FRED THOMPSON - IT AIN'T OVER YET

Most in the , "know, " have begun counting out Fred Thompson for the 2008 GOP Presidential nod. His numbers have dropped nationally, he is running second to Mitt Romney in South Carolina after being if first for several months and and there are continual reports about a lack of, "energy, " in his campaign.

Now lets look at a few factors that those in the, "know, " are NOT considering. First Fred stated when he first announced that he was not going to run what most consider a traditional campaign. He has been working at the grassroots level traveling the states and visiting with the people. His Internet campaign has received excellent response and he has spent far less money that any of the top tier candidates yet he still remains second when the national polls are averaged out.

He is moving up in Iowa and in South Carolina, where he had dropped to fourth. He has surged back to second behind Romney and still coming on strong. In Michigan Thompson has moved into third as well as Nevada and Florida. Each of these numbers are based on an average of all polling.

Thompson was on Fox News Sunday during the Holiday weekend and this is what he had to say in response to his standing in the polls.

"I'm running ahead of a guy who spent probably $50 million more than I have and been running for a year longer. If you look in South Carolina, I've either been leading or tied for the lead for a long, long time. I moved from fourth to third in Iowa, ahead of Rudy Giuliani, incidentally."

Fred ran a similar campaign when he ran for Senator in Tennessee. Going into election night he was down in the polls by nearly 20 points and when all the votes were counted he instead won be nearly 20 points.

Fred is not just presenting a laundry list of ideas like most of the candidates but presenting actual policy proposals dealing with immigration, taxes, social security, as well as promoting the appointment of Judges to the Supreme Court who will follow the Constitution and not legislate from the bench. This approach will continue to have a strong reception with voters.

The first primaries do not take place until January with the majority being held on February 5. Most of the pundits believe that after the fifth of February the nominee for both parties will be known because of the large amount of primaries being held so early in the year. While this may be the case there is one alternative that most have not considered.

With so many candidates running and the race in each state still fairly close, the break down of states after the primaries could very well send the choosing of a nominee to the National Convention because the states may go several directions when the actual vote is tallied. There may not be a clear nominee when all is said an done.

Counting out a candidate as many have Fred Thompson this early should make for quite a bit of eating crow by those in the , "know, " come election night as the primaries begin. Fred's grassroots campaign is having a greater impact with voters than the pundits believe and remember the polls do not an election make.

His down home approach and strong stand on important issues makes Fred not only a viable candidate but his conservative stance on these same issues gives him a distinct advantage with the base of the GOP when votes are actually cast. Rudy was Mayor of New York and did an excellent job in the aftermath of 9/11. Romney was a GOP Governor in a Democrat state. Neither candidate excites the conservative base of the GOP.

Fred on the other hand has strong conservative credentials and has a conservative stand on the issues. He is not just talking a conservative game like Rudy, Romney and McCain but proposing real conservative answers to today's pressing issues. That is what GOP voters are looking for and that is why, "it ain't over yet , " for Fred Thompson!

Ken Taylor