Am I with Fred?

I must admit that I've lost at least a little interest in the presidential primary races in the last couple of months. Being what most people would call a "conservative" on most issues, it's been hard to really get all that excited about any of the leading candidates from any party. I watched pieces of the first few debates, and still nobody really stood out. And trying to stay plugged in is a chore when most all of the early speculation, polling, and political commentary is more media hype than substance.

In the ellipses of President Bush's surly public opinion polls, the loudest politicians, using a willing media, have moved forward with an assumption that the presidential election is simply going to be between a "moderate" and a "liberal". Any true conservatives will simply have to settle for the "lesser of two evils" so to speak. The idea is that if Republicans are going to have any chance at all at overcoming the building momentum of the Democratic party, they are going to have to focus on issues that will bring in "moderate" voters and hope that the conservative base has nowhere else to go.

This move has helped a number of not-so-conservative, but "winnable", candidates to thrive as early Republican potential nominees. That has led to an early sense of disappointment by many conservatives, especially with regard to the support of life issues. The front-page issue, the war on terror, seems to have drowned out a lot of other very important issues. But Americans do still vote on these other issues, and come election time, these issues will all be factors in the outcome.

Conservatives are scared that they have to compromise core values to be able to compete in the 2008 presidential race. I don't believe this is the case. And I think we will see this come to pass in the coming months as the race is further formed and those core values that have always been, and still are, important to the American people are brought back into the debate. There is a quietly prevailing hope that a candidate - one that can win - will arise to where we won't have to compromise on important issues. I do believe, from all I can tell, that that candidate has arrived.

He is a man that has had a lot of talk and speculation about him for some time now, but he has only recently officially entered the race to be counted. He has all of the charisma of a Ronald Reagan or a Bill Clinton, all of the values of a true traditional conservative, and, also important, he can win. He can win the primaries, and he can win the general election. And I do believe that he will.

His name is Fred Thompson. I know it's still very early, nobody is perfect, and we still have more to learn about Fred, but I'm looking forward to seeing how he does and have high hopes for him. And I would encourage everyone, whatever you believe, to learn about the candidates and get involved as this very important election gets closer. And if you aren't 100% sure about your choice of candidate yet, check out Fred Thompson.