As the South Carolina primary approaches, Fred has begun to fire it up.

He is driving the consistent conservative message, subtly distancing himself from the Bush admin and answer tough questions with common sense.

Here are a few samples, the first from Reuters:

Thompson criticizes appeal to Saudis

Appealing to Saudi Arabia to encourage higher oil production to help lower prices is not in the long-term interest of the United States, Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson said on Wednesday.

The White House said President George W. Bush hopes that as a result of his talks this week with King Abdul of Saudi Arabia, OPEC would be encouraged to increase production to help alleviate high oil prices, which have touched $100 a barrel.

Appearing on CNN, Thompson was asked whether, as president, he would turn to Saudi Arabia for help as Bush did.

Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, said the problem was a “little bigger” than Saudi Arabia.

“It’s not in the United States’ long-term interest to go hat in hand begging people to do things that in the end we know they’re not going to do,” Thompson said.

“What we need to concentrate on is diversifying our own energy sources here in this country and opening up what oil reserves that we have here … using nuclear more, using clean coal technology more and all the other things that we can do,” Thompson said.

Simple common sense.  The Saudis are not the answer, energy independence is.

Next, Via Hot Air, Fred takes on gun control:

Thompson: Bush Admin overlawyered DC 2A case

The Fred Thompson for President, South Carolina bus tour reached Spartanburg today, where the Law & Order TV star candidate fielded questions at Papa’s Breakfast Nook from Charlotte, N.C.’s WBT-AM radio talk show host Jeff Katz.

Asked his opinion of the Second Amendment and the Solicitor General’s request that the DC Circuit Court remand the appeal back to the trial court for “fact-finding”, the lawyer turned Senator from Tennessee said the Bush Administration was “overlawyering” and stated that he opposed remand and that the case should move forward to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The DC District Court in an opinion written by Judge Silberman, struck down the DC ban on the possession of hand guns even in one’s own home. Judge Silberman ruled that the Second Amendment protected an individual right to protect one’s home with arms that pre-dates the Constititution.

Bingo again.  And it’s sincere, as you will read here.  A nice summary of that is this:

In general, lawful gun ownership is a pretty simple matter. The Founders established gun-owner rights so that citizens would possess and be able to exercise the universal right of self-defense. Guns enable their owners to protect themselves from robbery and assault more successfully and more safely than they otherwise would be able to. The danger of laws like the D.C. handgun ban is that they limit the availability of legal guns to people who want to use them for legitimate reasons, such as self-defense (let alone hunting, sport shooting, collecting), while doing nothing to prevent criminals from acquiring guns.

Here is another Fred ad from South Carolina, hat tip STA:

Fred faces a tough road as the more bland and safe candidates are besting him in the primaries.  South Carolina may be his last stand as a presidential candidate, but as a staunch Republican, and the only real statesman in the bunch, he will stand tall.

Quin Hillyer offers a compelling glimpse of why Fred may have a better chance in South Carolina than many believe:

If  I were a South Carolina Republican voter on Saturday, then for parochial, tactical, and philosophical reasons, I would vote for Fred Thompson.

This doesn’t mean that I would not have voted for Mitt Romney in Michigan on Tuesday, if I were a Michigander, or that I would not vote for Rudy Giuliani in Florida later this month. Voting in each state, especially in a drawn-out nomination battle, involves particularly local considerations as well as national ones.

But for South Carolinians who are mainstream conservatives, those local considerations seem to cry out for a boost for Fred Thompson.

…

His voting record in eight years in the Senate was sterling. He often stood alone for the principle of federalism — “states’ rights,” correctly understood — a principle particularly appreciated by South Carolinians who want Washington to leave them alone on matters of economics and regulation. He had a 100 percent pro-life record. He stood tall against wasteful spending and high taxes. He pushed hard for high ethical standards and for efficient government reform. He’s the only candidate thoroughly trustworthy on judicial nominations. And he never wavered from a Reaganite position in favor of a strong defense and foreign policy.

…

One thing Fred Thompson has been right about all along is that these presidential campaigns start way too early. South Carolina can force the pundit class to slow things down in an intelligent way and let voters take a good, long time examining all the candidates, by keeping the solidly conservative Thompson alive in the race and keeping the entire outcome well up in the air. Iowans or Floridians might have other agendas, but Carolinians know the value of taking the time to get things right.

The final paragraph does make a good point.  Just as the democrats have been hijacked by the extreme left, there is a movement to take conservatism away from the Reagan conservatives.  I won’t offer an opinion on whether this is good or bad, but it is noteworthy that both parties are fighting in their ranks over the direction they will go.

Fred, by the way is the only one who appreciates this, as he has called attention to how this race is about the heart and soul of the Republican party.

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