Thompson Campaign Press Release - In Case You Missed It...Orlando Sentinel: "Thompson, in role of a lifetime, captures Republicans at gut level"

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The Dr. Phil bit is Fred Thompson's comedy gold.

The Republican presidential candidate uses it every time he greets a crowd. It goes like this:

"I was in an airport not too long ago and a lady came running up to me and says, 'Can I have your autograph please? My husband and I are just the biggest fans of yours. We watch you on television all the time.'

"I said, 'Why, yes, ma'am.'

"But before I could sign my name she said, 'How long you gonna be in town, Dr. Phil?' "

Laughter washes over the crowd, and now the former Tennessee senator is in control. He's entertaining, he's funny and he makes people feel good.

"He's so charismatic," said Richard Briggs, a retired school administrator who saw Thompson at The Villages. "He just has a presence about him."

That presence is Thompson's most valuable tool, and he used it like a craftsman last week, traveling the state telling voters he is the Republicans' best hope in 2008.

His three-day tour stopped in Jacksonville, Central Florida, South Florida and the Gulf Coast. It wrapped up Saturday with appearances at a Lakeland gun show and the Gators game in Gainesville.

Throughout the trip, Thompson drew big, receptive crowds who seemed hungry -- almost desperate -- for an alternative to GOP contenders Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain.

With his honey-soaked baritone, front-porch manner and instantly familiar face -- thanks to endless Law & Order reruns -- Thompson fills a void for many voters even if they can't yet say why.

"It just feels like he's the only candidate who represents the ideas this nation was founded on," said Buddy Reynolds, a 54-year-old Titusville resident. "It's more of an intuitive, gut-level feel."

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When Thompson's campaign buses rumbled in, Berg and the crowd burst into cheers. They exploded when the 6-foot-5-inch candidate emerged to prowl the stage in a French-blue dress shirt open at the collar.

He rattled off a list of crucial GOP issues, saying he cherished the "sanctity of life," supported the Second Amendment and wanted to rein in activist judges. He talked of lower taxes and said America needed a president "who's not afraid to blow the whistle" on wasteful spending.

When he said Americans are "united and determined to do everything necessary" to win in Iraq and defeat terrorists, the crowd shouted its approval.

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'I'm sold on Fred'

Friday he shook hands and drank Cuban coffee at Versailles, the little Havana restaurant in Miami that is a required stop for anyone seeking state or national office. Later he delivered his stump speech in Cape Coral, where real-estate agent Mary Neilson waved a homemade sign reading, "I'm sold on Fred."

Almost on cue, Thompson showed how conservative he could be.

He said it might be time to revisit the long-standing practice -- one prescribed in the 14th Amendment -- of granting citizenship to any child born on U.S. soil. No other major candidate has gone that far.

But on the last day of Thompson's tour, those issues were lost in a sea of supporters at the gun show.

As Thompson waded through the crowd, fans thrust scraps of paper toward him seeking autographs. Supporters pressed close, following him out the door and applauding as he stepped onto a bus emblazoned with a massive Fred Thompson portrait and the words "Security, Unity, Prosperity" stripped across the back.

The bus pulled out, leaving fans such as Buddy Reynolds to contemplate Thompson's appeal.

"I mean this is not just a guy I'd vote for, but I'd work on his campaign," he said. "There's just a connection he makes."

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"Thompson, in role of a lifetime, captures Republicans at gut level"

Jim Stratton

Orlando Sentinel

September 17, 2007

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