Fred Thompson presidential campaign, 2008
| Fred Thompson for President 2008 | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Campaign | U.S. presidential election, 2008 |
| Candidate |
Fred Thompson U.S. Senator from Tennessee (1994–2003) |
| Affiliation | Republican Party |
| Status | Withdrawn |
| Headquarters | Nashville, Tennessee |
| Key people | Bill Lacy (chairman) |
| Slogan | Security · Unity · Prosperity |
The 2008 presidential campaign of Fred Thompson, lawyer, lobbyist, character actor and former Senator from Tennessee began on September 5, 2007 after six months of speculation. He was a Republican Party primary candidate seeking to represent his party in the 2008 United States presidential election.
On March 11, 2007, Thompson appeared on Fox News Sunday to discuss the possibility of a 2008 candidacy for president. The announcement spurred several grassroots draft movements, including a well-organized draft campaign started by Dean Rice, a former Thompson political aide, in Knoxville, Tennessee. While Thompson had not yet formally announced his intentions, he said he would "leave the door open." He stated that he would not be interested in accepting a hypothetical nomination for vice president, explaining "I don't think I would ever want to do that and be in the second position."
Thompson's March 11 announcement spurred a flurry of conjecture, discussion, and activity on the Internet. A "Draft Fred Thompson" forum site became a particularly popular online forum for supporters. One group of supporters organized under the banner "FredHeadsUSA" with a plan to build a grassroots political movement to expand on Thompson's support on the Internet.
On May 15, Thompson published a video in which he declined to debate Michael Moore about Cuba. On May 18, he continued his Internet campaign by posting a letter to Pajamas Media acknowledging his online supporters.
Thompson formed an exploratory committee on June 1, 2007. Unlike most candidate exploratory groups, his organized as a 527 group. Thompson made his first public appearance after this exploratory committee formed on June 2 at the Virginia Republicans annual fund-raising gala in Richmond, Virginia. Shortly thereafter, on June 5, 2007, Thompson launched his official website. The same day, there was a Republican Presidential candidates debate with the then current 10 candidates, from New Hampshire, broadcast on CNN. Thompson was mentioned repeatedly as one of the poll front runners, even though he did not participate.
...
Wikipedia