Poor showings knock Thompson from presidential race

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has withdrawn from the presidential race, citing poor showings in the early primary states.

‘Today, I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States,’ Thompson said in his statement released yesterday. ‘I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort.’

Thompson, who did not reveal if he will throw his support to another candidate, entered the race late and faced an uphill battle. He finished poorly in early primaries and then took a distant third in the South Carolina primary over the weekend in a state where he admitted he needed to win to keep hope alive.

His departure leaves a four-way race for the Republican nomination between former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, and Arizona Sen. John McCain. The four are closely grouped in polls for next week’s primary showdown in Florida, which prefaces the Feb. 5 Super Tuesday event when 24 states will hold primaries on the same day, accounting for about 40 percent of the total delegates for the party primaries.

Thompson’s departure could have a major impact when it comes to Warren County voters as those who have held their early votes to see if the state’s favorite son would stay in the race will now have to throw their support elsewhere.

A recent Southern Standard poll showed Thompson by far the most popular Republican candidate with 42.7 percent of the vote. Huckabee received 26.2 percent, followed by McCain with 19.4 percent.

‘Early voting has continued to be somewhat slow, and part of that may have been voters waiting to see what Thompson would do and how South Carolina would vote,’ said election administrator Donna Yates. ‘We may now see a larger turnout since those questions are answered.’

Early voting will continues from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m., Monday through Friday and 9 a.m. to noon on Saturdays until Jan. 31 in the early voting room downstairs in the county government building on Locust Street. The primary itself will be held Feb. 5 with all 21 precincts open around Warren County.