The Wall Street Journal’s John Fund reports that Fred “hit his stride” on Saturday in a speech to Virginia Republicans. Fred will “run an unorthodox campaign,” writes Fund, “that will challenge the conventional wisdom about how to run… .” According to Fund’s assessment, Fred’s speech “mixed warnings about the state of the country with optimism that the American people can overcome the challenges facing them.” More Fund:

He called on Republicans to build “a new coalition” in 2008 that avoids some of the mistakes that led to last November’s disaster. “Some of us came to drain the swamp [in Washington] and made partnership with the alligators,” he said, explaining how the GOP Congress ended up tagged as soft on spending.

Mr. Thompson said the next president should have the courage to talk straight with the American people and bluntly say that Americans will have to confront both the soaring cost of entitlements and the need to remain committed in the war on terror, even when Iraq is “in the rear-view mirror.”

Mr. Thompson’s biggest response came when he addressed immigration. “We are a nation of compassion, a nation of immigrants,” he told the crowd. “But this is our home, and whether you’re a first-generation American, a third-generation American or a brand newly minted American, this is our home and we get to decide who comes into our home.” At that, much of the crowd rose and applauded midspeech.

Check out the WSJ to read the entire article.

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