He can't get votes other than from evangelicals. Good.

The question is, how long will he carry on? Unfortunately, it looks like he will go on for a while, because he seems to be having a good time, and he'll probably continue to get funding from his own base.

One of the reasons that Thompson should stay in the race is that so many others are. As long as he persists (and if he can continue the momentum that he was starting to build out of South Carolina) he may be able to pick up enough delegates to have a seat at the table in Minneapolis (and an outside shot at becoming a consensus nominee). And he has to continue to pull conservative votes from Huckabee.

Unfortunately, Thompson being in the race splits the conservative vote (a lot of conservatives still view Huck as a righty) - that split is the life blood of the McCain campaign.

a lot of conservatives still view Huck as a righty

I don't think so, other than on social issues. And as long as Fred stays in, he'll pull a lot of the social-issue voters who don't trust McCain, Rudy or Mitt on them.

I also think that, as time goes on, Thompson can continue to expose the false prophet from Hope as the big-government charlatan he is.

Fred is my favorite of the Republicans running, but I have doubts about general electability outside Tennessee. He does not poll well with independents.

Rasmussen shows that Fred is second to last (after Huckabee) with moderates and liberals, with Giuliani and McCain way out in front on that score (Thompson beats them with conservatives of course, but conservatives are not a majority of the electorate).

More damningly, as recently as Dec 20 a Zogby poll showed that Fred couldn't even beat Edwards in a general election (neither could Romney). Only Giuliani and McCain seemed to have a chance.

Rand

Are you voting for Thomson in the florida primary?

John McCain is my predicted nominee for the Republicans.

And if it is McCain & Hillary does Bloomberg jump in?

Are you voting for Thomson in the florida primary?

I'm not a Republican. Florida's primary is closed (as all primaries should be, in my opinion). That's one the reasons that McCain is unlikely to win here.

And if it is McCain & Hillary does Bloomberg jump in?

Why would he bother? Why would the race need another liberal Democrat in Republican clothing? I would hope that a small-government type would jump in, who would probably beat any of the other three.

From a pre-primary Byron York column:

McCain’s supporters often point out that he got 42 percent of the vote in South Carolina in 2000.

He got 33% of the vote this time around. Not exactly a sign that he's gaining ground since the last time.

SC is an open primary. The vaunted independents (and crossover Dems) will not be able to vote in the closed primaries. And wait'll Fred bails - the Fredheads are among the fiercest conservatives out there, and will not be looking at McCain (or Huckabee).

I am so completely disgusted with the media. With less than 1% of deligates the race is all but over? So called christians go for Huck not just because he panders to them, but because the media is mostly dismissive of them (their own fault for displaying so much ignorance but the media is ignorant of their perspective too. See the uproar Ann Coulter generates when describing perfected Jews which is a very visible part of Paul's writings.)

I agree that Huck has no legs (but they may be longer than we imagine, his base is fed up with how they are perceived and very motivated.)

Mitt is going to win because the media self fulfilling prophesy that Fred can't win. Please, put any democrat on stage with Fred and let the bloodbath begin! He's the ONLY one able to expose their empty promises.

Fred needs more and more exposure. Their's still time before super tuesday. It's all about deligates and so far, Romney is winning.

Expose them all (the media won't.) Fred has the meat, the rest just have the sizzle.

New slogan... ALL MEAT, NO SIZZLE. (force the voters and media to think for a change.)

Actually, he has the sizzle as well. We need people to realize that too.

I can see Huckabee becoming the VP candidate. He'd shore up the republican evangelical faction.

If you aren't going to vote for Thomspon, will you be contributing
funds to his campaign?

Contributions are still coming in at Thompson HQ, it seems that the same people that fought to get him in are fighting to keep him in.

That's one the reasons that McCain is unlikely to win here.

Boy, Intrade is amazingly full of delusions. They think that McCain is more likely to win Florida than any other candidate. McCain 50%, Romney 33%, Giuliani 20%, Huckabee (or "field") 3.9%, Thompson 0.3%.

Maybe this is affecting their thinking. Once again we see the usual downward ski slope for Thompson. Thompson has lost more than half of his support since October. This is not a story of supporters waiting in the wings. This is waiting for Godot.

You can aim higher than just a Fred Thompson sign on your lawn. You may be able to get Fred Thompson himself on your lawn, if you put a couch on it first.

If Intrade were a NYSE-traded company, I'd be loading up on put options...