White House contender Fred Thompson, after a much-maligned performance last week in his first joint appearance with his rivals for the 2008 Republican nomination, plans to get tough on the other leading contenders in a debate to be aired on the Fox News Channel this Sunday. Word from the Thompson camp is that the actor and former Tennessee senator will use the event in Orlando, Fla., to push his new campaign theme that he is the “real conservative.”
In speeches and Web ads this week, Thompson is stepping up his argument that Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor who consistently has led in polls of Republican voters, is too liberal for the GOP nomination.
Thompson advisers were alarmed that Giuliani’s testy exchanges with former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney on taxes at the last debate threatened to steal Thompson’s thunder. But they are encouraged by polls suggesting that Thompson is gaining ground over other Republicans vying for the “anyone-but-Giuliani” vote. A recent Associated Press-Ipsos survey found Giuliani and Thompson each backed by about one-fifth of conservatives, with an equal share undecided and the rest spread among several candidates.
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