So departs a good man

As noted yesterday, Thompson is out. There are perhaps many things to say about this, but in view of other events at home and abroad in the last day, I find myself mainly just feeling sad that we're losing out on a good President because he wasn't a good campaigner. Kathryn Jean Lopez reminds us what Fred got into this race to promote:

[T]he fundamental, conservative principles that have unified us for over two centuries [are:]
-First, the role of the federal government is limited to the powers given to it in the Constitution
-Second, a dollar belongs in the pocket of the person who earns it, unless the government has a compelling reason why it can use it better
-Third, we don't spend money we don't have, or borrow money that our children and grandchildren will have to pay back
-And the best way to avoid war is to be stronger than our enemies. But if we’re caught in a fight, we need to win it because not doing so makes us much more likely to be attacked in the future
-Also the federal judiciary is supposed to decide cases, not set social policy — and bad social policy at that
-And the bigger the government gets, the less competent it is to run our lives.

And people wonder why Huckabee's critics don't think he's a conservative! I'd like to hear the other candidates reaffirm those principles, support for which are necessary (if not necessarily sufficient) beliefs for a President.

Related:
"You're not electing a set of position papers, you're electing a leader" | Fred on Federalism | Thompson, abortion, federalism