Thompson Campaign Press Release - In Case You Missed It...Leading Iowa Columnist Says "Thompson Hits Stride"

Excerpts From: "Thompson Hits Stride In First Debate"

By David Yepsen

October 10, 2007

Fred Thompson survived the first big test of his bid for the 2008 Republican presidential nomination on Tuesday when he turned in a strong performance during a debate among GOP presidential candidates.

The former Tennessee senator and actor recently launched his campaign in a fumbling manner to poor reviews, but he came back Tuesday by offering some specific answers in a cool, commanding style as he debuted in the first debate with his opponents.

He cemented his good grade by correctly answering the trick question of the day - who is the prime minister of Canada? (It's Stephen Harper.)

The two-hour debate was held in Dearborn, Mich., and was televised to a national audience by cable channels CNBC and later by MSNBC. It was closely watched by the nati on's political community to see how Thompson fared, how other candidates reacted to him and whether the dynamic of the race changed.

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Romney was basically overlooked for much of the debate as the limelight zeroed in on Thompson. Romney's new haircut looks nice, but saying he'd have to talk to his lawyers before deciding whether he needed a vote of Congress before attacking Iranian nuclear facilities didn't sound very presidential.

He redeemed himself a bit at the end by joking that the GOP presidential debates were like a TV series: There is a "huge cast, it goes on forever and Fred Thompson comes on at the end."

Thompson quipped back: "And to think I thought I was going to be the best actor on the stage."

Thompson said that being in the debate was "just like home" and that he didn't wait too long before entering the GOP contest. He said he enjoyed watching the earlier debates but felt they were "ge tting a little boring without me."

Thompson's arrival tended to eclipse some of the other candidates as moderators bored in on the new guy. Yet Thompson fielded their questions well and offered some details. For example, to make Social Security sound he'd slow the growth of benefit increases for future retirees by indexing them to inflation. To help middle-class taxpayers, he'd postpone the automatic growth of the alternative minimum tax.
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