Fred Thompson Drops Out of the Race for the Presidency of the United States

Former Sen. Fred Thompson on Tuesday ended his run for the presidency, coming off the heels of a disappointing third-place finish in South Carolina's GOP primary and heading into the showdown state of Florida next week.

"Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for president of the United States," Thompson said in a statement.

"I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people."

Will South Carolina Eliminate Any Republican Candidates?

In FIRST READ, MSNBC Mark Murray writes:

...As for South Carolina, the question is whether this GOP primary actually eliminates any contenders? We thought so a week ago -- but we aren't so sure now. If McCain, Huckabee, and Thompson are a close 1, 2, 3, what's the incentive for any to get out? The only one is if money dries up. For McCain and Thompson, that's a real possibility; for Huckabee, not so much -- he can live off the land a bit easier than the other two. Weather could be a HUGE factor with snow hurting Huckabee. Of course, the good news for Huckabee is that his voters are the most fervent and may not be intimidated by the weather. No one needs this victory more than McCain. He has to prove to skeptics that he can win a GOP primary that is dominated by actual Republicans (of course, the exit polls in New Hampshire did show McCain slightly beating Romney among GOP voters)...

I, for one, do not think the weather (raining right now in the low country of South Carolina) will keep Huckabee supporters away from the voting locations. One thing that might add confusion is a recent "consolidation" of voting sites as reported in the Summerville Journal Scene. I am not sure why voting precincts had to be consolidated, but I am happy to say I discovered this change.