GOP campaign shakeups:

Fred Thompson sources say the actor and former Tenn senator may withdraw from the race. There are no plans to attend Thursday’s Florida debate.
Staffers have been on partial pay since the NH primary. The Senators plans are very fluid. As of 8:45 this evening, there are no plans for any announcement about whether he will stay in the race or not. The team is wrestling with very few options. The Senator is in Nashville visiting his mother (in her 90’s) who has been ill.
From THE FIRST DAY Fox News broke the story last March of his candidacy, Thompson has always had a vice presidential bid in mind. Today a top aide even mentioned the idea on Brian and the Judge on Fox News Radio.

Mike Huckabee, has also kept vice presidential options open by NOT strongly criticizing Giuliani or McCain. Huckabee is retooling his campaign to cherrypick some Super Tuesday states on Feb 5th (notably Ga and Alabama).
Huck bet the ranch on SC and coming in second did little for his weak Fla organization and almost NO organization anywhere else. Fla and Feb 5th are dauntingly expensive. Sources say Huck has money, but nowhere near what he’d like for the BIG states ahead.

Rudy Guiliani says he will continue to discuss issue differences with his rivals but will not go negative. Hizzoner’s team went into Fla a month ago prepared to spend more than $8 million dollars to win. Rudy does not have a lot of money left and he’s cratering in the polls. He may need to rethink playing nice.
A Fla defeat could effectively send Rudy from the big leagues to the Veepstakes as well.

John McCain is tapped out to. His early wins have not exactly created a firehose of cash. But what he lacks in web donations he will will try to make up for with a big fundraiser this week in NYC…right in Rudy’s backyard…where McCain now leads the polls. None of McCain’s rivals want to take the first punch (lest they suffer a backlash and lose ground too) in a multi candidate field. If he emerges the unscathed frontrunner from Thursdays
Fla debate, he will be HARD to beat.

Mitt Romney leads the estimated delegate count after 6 contests with three wins, two seconds, and a fourth. He has spent considerable time and money in Fla and is competitive (in the top 3) in every poll (even leading some.). Romney has no plans for attack ads, at this point.
Florida could be tough for Mitt, he has support but it is not firmly committed. Importantly, in this race there are no delegates for “silver or bronze”…the sunshine state is winner take all.

TEN DAYS IS A LONG TIME.

In fact there have not been ten uninterrupted campaign days in this entire campaign. The ten days before Iowa included Christmas and New Years.

Since August John McCain has been the come-from-behind-underdog. For the first time in the race he is going to get the full front-runner treatment: intense scrutiny and relentless criticism from his rivals.

Huckabee’s gracious praise for McCain in tonight’s concession speech smacked of a short list audition. He promised to remain in the nominating “process” for a long time, and said he still believes it will end “in the White House.” But there were moments when he spoke about his campaign in the past tense, and he didn’t say in what capacity he believed he would end up in Casa Blanca.

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With a win in Nevada under his belt Mitt Romney now hopes to eliminate Fred Thompson.
Thompson needs to make third and though purely anecdotal, my SC precinct sources are seeing more Mittites than Fredheads…4th could be devastating for Thompson.  Third would be a victory for Romney.

Thanksgiving provided little rest for the campaigns. A year long marathon now goes into the kick.  It is 3 dimensional chess played 5 ways, and it’s turning nasty.

Rudy is firing in several directions: Fred has no record, Mitt has questionable judgement, Huckabee is weak on immigration and tax hikes.
Fred hits Romney for being pro choice 3 yrs ago and trying to buy the election, Rudy for weakness on illegal immigration, guns, and social issues …Huckabee gets flak for tax hikes.  Romney blasts Rudy as weak on immigration and social issues, Huckabee on immigration and tax hikes, and Fred on being an actor with a reputation for laziness.

And then there is John McCain, Just back from Thanksgiving in Iraq with the troops, he argues that all of his rivals lack the experience he has - and that is required - to be commander in chief.done

Governor Romney responded to a negative healthcare mail that the Thompson campaign put out by saying, “at least I have a plan.” An e-mail was sent to Thompson supporters today, which is the day that Massachusetts’ residents must show proof of health care coverage. The e-mail trashed Romney’s plan and said, “There’s nothing conservative about Mitt Romney’s health care plan. It’s a government subsidized health care plan that requires citizens to register with the state, slaps working people with tax penalties, and provides $50 abortions on demand.”

The former Massachusetts governor responded by saying, “at least I have a plan number one. Number two my plan was developed by myself, other advisors. . .I think it is the ultimate form of conservatism to say to people who can afford to buy insurance either buy the insurance or pay your own way, but no more free ride on the government and so my own view it is a very fundamentally conservative program. “

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I also asked the Iowa and New Hampshire frontrunner about the abortion claims in the mail. He simply stated that the “requirement for abortion in Massachusetts are court directed and court mandated. They are not something that the Governor or the legislature are able to adjust because they were mandated by the courts.” The Thompson e-mail said that women in Massachusetts could receive medically necessary and non-medically necessary abortions for fifty dollars.

It was at an economic town hall today in Burbank, CA and afterwards at a press availability where the gloves came off. Romney also slammed Mayor Giuliani on his immigration record. This is something Romney does on the stump frequently, but it comes on the heels of Giuliani’s attacks yesterday when he blasted Romney saying he had, “the worst record on illegal immigration.” Today he responded by saying, “Mayor Giuliani was the mayor of a city, New York City, in which he said if you happen to be an undocumented status. In other words an illegal alien we welcome you here. We will protect you here. He was responsible for a sanctuary city. He did not oppose a sanctuary city. He welcomed illegal aliens to the city. That sanctuary state of mind is one of the reasons we have so many illegal immigrants in our country today.”

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Romney traveled to Las Vegas this evening not to hang out with the Dems, but to campaign in Nevada for the next two days. He will be talking about stronger economies, one part of his three-pillar platform.

Fred Thompson has scored a huge organizational boost…Right to Life nationwide will endorse hm Tuesday morningdone

 Sunday, 7.55 pm….the Fox News Debate is minutes from beginning, the audience is ready, the candidate marks are laid…let the debate begin.

Off the bat, is it a lively exchange with McCain, Thompson and Romney…sharp back and forths before Huckabee dismisses it as nothing more than a “demolition derby.

Afterwards, the spinning begins!  After each debate, the various campaigns send out surrogates to outline the highlights of their candidate’s performance.  It is here in the spinroom that the explanations begin.

It is the weekend of the Republican Party of Florida’s PIV, well over 3,000 party loyalists are attending.

John McCain, Mit Romney, Rudy Giuliani and Fred Thompson go before the eager and energized Republicans the day before the Fox News GOP debate.

Also, Check out what is going on behind the scenes as Fox News prepares the stage for the GOP debate Sunday night at 8pm.

Keep checking our slide shows. We’ll show the candidates and the media in their natural habitat. If you have GREAT campaign pic of your own please email them!!