Fred Thompson Meets with Lawyers in Central Florida

The Hillsborough County Bar Foundation welcomed a speech from former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson. The question in Republican Party circles concerns whether Fred will run for President. Fred of course, was asked this question at this appearance. The Fred Thompson supporters have already built a stealth campaign- Run, Fred, Run! Fred is consistently placing third in national polling, behind front runner Rudy Giuliani, second place John McCain, yet ahead of the hard charging Mitt Romney. Among undecided Republicans, likely to vote in the primaries, Fred is ahead. Romney received accolades last week as the winner of the first national Republican forum at held and the Reagan Library. Readily available on Internet commerce sites are Fred bumper stickers, tee shirts, and yard signs. Emails are exchanged in real time. A new lexicon has been created: FredHeads, Fredipedia, Fredophiles, etc. The grassroots facts on the ground are way ahead of the careful decision making process.

A declaration of Presidential candidacy would trigger an huge federal rulebook policed by the Federal Elections Commission. As senator, Fred supported the latest federal law known as McCain-Fiengold. Fred is careful to remind all speculators that he has a day job, filling in for radio commentator Paul Harvey, and acting in the TV series "Law and Order". True to his word as a non-candidate, Fred did not leak advance knowledge of his visit to this independent grassroots effort to "Draft Fred Thompson."

Hillsborough County, along with Pinellas County forms the western anchor of the Interstate Four corridor. The growth and vitality of this region is now considered crucial to presidential politics. The divided politics of the nation as a whole seem to be mirrored here. Undeer the leadership of the President's brother, JEB Bush, the state is solidly Republican. Democrats did make some gains in 2006. Charlie Crist, the new Republican Governor, can be described as a poplulist, not a rock-ribbed conservative. Florida has just moved the presidential primary date forward to January 29^th, to deliberately increase the importance of campaigning in Florida. An appearance to a professional lawyer's group in Tampa signals clearly that Fred is carefully inspecting the putting green before swinging his club. Fred did not conduct a formal press conference, but he confided to reporters before speaking here. "I think campaigns are too long," he said. "You don't need to be running for years and raising millions and millions of dollars."

Thompson said he will base his decision not on the who else is in the race, but on whether or not if he, himself, thinks that he is man, that this Nation needs at this time. These times require that the country move in a "different and better" direction, he said. The federal government is dysfunctional, marked by in-fighting and in need of a leader. Moreover, he said government agencies work selfishly, their computers can't share information, critical audits point out alarming mismanagement, immigration policy and staffing are inadequate, port cargo isn't properly monitored and entitlement programs will be bankrupt in a short period of time. When asked about starting a national catastrophic insurance super fund to protect property owners from rising costs, Thompson replied, "That's Florida's issue." He said he hasn't looked into it, but might if he decides to run for president.