Maryland for Fred Thompson

11 Days until the Iowa Caucuses
16 Days until the New Hampshire Primary
28 Days until the South Carolina Primary
38 Days until the Florida Primary

• Des Moines Register:
  

  Thompson aides say that they have seen increases in donations and in traffic on the candidate’s Web site, but would not give specific numbers. And they point to the pile of commitment cards signed by voters at this week’s events promising to go to the Jan. 3 caucus and support Thompson.

  Thompson said Saturday at the only event he held before a snowstorm forced him to cut short his campaigning and head home that he sees improvement in the reaction of the audiences, the polls, and the comments of prominent conservative political pundits.
  “It’s also the feeling I have as a person who’s won elections,” Thompson said.

  In the end, however, Thompson supporters in Iowa are left to hope there are more people like the woman in Fort Dodge, who came to see Thompson speak at the Webster County Republican headquarters. As her husband stood outside in the Iowa cold smoking a cigarette, he looked through the window at his wife chatting with members of Thompson’s staff.

  His wife, he said, had attended a Romney event the night before and had decided to support him. “Now, I bet she’s in there changing her mind,” he lamented.

  Sure enough, when she came out the door she was a committed Thompson supporter who had even sat for a video interview to the posted on the campaign Web site.

• Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
  

  Mr. Thompson’s liability is a lot easier to fix than those of his rivals. Mitt Romney can’t change the fact that he’s a Mormon (which shouldn’t be an issue but it is), or a recent convert to social conservatism. Rudy Giuliani is stuck with his views on abortion, his extramarital affairs and his friendship with disgraced cop Bernard Kerik. Conservatives remember how much Mr. McCain has enjoyed sticking his finger in their eye. But all Mr. Thompson has to do to dispel concerns he’s lazy is to campaign hard, as he did last week in Iowa.

  In a campaign marked more by who voters are against than by who they are for, Fred Thompson is a safe choice. His views — which he articulates well — offend none of the core constituencies in the GOP. The more Mitt and Huck fight, the better he looks to Iowa voters.

  If Mike Huckabee’s been the hare in this race, Fred Thompson is the tortoise. In Aesop’s fable, it was the tortoise who eventually won.

• Los Angeles Times:
  

  Now, this weekend he’s releasing a “campaign” video for Christmas that suits his political and movie character style perfectly. There’s not a single spoken word. We don’t even see the tall guy from Tennessee at all.

  But Thompson’s effort stands out in its simple eloquence and contrast from the other candidates’ obvious Christmas ad wars that desperately — but, oh, so politely — want to plug the candidates and their families (except in Hillary Clinton’s case she’s all alone packaging the numerous government programs she’s putting under the tree to give away) without really seeming to do so at a holiday time usually reserved for family focus.