Thompson Campaign Press Release - They Said It...Fred Thompson Dominates the GOP Debate

"Let's start with the winners: Thompson came out a winner within the first five minutes thanks to the moderator's opening question about the candidate-to-be's decision to go on Jay Leno instead of showing up for this debate. The fact that every candidate (including Giuliani, Romney, Huckabee and even McCain) took potshots (a few of which were even a bit cheap) reinforced the idea that the entire Republican field views Thompson as a major candidate, a major threat and one of the frontrunners." (Chuck Todd, "Debate Analysis on NBC," 9/5/07)

"Thompson thus managed to upstage the eight men on the debate stage, even though they have been campaigning for months in pursuit of their party's presidential nomination." (Libby Quaid, AP, 9/5/07)

LA Times Headline: "Candidate who is not there upstages GOP debate," (Michael Finnegan and Mark Barabak, "Candidate who is not there upstages GOP debate," 9/6/07)

Washington Times Headline: "Thompson hovers over debate." (Stephan Dinan, "Thompson Hovers Over Debate," Washington Times, 9/6/07)

"... [I]t was the new competition from Thompson, who declared his candidacy Wednesday evening on the Jay Leno program 'The Tonight Show,' that dominated the opening of the 90-minute face-off, televised nationally on the Fox News Channel." (Steven Thomma, "Thompson Declaration Upstages GOP Debate," San Jose Mercury News, 9/06/07)

"[Thompson's GOP rivals] quietly acknowledge that Thompson will get a lot more benefit from appearing tonight on Jay Leno's show than he would if he subjected himself to a debate." (Marc Ambinder, The Atlantic, 9/5/07)

"Not only did the individual candidates do poorly, but the field performed badly as a whole....not one of pollster Frank Luntz's 29 focus-group members expressed satisfaction with the men on the stage." (David Freddoso, "The Man Who Wasn't There," National Review, 9/6/07)

"Yet Thompson may have still done better than any of the other eight candidates..." (David Freddoso, "The Man Who Wasn't There," National Review, 9/6/07)

"For conservatives unsatisfied with the other candidates, Mr. Thompson represents perhaps the last best hope for something different..." (Amy Schatz, "Enter Thompson, Stage Right," Wall Street Journal, 9/6/07)

"Even as eight candidates took the stage for their fifth debate of the campaign, they all were aware that they faced not only one another in the more intense, post-Labor Day campaign, but also Thompson." (Steven Thomma, "Thompson Declaration Upstages GOP Debate," San Jose Mercury News, 9/6/07)

"Even before his formal announcement, Mr. Thompson had risen to second in many national polls of Republican voters, just behind former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. And rival campaigns see him as a serious threat." (Amy Schatz, "Enter Thompson, Stage Right," Wall Street Journal, 9/6/07)

"Yet Mr. Thompson has shown signs of being far savvier about how the Internet is changing presidential politics than some of his Republican rivals, which could aid in his fund-raising efforts." (Amy Schatz, "Enter Thompson, Stage Right," Wall Street Journal, 9/6/07)