Despite a last minute hit on the Thompson campaign executed by an irresponsible press, Fred Thompson managed to pull off a 3rd place finish in the Iowa Caucuses and has declared that his 3rd place finish gives his  campaign a "a ticket to the next dance."   Thompson's 13 point finish could have been much better had not all the major media been trumpeting the news that Thompson was supposed to pull out of the race after Iowa. This put the Thompson campaign on the defensive for the whole day  - forcing the campaign to repeat over and over that the report was untrue. Not quite as bad as having to deny that you do not beat your wife, but certainly not the kind of coverage that helps build momentum.

The effect that this extremely negative coverage by the media had on undecided caucus goers who were leaning toward Fred Thompson cannot be overestimated; and while we will never know exactly how much Thompson's vote was depressed, it is reasonable to conclude that without the last minute hit  Fred would have beaten Senator McCain by at least a few points and maybe more than just a few points.

Perhaps Senator Thompon's aggressive 50 stop campaign in Iowa and his  willingness to continue to fight on, despite not winning in Iowa, will help answer the question perpetually posed by the press of whether Senator Thompson has the prerequisite / proverbial "fire in the belly" to run for President.   Perhaps the press will begin to focus on the fact that of  the major 5 major candidates  running for president, the one candidate that actually has an across-the-board  conservative voting record on all the key isssues is Senator Fred Thompson - perhaps.