Maryland for Fred Thompson

13 Days until the Iowa Caucuses
18 Days until the New Hampshire Primary
30 Days until the South Carolina Primary
40 Days until the Florida Primary

• Des Moines Register:
  

  [Rep. Steve King] said Thompson would enforce the rule of law. “I don’t have that confidence in any of the other candidates,” King said.

  In an interview outside the offices of the Denison newspaper, where Thompson was talking to editors, King said he spent months breaking down the positions of the GOP candidates and told no one, including his wife, in advance of his announcement on Monday that he was endorsing Thompson.

  King said issues involving abortion, gay marriage and immigration were ones he considered to be vital to the destiny of the country and it was Thompson’s views on those that led to his choice of the actor and former Tennessee senator over Romney, his second choice.

  “The destiny issues are what matters,” King said. He said endorsing a candidate would cost him more than help him politically because all the other candidates would not be happy with him. “But for me to withhold my judgment from Iowans would be irresponsible,” he said.

• Jed Babbin:
  

  There’s another factor in Iowa, and it is Thompson himself. A new energy seems to have infused the former Tennessee senator, and his vow to spend every day until January 3 in Iowa campaigning may just translate into a surprisingly strong finish for him in Iowa. The expectations game may work to his advantage.

  The game has all the candidates riding a media-generated roller coaster through the early primaries (and the eventual nominee will do the same through the election.) First, Romney was supposed to win Iowa handily. Then Huckabee was supposed to have toppled Romney. Now Thompson is gaining. How much?

  Conservatives have been complaining about Thompson’s lack of progress since September. The punditry created an expectation that Thompson’s first two weeks would be overwhelmingly brilliant. And they weren’t. But, now, Thompson is proving it’s way too early to count him out.

  The expectations game always favors the underdog. Working hard, Thompson could be the big surprise in Iowa. If he finishes even a strong second, the national polls will take another sharp turn.

• St. Cloud Times:
  

  Using a standard assessment procedure developed in the Unit for the Study of Personality in Politics at the College of St. Benedict and St. John’s University, I developed a personality profile for Thompson. The profile reveals that Thompson’s most prominent personal attributes are dominance and self-confidence.

  Dominant leaders such as Thompson tend to be strong-willed, commanding and assertive. In the case of Thompson, those traits are reinforced by his imposing physical stature. He’s 6-feet-5-inches tall.

  Moreover, he has rehearsed and demonstrated this powerful persona in various television and film roles in which he portrayed strong, commanding characters; he played the role of CIA director, chief prosecutor and naval admiral, to name a few. Off-screen, however, people have questioned whether Thompson’s authority comes from his political experience or merely his polished Hollywood image.

  Though Thompson has shown himself to be a staunch supporter of the war in Iraq, he does not believe a long-term presence in Iraq is desirable and has simply left his options open by saying, “What might be necessary in the future, you can never tell.”

  Thompson’s psychological profile also reveals a strong dose of self-confidence. Confident leaders are socially poised and assertive. In Thompson’s case, self-confidence has come across in numerous forms during his campaign, such as his stance on such hotly debated, divisive issues as the war in Iraq, where he has been an unwavering supporter of President Bush.

  Throughout his campaign, Thompson has boldly proclaimed, “I was a conservative yesterday. I’m a conservative today, and I’ll be a conservative tomorrow.” His self-confidence also extends to an ability to talk to people on a personal level, as he presents himself to voters as a common man with humble Southern roots.

• Fred wins Michelle Malkin’s Presidential poll.