CNN

Jeff in Houston is bang on. Why, I think I can hear the bibles thumping right now. This freak show is a disaster waiting to happen......period.

Tom (Cherry Point)

First, thank you for your service Tom. I'm a retired Army noncomm and am grateful for all of you who still serve. Also thanks for clearing up the WMD issue for Paul and Jane.

Brian (Denver)

The arsenal from the 80s and 90s is directly revelant to the invasion. Possession was not the entire issue, a good part of it was intent. He wanted the most destructive weapons, and if we had allowed him to continue in power, he would have developed them. And don't think they would have stayed in Iraq. Sadam was a very vindictive individual. After the butt kicking we dealt him in the first gulf war, he would have done anything to retaliate against us, including passing any weapons he developed to terrorists. Common sense.

Actually, you're misinterpreting what Thompsom said. He said Saddam "HAD certainly had WMDs." That puts it in the past tense, and we all admit that Saddam gassed the kurds, so yeah, he had had WMDs. I don't even care about Thompson, but don't take sound bites out of context.

And while you'r at it, GOOGLE RON PAUL. Read about him. Open your mind and see what is going on here.

I warned you guys. This guy has the right appeal to all the wrong people. Be frightened. And get used to his face. You think George wants to RULE instead of GOVERN, just wait for this guy. Hope you look good in a brown shirt.

Fred has the crucial trait that Presidents need- gravity. But he can also swing a sense of humor. He's the closest to Reagan you can get.

Hey Laura of Tulsa, OK: Does your comment include us conservatives who want to secure our Constitution?

Thompson is not a real candidate; he is a stalking horse. His role is bait Democrats by attacking their liberal pets, and to say stupid, controversial and inflammatory things in order to draw fire from the Democrats-and take fire away from Giuliani and Romney.

The guy must be laughing all the way to the Country Club.

I am convinced that if the media gave the same splashy coverage to capable and principled candidate Ron Paul that they've given to actor Fred Thompson, Paul's poll numbers would be at least 26% as well. Paul's primary support is from the the informed Internet users who are able to bypass the media censorship of Paul's campaign and discover that he is the only Republican candidate who intends to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution.

"He speaks his mind clearly and honestly"

Thankfully, this is what will prove just how clueless this latest and
greatest joke is. But then again...
outside of the two coasts, I'm not
entirely sure.....

Fred's wife 20 years younger than him? That's a cool guy !
Posted By diann, westchester cty ny : September 11, 2007 10:54 pm

By that measure, Kucinich, who has a wife THIRTY years younger than he is, is the coolest.

Yo Diann,

Thompson's very young wife may make him "cool". Mr.& Mrs. T might even be fun at a tailgate party – if Mr. T can stay awake. "Cool" is hardly a quality that we need in a President – it might even be a liability!

THE COUNTRY NEEDS A MODERATE! Point blank – I have to admit – I really wanted to like Freds positions – I don't – I'm a moderate Republican – who is fiscally conservative...and socially liberal – Fred is far right....and Hillary is far left....we so do not need either right now – if we run Rudy – all the Hillary haters (at last count – over 55%) – will vote for "anyone else" – keep the religious right at bay...and keep Hillary the heck out of the white house....

Thompson is the best man for the job of President. He is not your typical baby kissing, hand shaking politician. He is real. He speaks his mind clearly and honestly. He is exacltly what the country needs right now. Its about time we have someone like this in the race. FRED '08 !!!

For those who feel Fred Thompson has what it takes to Lead America...What ever that possibly could be??

Your deserve another Bush Clone as President. And another four years of the same horror and devastation the world has endured for the past eight years under the Bush Reign. Luckily, for the rest of Americans, you are the minority and Fred will never take office!

And someone said southerners were smart??

Kurt (Canada)

I had to smile when I read your post. I fully realize when the incidents occured in Iraq, also that we supported the Hussein government for a long time. I have no ideological blinders, as I'm not an ultraconservative neocon, nor a liberal. I'm simply an American who is tired of those who tear this country down. And for what it's worth, I don't have a problem at all with other countries not having a good opinion of my president. Honestly, I don't care what you think of him. You can't vote for my leader so your opinion is really useless. I've supported this president for nearly 7 years now not because of the party he represents, but rather because he has the courage to stand in the face of adversity and do what he believes is right for his country. That is leadership. And that is what everyone has a problem with. Mr Bush won't just knuckle under to political parties, or to the United Nations, or any other country, and that is why the world views him so harshly. 20 years from now he will be held in the highest esteem, as his vision for this country will be proven correct.

To Paul in New Orleans: I am an AV-8B Harrier pilot for the U.S. Marine Corps. Iraqi jets used to support the 1990 invasion of Kuwait included the MiG-27 and the Su-25. The pylons on these aircraft do not have the lug spacing required to carry the standard U.S. free fall munitions from that time, such as the MK-82, MK-83, and MK-84. Instead, those aircraft carried and employed old Soviet weapons. No U.S. bombs were dropped on the Kuwaitis by Iraqi jets.

To Jane in Nashville: The term WMD refers to Weapons of Mass Destruction, such as nuclear, chemical, biological, or radiological weapons. These weapons are far more destructive than conventional weapons such as 155MM HE artillery shells, tank main gun rounds, bullets, etc. The U.S. did sell some of these minor armaments to the Iraqi government during the Iran-Iraq war, but the U.S. government certainly did not sell WMD to Iraq, at any time. We do not sell these weapons to anyone, including Great Britain.

How can there be people who still think Iraq had WMDs? I mean the army and the UN both went into Iraq post-occupation and searched exhaustively for them. Additionally, we've had all this time after the occupation to turn them up. Yet both organizations did not find any and openly acknowledge as much. Indeed at this point we have even recovered internal documents from Saddam's government that verify this from the regime directly (after the fact.)

In the face of such clear and unambiguous proof for one position it is a little frustrating to find people supporting the other position. His arsenal in the 80s and early 90s was/is irrelevant to the arsenal he had at the time of the invasion.

thank you kurt in canada, your 2 cents worth is as noteworthy as the latest fraud regarding the dyed in the wool phony bin laden tapes.

your lucky for now , while US dollar goes into the toilet, the LOONEY (canadian dollar) gains value, this will help bring value to the new north american union ( NAU ) currency the AMERO , ( google it, utube it ) between this rag we call the us dollar , and the peso , the looney may be all that supports the new ( amero ) currency after the total colapse of the green back, remember the borders open fully in 2010, when you have the opportunity to host a tidal wave of imigration.

glad to know you care kurt.

I wish people could see thru the spin clouds of the two parties that keep Americans divided.

Time for a third party that unites the middle and gets rid of the far right religious and wacko left wing.

Although CNN will delete my post (like normal)because they do not want a 3rd party.

"

To: Paul, New Orleans, LA
You said:
"...Do you know who gave Saddam those weapons?……drum roll please….the US govt did when Iraq was fighting Iran..."
Read much? If so, you'd know that your statement is totally false. Name ONE U.S. weapon used by Saddam's forces. Oh, please don't count a handful of obsolete M-60 tanks he bought from Jordan.

As soon as I heard Fred say that the students should have been allowed to carry guns to Virgina Tech to protect themselves I knew he was a nut case. The sooner the media digs up the dirt and buries him the better.

It appears the Blame America First cotillion has made a few posts in here, and naturally, they are devoid of fact.

The United States certainly gave weapons and material to Iraq, but we were most certainly not alone.

Fact: The U.S.S. Stark was hit by two missiles by an Iraqi fighter jet on May 17, 1987. Thirty-seven sailors died and another twenty-one were injured during the unprovoked attack that was preceeded by continued ignoring by the Iraqi pilot to identify himself on international channels.

The Iraqi fighter and missiles were the Mirage and Exocet respectively, and they were both of French manufacture.

I don't care where he got his war weapons, or who gave them to him. I care that he used them against us, and other countries, and against his own people, and clearly worked against our allies and our national interests. That's what matters; that's what counts.

As for Thompson, the jury is still out, but this country doesn't need another 4-8 years of Jimmy Carter style foreign policy.

The Republican party is doomed if this guy gets presidential nomination. I don't get why so many conservatives and evangelicals(that's according to the media) are so attracted to him – he is nothing but trouble. A true conservative will know that Fred Thompson has zero family values that is evidenced by his many prior marriges and the fact that his current Missus is almost 30 years his junior. I, for one, will not vote for Fred if he is nominated.

Fred's wife 20 years younger than him? That's a cool guy !

Congratulations, Fred. go get 'em

Whew ! That was fast. fast freddie

Hopefully Fred builds on this mojo and continues to gain speed. He is our hope for the future and a leader that will bring pride back. The antiwar canidates will fall when exposed to a real leader.

Go Fred!!

FRED THOMPSON:

Kill the Iraqis
Secure the Border
Punch the Hippies

Republicans? Democrats? What does it matter? They are all basically the same. We need candidates who actually cares about America, not the DC scene. Find a Pres. Candidate who will secure our borders, reduce the size of government, protect our Constitution, reduce taxes across the board, and hold people responsible for the actions. Hmm, maybe I should run – I don't see anyone out there like that.

$10 says the future Madame President sends him a "Thank you" card if he snags the Republican Nomination.

Although it's a little disturbing that this guy's knowledge of the Middle East appears to be even worse than Mr. Bush's.

Bill (Charleston SC): Not only did Iraq possess WMD, but they used them on their own people.

Yes.... in the 1980s with the full knowledge of Western governments. Iraq did NOT possess WMDs after the first Gulf War and his nuclear programme was NOT active at the time of the invasion. Iraq was NOT a threat to the West.

That's exactly the reason many of the ex rulers of Iraq were convicted and hanged.

In part, but then might I remind you that these were incidents that occured in the 1980s when Iraq was an American client state and Hussein an ally. Not much of a problem then it seems.

Stupid is not those who remember recent history for what it is, rather stupid are those who revise history for their own political purpose.

How about people who continue to look at history with ideological blinders such as yourself?

If the shoe fits, which it probably does you, then wear it.

Mr. Kettle, there's a Mr. Pot on line 1 who has a message for you....

As for Thompson in a statistical tie with Rudy, I'll ask you Americans for the sake of your international reputation (already tattered and torn but perhaps not unmendable), don't support and even lazier version of George W. Bush.

The more I read the polls, the happier I feel for having taken a statistic class. It's all about: MEDIA POWER and POLITICAL GAMBLING. When will the media give an in depth documentary on polls? Ok. I think I am asking for too much.

Just saw a picture on the boob tube of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson. Mrs. makes Mr. look
ancient. "Ancient" will not translate into many votes.

One bad actor catches another.Seems like the Republicas can't sort out the bad from the worst.WAY TO GO!

"It's time for people who believe they have a stake in Western civilization and its traditions to get a little backbone – even if it offends somebody."

-Fred Dalton Thompson

Not sure Rudy Giuliani will get too far with this race, he messed up on 9/11

If the primaries were held today, and the nominees for the Republican party were Rudy Giuliani & Fred Thompson, who would you vote for..... ------–> http://www.youpolls.com/details.asp?pid=466

I want whatever kool-aid you Fred Heads are drinking. Breathe of fresh air? Oh geez give me a break. He is spewing out the same old rheotoric as GW. He is a lobbyist? Just on that alone he shouldnt be trusted. Anyone with half a brain could see that. RON PAUL 08' Defender of what is left of our constitution and bill of rights. Thanks GW. Peace out folks

Maybe he can stay ahead of the "None of the Above" category, leading the Bush clones for the upcoming 2008
Refu!#uplicans's. Get us some candidates on both sides with some brains, who really care and work for THE AMERICAN PEOPLE!!!!!!

Frank above said someone who reaches OVER party lines will succeed over someone who's a purist.

But don't you think , Frank that both Dems and Cons want their candidate to be purely left or right? The talk shows all say that Rudy doesn't please the Cons because he's lax on abortion issues. What think ye?

Congratulations Fred, we knew you could do it – one week and you're running away with the polls.

John in Seattle –

Ron Paul is too tempermental and emotional to be President. And he can't be serious about abolishing the CIA, FBI, and IRS... give it up, Ron. You're fine as a maverick Congressmen, but Americans still want a dignified figurehead for a President, someone who looks Presidential , like - hmmm .. FRED DALTON THOMPSON !

answer to john g who's wondering about CNN Op. polls.

I believe that these poll survey windows pop up as you are perusing this site. I have seen them, they are approx. two inch by two inch white windows that ask you if you want fill out a survey/. Of course, I close them, because they tend to pop up at the most inconvenient time. But I think that's what these polls are.

With a five (5) point margin of error either way, this is a very weak poll and one would be safer to trust polls with a 3 to 3.5 margin of error.

The margin of error is related to the size of the sample. Small sample have large margins of error because of vast distances between data points.

Having said that, I am hopeful that the poll will reflect a rapidly rising trend. Rudy is not the right guy for the GOP at this point in time.

Congratulations, Fred ! After so many years of the Bush,Clinton,Bush monopoly, Sen. Thompson is like a breath of freash air for conservatives who want to secure our nation.

Double Yikes!! Fred Thompson is even scarier than John McCain.

This is as close as its ever going to get for Republican front runners. They don't stand a chance in 2008.

Land-line phone polls, the ones accepted by the media as the standard, are very far from being accurate. It blows me away when a poll involving a few more than 300 people (and supposedly representing the entire voting population of the US) claims to have a margin of error of 3%. Was this number just made up out of thin air? The margin of error is -always- up to 100%, because it depends entirely upon who you end up randomly calling.

A poll such as this one is especially innaccurate, because a large group of voters for the 2008 election are excluded. In order to participate, you must have been registered as Republican in the 2004 election. That excludes everyone who was 17 or younger at the time (everyone who is 18-20 now)... and more importantly, it excludes most anyone who did not support George W. Bush and the neo-conservative agenda. Ron Paul supporters never show up on these polls because they most certainly would not have had any interest to register Republican and vote for Bush in 2004. And so they are not heard from. Meanwhile, polls without said restrictions consistently show Ron Paul in the lead.

There is one major issue that disqualifies Fred Thompson and Rudy Giuliani for president. They both foolishly agreed with Bush's commutation of Scooter Libby, and Thompson even went as far as heading a fundraiser for Libby's defense. If you cannot respect the rule of law in this country, you do not deserve to hold the highest office in this nation (period). It would be more of the same Bush nonsense for us all. No thank you, gentlemen.

WOW! How Fred could catch up in the polls overnight with candidates who have been campaigning for the last year is truly a feat. He seems to be too polarizing though. I think the Republicans would have a better chance of success putting up a moderate like Giuliani who can reach OVER party lines. We've learned that the conservative base is a force to be reckoned with in American politics, but if the Republicans dumped them and grabbed Rudy, I see an absolute (and sad) victory for the GOP.

Freddie Thompson would be the easiest to beat in the general election .. that's why I'm for him!

318 people were polled. Who are they? Has anyone here ever been contacted to participate in any of these polls. Still have never found 1 person who has participated.

Neither of these men, Thompson or Giuliani, are presidential material. The country has been dumbed-down for the last seven years, so perhaps they look better in comparison. Still, that's no excuse for us to elect another poor leader.

Way to go FRED!! Keep on truckin' my great friend and President to be!!You have what it takes to LEAD this proud nation, we NEED you now, my good man!!
http://www.FRED08.com

Fred Thompson gets my vote! These polls are not meaningless. They indicate for us a trend towards Thompson. They also indicate to me that Mit Romney is not making progress.

I know who Ronald Reagan would support!

“Ron Paul is one of the outstanding leaders fighting for a stronger national defense. As a former Air Force officer, he knows well the needs of our armed forces, and he always puts them first. We need to keep him fighting for our country.”

Ronald Reagan

Ron Paul was one of Ronald Reagan’s first supporters by the way. People who consider themselves conservatives and republicans and yet still bash Ron Paul need to do some more reading and self reflection.

Of course there were wmd's in IRAQ!!! Anyone who disputes that clearly doesnt know anything about middle eastern history. One might ask, who do we know this? Its simple, ladies and gentlemen: WE GAVE IT TO THEM. That's right, we gave Iraq weapons to use during the Iraq-Iran War. Saddam was our friend until he decided to invade Kuwait, and the only reason why intervened was becasue we were worried that he was going to attack saudi arabia and steal their oil.

With Thompson as their candidate, the Republican party has no chance to win the next presidential election.

No question about it.

This guy will come unglued at some point. I don't think he has the temperament or patience for the big leagues. All it takes is one slip of the tongue in front of the media to become an also-ran.

Thompson strikes me as someone lacking these qualities.

As a former Republican I see this as a real test of where the Republican party is headed. Rudy has led the polls forever. Indicative that the more moderate Republicans were/are winning out over the religious conservatives. Can a pro-choice, pro-gay, pro-gun control Rudy win? I think he can because I think there are many Republicans that believe just as he does and are not that dedicated to the religious agenda. It will be an interesting battle between the conservative and the moderates...even if they have no chance in the general election.

To: Bill Charleston SC

Do you know who gave Saddam those weapons?......drum roll please....the US govt did when Iraq was fighting Iran. That is why Kuwait was wondering why US made bombs were dropping on them from Iraq!

It's time for serious change and these clowns are not worthy. None of them has any foreign policy knowledge but I know someone who has the backing of a person who was head of the CIA unit to search for Bin Laden....do you know who that is???

His last name is my first name!

This post-announcement poll showing a boomlet for Thompson is less than meaningless. The new kid on the block always gets the attention. For a while, Guiliani was that new kid- now it's Thompson. The Republican field is raising political narcolepsy to a high art. Watching Thompson give a speech is less stimulating than watching paint dry.

Your looking at the next President of the United States. No, don't think so..? Just watch CNN and the other "major news organizations" unlease their bias political dogs on him over the next year...

The Rasmussen poll has Thompson either tying or lossing to the democratic front runners. Rasmussen has Giuliani beating all the front runners except Edwards, whom the democrats seem to love to hate at this point.

But yeah, poll data is only indicative of the people asked. Trying to extrapolate that data onto the rest of the U.S. populous is pretty silly.

To E.

Fred said "...He had certainly had weapons of mass destruction..."

Fred didn't say S.H. had them at the time of the start of the war. I think most everybody agrees S.H. has had and used WMD versus his own people. So, Fred's statement is accurate. S.H. had had WMD before.

Fred is using the "S.H. was a bad guy in the past and there was a great chance he would again be a bad guy" theory. That seems reasonable to many.

I think, as with most Politico's, you have to read well-into their statements to really get to what they are saying.

Polls are irrelevant for AT LEAST another 6 months. It's all a media frenzy at this point.

Posted By John, St. Louis, MO : September 11, 2007 3:40 pm
------------–

Actually the first primary's begin in less than four months....I'd say this spells trouble for Mayor Guliani. Bit this was widely expected. Thompson will probably end up being the nominee but will get creamed in a General! dems mid as well start attacking him now....

I am a Republican by nature and I don't get what the big deal about this guy is?

He has baggage and frankly we need to hear more from him to make a decision, like MAYBE LISTEN TO HIM DEBATE A FEW TIMES, EH?

Lets save the ticker tape parade for until he makes some good points and not JUST TALKING POINTS.

Wow, hypothetical matchups between people with essentially the same positions. Talk about INFORMATIVE! Hooray CNN! Man, do you guys have your interns running the show or something?

If someone at CNN checks Thompson's interview on Hannity about a month or 2 ago he blamed Jordon for the problems in fact being caused by Iran – the guy needs a map – this is the kind of mistake if played over and over again can kill the best of candidates.

This article is mis-leading... again. A USA Today/Gallup poll taken Sept. 7-8 shows Giuliani with 32% and Thompson with 20%. This poll was taken 2 to 3 days after Thompsons annoucement. And a A CBS/New York Times poll taken during the lead up and then immediately aftermath, Sept. 4-6, shows Giuliani with 27% and Thompson with 22%. While this is a CNN poll that the article is quoting, it does not fairly represent all legitimate polls and unjustly implies that Thompson is tied, when that implication depends on which poll one reads.

I agree, polls don't matter. Of course if you are polling less than 5% at this point, it probably means you are trying to get your message heard by your party, but you are not a serious contender for nomination....

It only is true their were no weapons of mass destruction if we "choose " to believe what people tell us. We can also "choose" to ignore the facts and their was a good reason to go into Iraq. Now I'm a much happier person

E in New Orleans,

Not only did Iraq possess WMD, but they used them on their own people. That's exactly the reason many of the ex rulers of Iraq were convicted and hanged. Stupid is not those who remember recent history for what it is, rather stupid are those who revise history for their own political purpose. If the shoe fits, which it probably does you, then wear it.

I really don't want to see either guy as president and this scares me just as it did when Bush was first elected.

Polls are irrelevant for AT LEAST another 6 months. It's all a media frenzy at this point.

According to cnn.com, presidential candidate Fred Thompson was asked to react to Osama bin Laden's first public communication in three years. More specifically, he was asked if the United States should have captured bin Laden and fully dismantled al-Qaeda prior to invading Iraq. This is what he said:

“It's not an either/or situation; sometimes you don't have a choice. Saddam Hussein was on the cusp as having defeated the United Nations and the free world and the United States. He had certainly had weapons of mass destruction and had the capability of reviving his nuclear program. In light of what Iran is doing today with their nuclear program, he certainly would have gotten back on the stick and gotten there again…"

WHAT?

FRED THOMPSON IS LYING OR STUPID.

Not even Bush administration officials say there were WMDs in Iraq anymore. They prefer to forget they ever told the lie as justification for invasion in the first place. Why would Thompson revive it? Maybe he just doesn't read the news. Maybe he doesn't live in reality.

Moreover, why have major news outlets ignored the quote? It is at least a gaffe of newsworthy proportions.

http://wecouldbefamous.blogspot.com/2007/09/fred-thompson-is-lying-or-stupid.html