Thompson: "The Fight Goes On"
DES MOINES, IOWA -- With a tie for the third place ticket out of Iowa, Fred Thompson told a crowd of about 100 supporters he planned to soldier on to New Hampshire. "It's pretty clear we're going to have a ticket for the next dance."
How much longer the music will be playing is a subject of much debate. "We'll have to look at the numbers and the money," he said. "But it looks like somebody is going to have to carry a strong conservative message, and it looks like it's going to be me."
Thompson spoke for about eight minutes and did not talk to the press afterwards, arriving on stage at almost eleven o'clock local time. He congratulated Mike Huckabee for his win in Iowa, and complimented Mitt Romney and John McCain for their campaigns here. But he also wanted to assure the Iowans who stayed up late to see him that this was not a concession speech. "The fight goes on my friends," he said.