John & Jayne Stark Family

ABC News’ Christine Byun reports: Fighting to stay in the GOP race, Fred Thompson pressed on with his campaign –- but will essentially forgo the next battleground of early voting: New Hampshire.

It makes a lot of sense that Fred Thompson is going to spend his time and resources where he’ll be strong instead of where he is weak. All other presidential candidates do the same thing.

I find it pretty amazing that most people think any candidate has unlimited funds in which to actively campaign in every state in the country. The dramatic differences in airtime costs between some media markets than others goes understated in many cases.

The debates this weekend will be pivotal for all of the candidates. I’m glad Fred will there to give more Americans the chance to see him.

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Tonight I emailed over a dozen friends and family members about why I’m for Fred Thompson for President and to invite them to check him out themselves. The first email I sent was simply a form letter. The letter was so well written and said things so much like I would it didn’t make sense to rewrite something myself. Instead, I followed up that email with the following. I thought I’d post it here to share it with the world (or those who take a peak at this corner of it).

<Friends & Family>

I just sent you a form letter from Fred08’s website. It really does speak well about my opinions about Fred, but I wanted to personally explain why I’m supporting Fred Thompson for President.

Last night I caucused for Fred. It wasn’t until Wednesday night (the night before the caucus) that I really took the time to look into Fred Thompson. I was really undecided up until reading all the position papers and principles Fred outlined on his website.

I’ve become somewhat of a political junky as I’ve grown older. I listen to talk radio far more than music in my car, and I try to keep up on current events around the world. Over the last year I’ve had a hard time determining which candidate for president I’d be able to support. I frankly haven’t been thrilled about any of the choices, but I also knew that shouldn’t keep me from participating in the process. Someone will be elected as President in 2008 and sitting on the sidelines and just doing nothing doesn’t sit right with me anymore.

Fred Thompson may not survive the coming weeks due to the lack of any media attention, but I do feel in the depths of my heart that those who do take the time to check Fred out will be surprised. If anyone the current line up is going to be labeled “like Reagan” then Fred Thompson is the guy. Fred may not be the best communicator in sound bits and those 30 second commercials but when I sat down and listened to his 16+ minute messages to Iowans on Wednesday night (on his website www.fred08.com) I knew Fred was the kind of man I needed to support.

I find it somewhat amazing that so much of my life is now spent doing the two most controversial things people can do… religion and politics. I don’t expect any of my friends or family members to be like me or even believe like me, but I do feel obligated to share with you those beliefs. What you do with them is your decision.

Well, in case you haven’t read my blog in the last 24 hours, I’d ask that you check it out. www.johncstark.com. I stepped out on caucus night to do a couple things I’ve never dreamed of doing before. I’ve going to get involved more actively in politics on a local level. I’ve been looking for something to do outside of my life at work/church and this might be just the hobby (aside from reading!) that will enable me to interact with a lot of new people.

Well, I’ve said enough at this point. If you care to read more you can do so at www.johncstark.com. I just might post more of my thoughts and opinions in the days to come! Feel free to join in the conversation.

If you haven’t taken the time to check Fred Thompson out for President I encourage you to do so today.

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Tonight I participated in my first Iowa Caucus. It was a pretty interesting experience.

The first thing I noticed tonight was that the turn out was far greater than anyone expected. When pulling up to caucus and seeing a long line of head lights I knew something special was going to happen. I ended up having to park about half a mile from the school and others had to park even further.

Note to the GOP and Democrats… don’t have your caucus in the same location. Most schools don’t have adequate parking for a lot of cars. In the future you might try and get many of the larger churches in town to open up their facilities and parking lots to host events like this. But… I’m really new to how the system works so it may not be that easy of a fix.

I stood around with over 500 others (only 200 were expected) waiting for the chance to put our name in the hat for our preference in the presidential race. The whole process was fairly informal and the precinct temporary caucus chair did a great job explaining the entire process to everyone.

After he explained everything, representatives from each of the candidates were given time to speak. Regretfully, no one from the Fred Thompson campaign was there to speak on his behalf. I almost stepped forward to say something but didn’t know if it would have been proper or not. Following that everyone put their name in the hat and the rest of the evening proceeded accordingly to the agenda. I’d say 80% of those who came left after putting their candidates name in the hat.

I decided to hang around to see what the rest of the experience would be like and ended up stepping up to be one of the two people chosen to represent our precinct on the Polk County Republican Central Committee. Members on the committee form the backbone of the GOP volunteer force in Polk County. The term of office is two years. As a central committee member I’ll be asked to serve on a subcommittee and to provide service to the party at events and for political projects. For me it will be an interesting experience and another opportunity to serve our community.

I’m also going to be one of 22 people participating at the Republican County Convention on March 8!

The results from the Iowa Caucus were not entirely surprising to me. I’m grateful that Fred Thompson came in third place so he’ll continue his campaign to the White House. It is really amazing how little the press even mentions his name now that I’m paying more attention.
The coming days will be interesting.

Go Fred Go!

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With the Iowa Caucuses less than a day away I finally took some time to look into the GOP candidates for president. Later today I plan on participating in the Iowa Caucuses for the first time by supporting Fred Thompson for president.

Up until tonight I didn’t have a clear idea of who I’ve be voting for until reading up on Fred Thompson. I know Fred doesn’t show up high in the polls here in Iowa but in my opinion he most represents the kind of leader our country needs in the coming years. His positions on national security, immigration and social security reforms make a lot of sense and reflect the wisdom and experience of a man who knows the issues and how to address them.

A big part of me wishes Fred Thompson entered the race sooner in the process. When I first started researching the candidates running for president no official position information from Senator Fred Thompson was available. I regret that I didn’t seek this information out when he finally announced his intentions to run.

If you happen to be undecided for how you should vote into tonight’s Iowa Caucus then may I suggest you take a closer look at Fred Thompson. He posted a special 16+ minute message to Iowans which provides you more than a sound bit about the kind of man he is. After watching the message I really found myself disappointed in how Fred comes across in commercials.

Regardless of how Fred Thompson does tonight I hope he perseveres and continues his candidacy.

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