Presidential Candidate Fred Thompson Receives Warm Reception in Davenport, Iowa

Former Tennessee Senator and Republican Presidential candidate Fred Thompson made a stop in Davenport, Iowa on Saturday at Centennial Park as part of the first leg of his nascent bid for the White House. Thompson has taken some heat from the Des Moines press corps already because they said his kickoff speech in Des Moines lacked enthusiasm. Thompson himself would probably admit that he isn't the most charismatic candidate in the field so this criticism really falls on deaf ears. Where you can get Fred to genuinely light up is when he speaks about his four year old daughter. Thompson told a story today about how his daughter was watching the clock and tugged on his leg when he ran over for ten minutes during the Des Moines speech. Thompson gave some answers that may or may not play well to Republican caucus goers For instance you would think he would just attempt to obliterate class action lawsuits in order to excite the crowd. Thompson did not do this however, he simply said that tort reform should be left up to the states. This could go back to his own time as an attorney so he may have some sympathies for litigants.

Another key answer that everyone should be listening for is his plan for energy independence. One lady asked him the ubiquitous Iowa question about whether he supported promoting ethanol to help farmers. Thompson said yes, but of course ethanol was just one piece of the puzzle. He seemed to want to scold America for not promoting the potential of nuclear energy. He said we are really falling behind other countries by not building more nuclear power plants and almost putting the kibosh completely on nuclear. To brandish his conservative credentials he said we should produce what we can here and open up the Alaska National Wildlife Refuge to drill for domestic oil resources. Thompson also mentioned healthcare, but he simply criticized the idea of government run healthcare without giving any details on his views.