The thing I enjoy most about the news that Thompson is stopping his campaign is that it humiliates, not Thompson, for whom I have no feeling one way or another, but Mary Matalin and the rest of whatever you want to call that particular cadre of the DC Republican establishment.

These are the people that were preparing to try to foist George Allen on us until he showed his true colors. They are looking for someone "conservative" enough, but without much ambition or principle of his own, that they could manipulate. They search, almost literally, for a guy in a Reagan mask (http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2007/05/21/tomo/).

I personally think they're dangerous, and I'm glad they've been humiliated in this way. Sadly, tho, I suspect they won't go away.

The thing I enjoy most about the news that Thompson is stopping his campaign is that it humiliates, not Thompson, for whom I have no feeling one way or another, but Mary Matalin and the rest of whatever you want to call that particular cadre of the DC Republican establishment.

These are the people that were preparing to try to foist George Allen on us until he showed his true colors. They are looking for someone "conservative" enough, but without much ambition or principle of his own, that they could manipulate. They search, almost literally, for a guy in a Reagan mask (http://www.salon.com/comics/tomo/2007/05/21/tomo/).

I personally think they're dangerous, and I'm glad they've been humiliated in this way. Sadly, tho, I suspect they won't go away.

For a while, Thompson was the designated right wing Christian alternative. Some of their leaders believed Huckabee was too compassionate, insufficiently conservative. Now, some of these people may go to Huck.

Or, they may go for Romney, because they do not like McCain, for unclear reasons. They definitely will not go for Giuliani. They believe Rudy is a a demon in wolf's clothing.

Cause I love Sam Waterston...

Hasta la vista, Freddie...now go book that facelift -- you're looking like a Sharpei these days!

that the gop establishment put him there to nobble huckabee. are they that devious?

Wait, Fred Thompson was running, I say, he was running for President? Seemed more like a leisurely stroll.

Remember good old John Connally, the former Texas governor and Treasury Secretary? He, of course, spent $11 million in 1980, winning only a single delegate to the Republican convention that year.

If Fred Thompson falls out of the presidential race and no one gives a crap, does he make a sound?

I don't understand! Didn't Sally Quinn tells us that "Everybody loves Fred!" ????

Heck, he did not even act like he wanted the job. Just looking at him made most of us yawn.

Fred sucked as a candidate. All he did was read the Republican rule book. Did he ever have an original thought?

Maybe he is just everybody's boring uncle.

My prediction from May 31, 2007:

This Fred Thompson character is the perfect candidate for the Republicans. Once the Republican propagandists get behind him, I think he's a shoe in to win the nomination.

Now, if only the rest of these awful repug candidates would concede to the dems.

...they actually roused him long enough to drop out?

How much did he actually raise and how much of that is left over?

What's his wife going to do now? She always struck me as more interested in this than he was.

I am shocked to learn that Fred Thompson KNEW he was running for president. He always looked like something that was dragged in and propped up by handlers, who wound him up like one of those toys that plays a continuous running tape, then tucked him away until the next stop.

Oh, they have Fred, they have, It was nice for the country to see such a glaring example of how low the bar was set by the GOP to follow in Bushit's shallow and meanspirited foot prints. Talk about low expectations. Chris Matthews will now have to pour Freddy's after shave lotion onto giuliani's hairy back for the next couple of weeks until Rudy bows out and becomes President of Blackwater...

Fred Thompson acted like he was doing the Republican party a favor by deigning to enter the race, and he seemed to expect that the masses would naturally follow him due to his, uh, charisma.

He didn't want to work for the job, so he doesn't deserve the job.

I'm sure Sam Waterston isn't worrying too much, either.

The other 2 sick, ancient, bald, wife-dumping, panderers, McCain & Giuliani, are definitely the big losers here. Having crumpled old Fred around made them look almost sprightly & upstanding.

The remaining question isn't who will get Fred's dwindling handful of lacklustre supporters, it's who inherits the kiss-of-death advocacy of Mary Matalin?

I want Mr. Thompson to know that personally I have gained tremendously from him dropping out of whatever he was in.

Fred Thompson has given me the inspiration to drop out of anything I might be in and I know that others have been inspired by his indomitable fight.

I shall always remember his fighting words, "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," and who can forget his fighting words, "I quit"?

Not I.

I quit.