those with the cash to get in enjoyed an intimate time with one of the men who would be president, the event was closed to the media and was largely unpublicized. Even Wednesday afternoon, members of Thompson's headquarters staff in Nashville had trouble tracking down information on where the event would be held.
"You could really see the fire in his belly today," Ogle said. "I've never seen so much energy in a room from a candidate. He really looks presidential. He's made of presidential timber." [more here]
Thompson accepts evangelical endorsement
Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson's second stop in Jackson in less than a month may have been more about highlighting his evangelical endorsements than pushing his words, some say.
"The most important work is going on in the families of this country," Thompson, 65, said Friday at the state Capitol flanked by several ministers. "The next most important... is going on in the private efforts and institutions that private people... and religious people have formed to do good work."
On Friday, several religious leaders - including the Rev. Phillip Knight, president of the Florence-based Congregational Methodist Church - said they would back the U.S. senator from Tennessee for the GOP nomination.
"Sen. Fred Thompson has remained consistently conservative regarding our values," said Knight, adding that in the next couple of weeks, more than 100 conservative ministers would endorse the GOP candidate. "In the areas of defense, fiscal policy and moral truth, Fred Thompson has never ventured down the road toward liberalism." [more here]
2 comments:
Fred has been gaining more endorsements (including pro-life endorsements) and points in the polls. Although he is human and not perfect (I know it is hard to believe!) he is great on foreign policy, immigration and the Consitution.
...and he's got "Freditude!" He doesn't play the media games. He keeps everything to the point.
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