Thompson Finally In Race Next Major Challenge For Rudy
BY JOHN TOSCANO

After months of testing the waters, Fred Thompson made his long-awaited entry into the presidential race- flat out anti-climactic, from his drab entry on a late-night television talk show to the subdued receptions he received on his early campaign stops.

The real interest surrounding the towering Tennessee pol's late gamble on winning the nation's highest political office is whether he can make any difference in what has thus far been a fairly easy effort by Rudy Giuliani to take the lead toward winning the Republican nomination.

The former New York City mayor has held a comfortable and fairly consistent lead over U.S. Senator John McCain and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney since the beginning of the year, even though many questions have been raised about his real appeal as a conservative stalwart.

Now that Thompson has moved from the sidelines to center stage to join the other GOP hopefuls, he will have the opportunity to subject Giuliani to still another test for the far right's loyalties.

Although Giuliani has at times appeared to be unruffled by his new challenge, saying at one point after Thompson dropped his hat into the ring, "It's exactly the same campaign that it was a week ago," the reality is that he will have to battle Thompson to retain his claim of being the top man on the GOP totem pole.

The first place where the lanky, 65-year-old TV actor might be able to show some dazzle could be in South Carolina. Thompson's strategy is to play to his natural strength by gaining a campaign foothold in the southern states.

After several lackluster appearances on the campaign trail after he formally entered the race last Wednesday, Thompson finally got a friendly, wall-to-wall welcome at a South Carolina campaign stop this past Monday. He's been leading in the polls here for several months and is expected to score his first primary triumph in the first test after New Hampshire.

Then we'll settle into the day-to-day campaigning that will get Rudy and Fred and Mitt and John to show what they can do to break free from the pack. It's still a long way and lots of primaries before it's known who will get the GOP nod.