The Wall Street Journal-20080122-Campaign -08- Thompson Campaign Quiets After Loss
Return to: The_Wall_Street_Journal-20080122
Campaign '08: Thompson Campaign Quiets After Loss
Following his disappointing finish in the South Carolina primary on Saturday, it looked like former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson could be thinking about dropping his presidential bid.
The state was widely viewed as a make-or-break contest for him after he largely avoided the earlier contests in Iowa and New Hampshire to focus his efforts in South Carolina, the first contest held in his home region.
While Mr. Thompson offered some of his most energetic campaign performances on the trail in the state, he finished in a distant third place with 16% of the vote. Arizona Sen. John McCain defeated former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, 33%-30%.
While the rest of the Republican field continued to campaign in the South in anticipation of the next contest, the Jan. 29 Florida primary, Mr. Thompson was at home in Tennessee and had no public events scheduled yesterday.
His campaign had also gone silent, issuing no press releases since his Saturday loss. A mass email received from his campaign on Saturday morning, from campaign manager Bill Lacy just as voting began, read: "Today is Fred's big day -- and the signs are good."
Asked if Mr. Thompson was deciding whether to stay in the race, a campaign spokesman said it was unclear. "No decisions have been made and there are currently no plans one way or the other," said Todd Harris in an email.
