Thompson drops out of GOP presidential race

[brooklynite]

Source: MSNBC

NAPLES, Fla. - Republican Fred Thompson has quit the presidential race, according to a statement.

"Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States," Thompson said. "I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people."

Read more: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22786860/

---

..."um, line please?"

[laconicsax]

1. Noooo!

Now which of them do I want to win?

[grytpype]

48. Romney.

McCain would take independent votes away from the Dem candidate.

Romney would not, and a lot of Evangelicals won't turn out to vote for him.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

51. I agree

Mr 'pede might very well vote for McCain. x( if he gets the nom, but not for Damien...er Romney. That said, we're in Texas so whatever we do Dem-wise in the GE probably won't matter. Another :-(

[Radio_Lady]

54. Fred was good in the movie "The Hunt for Red October."

[Happyhippychick]

2. Quick! Wake him up and tell him!

[HeraldSquare212]

3. How could they tell? nt

[bluhoodie]

55. Put a fork in 'im -- he's done!

:banghead:

Maybe we'll see an episode on Law & Order about his run for office -- y'know, how they loosely base episodes on real stories in the news. I wonder who they would get to play his part????
:freak:

[K8-EEE]

4. K&R!!! So glad I won't have to see that idiot anymore....

Jeeez talk about the empty suit in the Reagan mask, has that guy ever had one original thought, one teeny tiny idea of his own? BUH BYE FRED!

[XemaSab]

5. Jackie Broyles and Dunlap are going to be SO upset!

:cry:

[Frank Cannon]

18. Tweety will be particularly crushed

He'll have to get his "manly scent" kicks somewhere else.

[RamboLiberal]

43. Yep, Tweety will miss the smell of English Leather & Aqua Velva

MATTHEWS: Can you smell the English leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man‘s shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved? Do you smell that sort of—a little bit of cigar smoke? You know, whatever.

http://www.crooksandliars.com/2007/06/14/tweety-thompson-is-the-aqua-velva-man/

Tweety sure picks losers for his man-crushes!

[jazzjunkysue]

49. I'm never running for office: If Tweety got a crush on me I'd have to die.

:puke:

[edbermac]

6. We won't have Fred Thompson to kick around anymore.

Damn! x(

[El Supremo]

7. He needed to spend more time with his... family.

[moggie]

44. Cute daughter!

Wait, what?

[tabasco]

8. One kook down.

Many more to go.

[niyad]

9. you mean, apart from the material for the comics and talk show hosts? WHAT benefits

exactly, do you mean, freddy boy?

[mikelgb]

10. Late to Rise, Early to Bed

So Says Drop-Dead Fred

[LibertyLover]

11. I bet Jeri

is one ticked off wife right about now. It always seemed to me like she was the one pushing old Fred-oh to run. Actually, I hope Fred does enjoy time with his wife and kids. If I remember, the children are pretty young and they will probably enjoy having their daddy home.

[supernova]

16. Always thought the same

as you. It was a way to entertain the wife.

It never seemed to me like he took it seriously.

[endarkenment]

22. Jeri will be gone by next year.

I don't think she was with Fred for his looks.

[russian33]

12. is the writer's strike over and Law&Order starting to tape again?

:)

[TheCentepedeShoes]

52. No, the writer's strike is still on

and he ran out of material.

[sarge43]

13. "How can you tell?"

With thanks to Dorothy Parker.

[maxanne]

14. Frederick of Hollywood

wasn't exactly RACING.

[Hulk]

15. He will be deeply missed....that snoring in the background of their debates.

Damn, I was hoping he would stick around a bit longer, but I can totally understand how burned out he must be. As a man who never really wanted to be president, working that hard for something you never wanted starts to make one wonder a little....even old fred.

[Hawaii Hiker]

17. Good Riddance

:woohoo:

[EarlG]

19. Worst run for president ever

Although obviously he's only going to hold that record until Giuliani drops out :)

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

68. Duncan Hunter lost to "uncommitted." At least Fred got into single digits.

Albeit, lower single digits.

[onehandle]

20. I'm pretty tired... I think I'll go home now. nt

[Kermitt Gribble]

45. HA! Fred Gump! I love it!

[DiamondJay]

63. NOW WE CAN STOP MCCAIN!!!

this is excellent, so now we can help get unelectable huckabee some more votes and unelectable Romney some more, who both obama or hillary could wipe the floor with. McCain is the only problem republican, precisely because he is not really a republican.

[Eurobabe]

21. HA! You heard it here first, predicted this on Sunday

Ding ding, we have a winner...

When will Freddie drop out? TUESDAY.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=132&topic_id=4126461

:applause: :rofl: :rofl:

[DFW]

23. Next in line is Huckleberry Hound

And then it's back to McCain, Giuliani and Romney, like it
was all along.

I could retire on a year's interest alone on what these guys
will spend on their campaigns for the next few months.......

[coalition_unwilling]

34. Thompson functioned as a spoiler for Huckajesus in South Caroline,

stealing 16% of the RW fundie vote from Huckajesus. Without Thompson in the SC primary, Huckajesus would probably have won going away.

[ryanmuegge]

39. "Huckajesus," LOL.

[Hugin]

24. Ah, Fred... We hardly knew ya.

I'm not home to see my idjut neighbor scratching off his stupid bumpersticker. Drat.

[flaminbats]

25. no more Thompsones for Koolaid drinkers to support??

:crazy:

:crazy: what a great campaign! :hurts:

[pattmarty]

26. Shit, who's gonna be the "new St Ronnie" now???????

[BleedingHeartPatriot]

27. The DUzy's dimmed for a moment, to mark his departure. Thompson's run was a motherlode.

Buh Bye, Fred! :hi: MKJ

[GodlessBiker]

28. I still can't believe his mother is still alive. She must be pickled.

[Rufus2007]

29. That's just too bad

Now I can start watching the regular episodes of Law & Order.

[grytpype]

30. Hahahahahaha! He was supposed to be the savior of the GOP!!!

What a loser, and what a party of losers!

[Felix Mala]

31. Big Head Fred not up to task; Neo-Con Penis candidate goes squishy

I really thought he was poised to hit his stride.

He knuckle walked into the race and sleep walks out of it.

[stevedeshazer]

32. Great! Now Paul Harvey can take some more time off!

[progressoid]

33. Uh Oh. Better keep an eye out for the new RED STATE UPDATE!

http://youtube.com/watch?v=zXtXDQpEBdA

Those guys love Fred!!

[MrsBrady]

35. ...took him long enough....n/t

[beltanefauve]

36. Fred, you ran

a BRILLIANT "testing-the-waters" campaign! And then....:boring:

[Plucketeer]

37. Heh!

The script read WAY BETTER than the actual performance!

[4_TN_TITANS]

38. Great news for Tennessee!

With all the stupid Thompson bumperstickers here, that should burst some bubbles and leave supporters scrambling like roaches. Repubs here were very disenchanted with their choices and clung to Fred like rats to driftwood, without him many might just stay home. Can anyone believe TN sent the idiot to the Senate???

[AwakeAtLast]

40. Well, DU's humor quotient went down by about 25%

Never fear, I think Huckabee is primed to take over for him. ;)

[livvy]

41. I had a dog like him once...

last one out of the kennel in the morning, and the first one in at night.

Buh-bye Freddie.

[IronLionZion]

42. Na, Na, Na, Na, Hey, Hey, Hey, Goodbye!

Bwahaha! Goodbye Fred! Go take a nap.

I'm hoping for Rudy to take Florida. Let's keep the Repubes fighting each other a bit longer.

[TexasBushwhacker]

46. Freepers must be sad

He was their number one choice! He was by far their number one choice!?

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/poll?poll=213

Now 50% say they'll go with Romney, 20% say none of the above and 7% say they'll stay home!

http://www.freerepublic.com/perl/poll?poll=214

[customerserviceguy]

60. They are indeed mighty dejected

the only thing that will get them out of their lethargy is to have Hillary to run against. Even Ron Paul would get the votes of right wingers who have cursed his name.

[bunkerbuster1]

62. I figured this was good for Romney

I'm hoping it IS Romney, and not McCave, in the general. Much easier for us to smack Romney around.

[Coes]

65. fredrepublic.com is dead

long live...

oh wait

( fredrepublic.com does exist, you don't need three guessed to figure out where you end up )

[loveangelc]

47. Huckabee and Guiliani are next. lol

[7 of 11]

58. Well at least Huckabee

is already out of cash, while Tooty fruity Rudy hasnt spent any

[Yukari Yakumo]

50. This benefits Huckabee considerably

ARG: John McCain 29%, Mitt Romney 22%, Mike Huckabee 17%, Rudy Giuliani 16%, Fred Thompson 6%
SUSA: John McCain 25%, Rudy Giuliani 20%, Mitt Romney 19%, Mike Huckabee 14%, Fred Thompson 7%
Rass: Mitt Romney 25%, John McCain 20%, Rudy Giuliani 19%, Mike Huckabee 13%, Fred Thompson 12%
IA: Rudy Giuliani 21%, John McCain 20%, Mitt Romney 20%, Mike Huckabee 13%, Fred Thompson 7%
R2K: John McCain 26%, Rudy Giuliani 22%, Mike Huckabee 17%, Mitt Romney 16%, Fred Thompson 7%
StratVis: John McCain 27%, Mike Huckabee 20%, Rudy Giuliani 18%, Mitt Romney 17%, Fred Thompson 10%

Here's the reason I listed all of those. In every case, if Huck inherits most if not all of Fred's support, Huck becomes competitive in Florida.

[mcscajun]

53. Aw, no! Say it ain't SO, Fred! WAAAAHHH!!

:cry: :cry: :cry:

Where am I going to get my laughs now? Half the fun of watching you run (okay, shuffle) was being able to compare your "sterling" finishes to Rudy's! Fuck!
How am I going to have any more laughs at Rudy's expense with you gone? Yes, you were also amusing on your own now and again, but nothing like the sight of Rudy finishing BEHIND you (and behind Paul, of course.)

I'm going to miss you, Freddie.



And to think I once thought you had this whole thing locked up. Seriously, I thought you were going to be our raw meat come November. I posted about it here and would have put money on it (thankfully, I had no takers here.)
That was, of course, BEFORE you started to run in earnest and opened your big yap. Who know you had a 12-gauge mouth capable of shooting your own foot off day after day after day after...

[rasputin1952]

56. Back to the Black Lagoon...

Like he'll really be missed...:D

[7 of 11]

57. Or the grave yard

where he can do the monster mash

[ChazII]

59. While I am glad he is gone,

the MSM ignored Thompson like they are trying to ignore Edwards. The people aren't getting to choose their candidates -- imho.

[tanyev]

61. Is anyone keeping a suicide watch on Free Republic?

I would help, but I have to, uh, alphabetize all my canned goods. And then inventory all my books and CDs.

[T_i_B]

66. Just been on one freeper site

Yes they are all despondant, but it seems like they are mostly turning towards Mitt Rommney, albeit without much enthusiasm. About the only motivating factor for the freepers at present seems to be the threat of "teh Hildabeast" in the White House

[radfringe]

64. how I imagine the conversation prior to the announcement went....

Campaign Advisor: Sir? Sir? wake up, Sir

Thompson: zzzzz..uhhh...ummmm...huh?

Campaign Advisor: it's to go, sir

Thompson: huh? Did I win?

Campaign Advisor: No, Sir. You didn't even cross the starting line

thompson: oh, then let's go home, I need a nap. campaigning is hard work

[Doctor_J]

67. Poor Tweety

The manliest of the manly GOP wannabes is calling it quits. Where is he going to find another manful winger to moon over?