Although he’s consistently trailing in each and every poll published, increasingly more conservative bloggers decide to endorse former Senator Fred Thompson. Two of those bloggers are personal favorites (and friends) of mine: Rick Moran and Jimmie.

In the post in which he endorses Thompson Rick writes that he doesn’t think that Thompson can win, but that’s irrelevant. He supports him nonetheless because:

But enough of the strategy, why endorse Fred now if I don’t think he can win? A simple matter of standing up for your guy when the chips are down and he’s at his lowest explains it. The most recent polls in Florida and South Carolina have Fred in 5th place and in single digits. If ever Fred needed a boost, it is from those of us who have liked what he stands for but held back from endorsing him for one reason or another. In my case, it was between Fred and Romney. But today’s news about Romney backpedaling on his contention that Governor George Romney marched with Martin Luther King during the civil rights era is the straw that broke the camel’s back. It never happened and his campaign disingenuously came out with a statement saying that Mitt was “speaking figuratively” not “literally.”

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Fred Thompson has no such weakness as far as I can determine. He is a man who knows his mind and has the intellectual heft to flesh out his ideas in an impressive, rational, and completely logical way. He knows government, knows the Congress, and knows what he believes. As a communicator, he may lack passion. But he makes up for it by speaking clearly and concisely about issues he cares deeply about.

Fred is real – what you see is what you get. In a way, he reminds me more of Eisenhower than Reagan. Not a simple man but a transparent one. There is little subterfuge or guile and his direct, no Mickey Mouse style of speaking and campaigning is a breath of fresh air when placed against his blow-dried rivals Romney and The Huckster.

In short, Fred Thompson is head and shoulders the better man when compared to any other Republican candidate. He may not be the best speaker. He may not shine on the campaign trail. But just who or what are we electing next November? The guy with the pretty smile and easy joke? Or are we trying to elect someone with the penetrating mind and the Iron will to go to Washington and really try and change things while being able to stand tall for America as we face the many serious threats against us in a very uncertain world.

In his post on the same subject my friend Jimmie writes:

It’s no surprise that I’ve been leaning toward Fred Thompson for President since before he announced his campaign. I have admired the way he carries himself. He is a throwback: the kind of man who use to be thick on the ground in America not very long ago. He is plain-spoken, not given to talking just to hear himself talk, confident and strong yet humble and self-effacing. He is serious, but his sense of humor is never far from the surface. He strikes me as kind and gracious, a gentleman in a world where gentlemen are indeed rare. He reminds me of many men I consider my role-models, men who were raised to be strong and fair and good-hearted.

I’ve also admired Thompson’s political philosophy. The answer I quoted is typical of Thompson’s thinking. He didn’t need to take time to formulate an answer. His reply wasn’t focus-grouped and poll-tested. It was off the cuff and right on target. It said, very plainly, that America is a unique and lovely place to live but that each of us, as individuals working together as Americans, have to work to make sure it stays that way. It said that we have an obligation to leave a good and strong country to those who come after us. It resonated of tradition and legacy and stewardship and responsibility.

Thompson did not talk about government programs. He didn’t lay the responsibility for fixing the considerable problems that face us to others. He didn’t put the blame on anyone, though he very easily could have. He very simply and without equivocation laid out the problems we face and said that we must fix them together because it is our duty to do so.

Conclusion: real American conservatives, or at least American conservative bloggers, believe that Thompson is the best representative of the conservative movement. Yes, he comes across as someone who couldn’t care less, but they’re willing to forgive him for that.

The more I study Thompson the more highly I think of him. He has great ideas (at least from a conservative perspective). He also has quite a solid voting record. Perhaps that’s the best way to describe the man in general: solid. Of all the Republican candidates I favor Romney and McCain, but if I were American it would be far from impossible for Thompson to convince me to vote for him nonetheless.

Anyway, the question for Thompson is how many people agree with these bloggers. Do bloggers have a lot of impact? No one knows. If the best read conservative bloggers come out in support of Thompson would it make a difference? Possibly.

But the question of passion and energy is real. All too real. Despite the fact that some of his supporters act as if the image is a creation of the MSM I have to say that he comes across like that to me as well.

Having said that, he most definitely is a solid conservative and for ideological conservatives a good choice.