by Max Marbut
Staff Writer
Republican Fred Thompson was one of the last people to officially announce he’s running for his party’s nomination for the 2008 presidential election, but one of his first campaign stops was in Jacksonville Thursday morning.
After his pair of unmistakable tour buses rolled up in front of the Landing, he stepped up on stage and addressed a small but enthusiastic group of supporters who were eager to hear him expound on his conservative platform.
Thompson said he’s for the Constitution of the Unites States and government accountability and against same-sex marriage and illegal immigration. He also said he supports our troops overseas.
“The next President of the United States ought to say we’re going to get prepared before we go in. We’ve learned some things over the last few years but once we’ve determined something’s in our national security interest, there will be no more cutting and running,” said Thompson. “Our people have shed more blood for the liberty of other people than any other nation or combination of nations in the history of the world.”
The former federal prosecutor and U.S. Senator from Tennessee also said he helped get U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts confirmed. Thompson said he believes upholding the law must begin on the bench.
“It occurs to me how important the rule of law is and how tragic it is when so often it is judges themselves who are violating the rule of law,” he said. “We need judges who will apply the Constitution and the law, not make up some version as they go along.”
He also commented on the legislative branch of the government and said, “In many respects, the United States Congress is totally out of touch with the thinking of the American people. This is nowhere more evident than this recent immigration fight. In 1986 they made a deal with the American people. They welshed on the deal. Now they’ve come back to try to sell the same horse again, but the American people said ‘no deal’. A country that cannot secure its own borders will not remain a sovereign nation.”
An avid college football fan, when someone in the crowd yelled out that he had an extra ticket for the Florida vs. Tennessee football game, Thompson laughed then handled the situation like a seasoned candidate.
“As a politician back home once said, ‘I’ve got friends who are Vols and I’ve got friends who are Gators. And I’m for my friends’.”