Which candidates will T Thompson's supporters go to?

Question

Tommy Thompson just dropped his Presidential bid. Which candidates will this help and which will it hurt?

Answer 1

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The simple answer is they will divide up and find homes in different places unless Thompson himself takes an active role in someone Else's campaign.

The most likely place for that would be Fred Thompson, as Gov. Thompson has multiple times used the sound bite that "the American people need to put a Thompson in the White House"

I think you will also see John McCain drop in the not too distant future and also back Fred Thompson (quid pro Que for FT backing him in 2004)

Do not let these people discourage your questions. It was a good discussion point.

The state of Wisconsin will be a crucial swing state in the electoral college and Tommy Thompson will have more to say about the Presidency before he is done. Thompson also wants a return to Washington because of the bad time his last gig as a cabinet member had. En light of that Thompson could be fair game to the man (or woman) willing to let him right his own ship.

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Answer 2

I don't think his 3 supporters will make much difference.

Answer 3

I think for the time being it's going to help Rudi, potentially Thompson.

Answer 4

Did he have supporters? Who were they?

Answer 5

Maybe Fred Thompson? He could take over the whole campaign organization, just cross out the T, put in and F. 8) The results were: Romney 4,516; Huckabee 2,587; Brownback 2,192; Tancredo 1,960; Paul 1,305; Thompson 203; Giuliani 183; Hunter 174; McCain 101; John Cox 41. Technically, it should help anyone who finished below him. But they all look even worse, finishing lower than the guy who dropped out. His website positions are very generic, except health care, and increasing adoption as well as opposing abortion. Any candidate who felt they needed advice in the health care field could use his advice. McCain, Giuliani, and Hunter (who does include NEA funding and gambling) don't even mention health care on their campaign websites. They could maybe gain (but not much) by adopting his policies. Mitt Romney has the Massachusetts plan, so voters who care most about that issue could go to him. Ron Paul has "Health Freedom", which is a whole different approach.

Source(s):

http://www.ballot-access.org/2007/08/12/…
http://www.tommy2008.com/On_The_Issues.a…

Answer 6

Philosophically, I think the two most similar candidates to Tommy Thompson are Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney.

Any candidate who drops out hurts Giuliani. While I could be wrong, I think that Giuiliani is too liberal for most Republicans. Republicans who have already decided that Giuliani is not acceptable are likely to switch to a different candidate other than Giuliani if their first choice drops out. As such, Giuliani needs as many candidates as possible dividing the 60-70% of Republicans who are opposed to him.

We need several more candidates to drop out before it can be clearly seen who is helped the most. If Duncan Hunter and John McCain also drop out, I think Huckabee, Brownback, and Tancredo would be helped he most as each would get a second look from the Republican base who are still leary of Romney as the alternative to Giuliani.

Answer 7

No idea. They will probably be fairly dispersed amongst the candidates.

If Hunter drops out I would imagine his votes will go to Tancredo.

Answer 8

They'd turn to Hillary if they were smart.

Answer 9

Back onto the short bus and then to craft camp where they will fill up on paste and glitter.

Answer 10

Tommy Thompson just dropped his Presidential bid. This help will....RON PAUL!

James

Answer 11

If they are smart they will turn to Ron Paul. A vote for any other candidate is just more of the same "business as usual" in Washington.

Answer 12

All ten supporters have signaled they may be supporting Ron Paul.

Answer 13

I'm pretty sure his supporter died of old age last week. That's why Thompson had to drop out.

Answer 14

All seven of Tommy Thompson's supporters, including his wife and Children, will now be putting their full support behind Sam Brownback, vaulting him into the 4th tier of candidates.

Source(s):

Karl Rove

Answer 15

Mike Huckabee, I think, will reap the benefit of Thompson's withdrawal. Clearly, those who supported Thompson are disillusioned with the top tier republican choices of McCain, Romney, F Thompson, and Rudy. Of the second tier, Huckabee made the strongest showing, and will probably get a nice bounce from Thompson and possibly Hunter's supporters.

Answer 16

1) Fred Thompson. You can't have two Thompsons in the race.
2) Mike Huckabee - Governors govern as executives. Tommy Thompson was a former Governor. Mike Huckabee begins to look like an alternative to Mitt Romney.
3) Newt Gingrich - The more wannabe's that fall out, the more the three lead horses are exposed, so folks keep looking for a new horse to ride.

Answer 17

The Answers which make light of Tommy Thompson's lack of supporters are correct. He has very few supporters who even if distributed unequally to the other candidates will have zero effect on the overall Republican race. I also doubt that these few supporters would listen to Tommy Thompson were he to endorse another candidate or even take an active role. His campaign was nothing short of a disaster and an embarrassment for a man, who at one time (think 1996) could have been a serious candidate.

Source(s):

Life Experience

Answer 18

I would say people with even a bit of intelligence will turn to RON PAUL and rest to mitt or rudy.

Answer 19

who gives a crappy crapson

Answer 20

RON PAUL!! Tommy Thompson had supporters???

Answer 21

fred thompson

Answer 22

What Supporters?

Answer 23

It will be H. Clinton.