Tennessee Endorsers Weigh in on End of Thompson Trail

Tue, January 22, 2008 - 4:20 PM

Maybe he waited too long to get in. Maybe he seemed too aloof on major policy issues. Maybe Fred Thompson did not want it bad enough.

None of it matters now. The former Republican senator from Tennessee is out of the 2008 White House race.

“He was strong coming out of the gate, stumbled in the first turn, caught stride in December or January in South Carolina, but it was just a little late,” said Rep. Zach Wamp, R-Tenn., an early Thompson endorser.

Wamp and Thompson were elected on the same ballot in 1994. Wamp, in his Knoxville-based district, had a common political bond with Thompson. Both count themselves as constitutional conservatives with independent streaks. Now Wamp is not sure whom he will support for the nomination.

“I’m not going to support anybody today or tomorrow,” Wamp said. “With any of these big three [John McCain, Mike Huckabee, or Mitt Romney], if they win the nomination, Fred Thompson would add a whole lot to that ticket.”

Rep. David Davis, R-Tenn., another home state Thompson endorser, said he planned to wait until at least after the February 5 primaries to endorse anybody else, and he urged Thompson to do the same.

“If Fred were to ask his supporters to vote for John McCain, I’m not sure they would,” Davis said. “They’re going to wait for who is the most conservative candidate.”

Wamp conceded Thompson’s delay entering the race may have hurt him the most.

“He is not a political animal,” Wamp said. “And that may have been his problem.”