Where will conservatives find a standard bearer now that Fred Thompson is out?

The Associated Press

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Where will conservatives find a standard bearer now that Fred Thompson is out?

Believe it or not, there was a time when conservatives were fairly buzzing over the prospect of a Fred Thompson candidacy for president. The lawyer/actor/politician was seen as the best hope for uniting the disparate elements of the GOP coalition under a conservative banner. But the buzz fizzled, and on Tuesday, Thompson dropped out.

Why did Thompson fail? And what does that mean for the future of the conservative movement, and for the GOP?

Ben likes: Where should the Fredheads go?

Dr. Rusty Shackleford/The Jawa Report

Dear Fredheads: It's time to support Mitt Romney. Can Mitt win in a general election? I don't know. Certainly he has always had a better chance than Fred.

And if the opposition is Hillary Clinton, then maybe. McCain can beat Hillary. But McCain is, well, McCain.

To be honest, I'm not as down on McCain as most of my fellow Jawas and you, the readers. But that's just because I've been a one-issue guy since right around, oh, let me see, I think the date was 9/11/2001. But still, McCain doesn't get that the border is tied in with our national security.

Mitt does. And he seems to get the war on political Islam. Sure, Rudy also seems to get both, but it's probably too little too late for him.

Joel likes: Thompson exits, stage right

David Corn/Mother Jones

Thompson never had any fire; thus, he didn't catch fire. He missed a darn good opportunity. The GOP race this time around is a contest to determine which candidate can be the default Republican nominee—the one who offends the least number of primary voters. Each of the major contenders alienates (or provokes concern among) large swaths of Republicans. Rudy Giuliani fancies gay rights and abortion rights (not gun rights). Mitt Romney has flip-flopped on social issues. John McCain is despised by Republican activists for having passed campaign reform legislation and for having questioned the Bush II tax cuts. Mike Huckabee's fundamentalism scares the country clubbers. Thompson, in theory, would appeal for each of the three main GOP constituencies.