The people of Iowa have spoken and on we go to New Hampshire. But what does that mean for Tennessee...and Fred Thompson? Well here's a look.

Not a great night for ol' Fred. He statistically tied John McCain for third place in the Republican caucuses and numerically only led him by a few hundred votes. While you could argue that he could come back from this showing like Bill Clinton did on the Democratic side in 1992 when he came in fourth, it now looks highly, highly unlikely.

The fire in Thompson's belly has appeared more like a wounded firefly. What promised to be a new kind of presidential campaign with new ideas and new methods of communication never materialized. While some Thompson supporters have and will continue to blame the mainstream media for Thompson's poor showing, the leadership of the campaign and the candidate himself shoulder the responsibility for their problems.

While some Thompson supporters will say that they are happy with a third-place finish because "Fred hasn't been campaigning since high school like the other guys," they are in trouble. Thompson basically tied John McCain, who didn't try to compete in Iowa, and now goes on to face him in states where he is strong. Add Rudy Giuliani to the mix, who also didn't compete in Iowa, and Fred has more trouble. At the time Fred got in the race, tonight's Iowa Republican winner, Mike Huckabee, was considered an unfunded long shot. What a difference a few months make.

Rank-and-file Thompson supporters are the most frustrated and should be, knowing that had their candidate gotten in the race earlier or had actually unveiled the "new type of campaign" that was promised, they would be in far better shape than they are today. Instead they are left with a candidate whose commitment to the race is highly suspect and who is running out of money.

Where he once had drawing power for Republican candidates across the country, Thompson now is the guy who quit "Law & Order" and who, it appears, will be lucky to get a call to appear on UPN.

If Thompson really wants to be president, he should be in New Hampshire this morning and put to rest the notion that he is a lazy campaigner by going on a marathon campaign that doesn't give him a break until votes are cast in South Carolina. If he doesn't want to do that, then he should free up Tennessee supporters to look at other candidates by dropping out of the race.

On the other side of the aisle, Thompson's showing should be heartening to Tennessee Democrats. While some would say that Thompson would have Tennessee coattails were he on the ticket in November, the real fear for Tennessee Democrats is, or was, the lack of Democratic National Committee money flowing into the state.

Getting the DNC to invest in Tennessee has long been a problem for Tennessee Democrats when it comes to presidential politics. The last time the DNC really put forth a concerted effort here was for the Clinton/Gore '96 campaign. With Thompson out of the race, the Tennessee Democratic Party would at least have a fighting chance to get some DNC cash budgeted for November.

Some might believe the DNC invested in Tennessee during Al Gore's 2000 run, but the fact is that the national Gore campaign gave up on the state long before votes were cast and shifted resources to Florida.

Last night's showing by Hillary Clinton, who finished behind Barack Obama and John Edwards, will also be disheartening to Tennessee Republicans. Clinton is the candidate they love to hate. And while they will have no problem voting against Obama or Edwards should they win the nomination, the realization that there is now a possibility that they won't get Clinton in November takes a little edge off their swagger.

No bones about it, Tennessee is a "red" state. Despite having a Democratic governor and a Democratic majority in the Tennessee House of Representatives, national Democratic candidates have had good reason not to commit significant amounts of time or money here. Again, the fact that Gore gave up on his home state in 2000 is evidence of that fact.

Back on the subject of Clinton: Her third-place showing will likely test her Tennessee primary supporters' resolve unless she can stop the bleeding in New Hampshire.

In December, the Clinton team put out an impressive list of supporters that comprised much, but not all, of Tennessee's Democratic establishment. Former Gov. Ned McWherter, State Sen. Thelma Harper and former Public Service Commissioner Jane Eskind were named co-chairs of the Tennessee steering committee for the campaign. Former Tennessee Democratic Party chairman Randy Button is the "authorized representative" of the campaign.

If they are truly on board with Hillary, they, like Fred Thompson, should be on the phone today making sure that third place in Iowa doesn't kill their campaign.

As impressive as the Clinton list was, there are a lot of people on that list that owed Hillary's husband support for his past support of them. They now will have to show that their name isn't on that list solely because of Bill.

This is only the beginning of what will be a long presidential season and nothing has been written in stone. Huckabee jumped from an afterthought to a Republican frontrunner and the supposedly inevitable Democratic nominee took it on the chin. Everything could change in a week, but the losing candidates and their supporters will have to work hard to make that change happen.