Posted on 04/26/2007 6:24:58 AM PDT by Josh Painter
AUSTIN – He hasn't said he's running, but former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson has catapulted near the top of the field of presidential candidates favored by Texas Republican voters, according to a new poll.
Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani is the first choice of likely GOP primary voters in the survey by Baselice & Associates.
But Mr. Thompson, a conservative who's now an actor on the television show Law and Order, is tied for second place with Arizona Sen. John McCain.
Pollster Michael Baselice said Mr. Thompson's strong showing comes even though he's not as well-known as his top Republican rivals.
"He's got only half the people who can even form an opinion of him and already he's tied for second," said Mr. Baselice, a veteran GOP pollster not working for any of the candidates. "And he's not even announced."
According to the poll, 24 percent would vote for Mr. Giuliani if the 2008 Texas GOP primary were held today. Mr. Thompson and Mr. McCain were each the choice of 19 percent of likely voters, followed by former House Speaker Newt Gingrich at 12 percent...
The survey of 831 likely Republican voters selected at random was conducted April 16-19. The margin of error is 3.4 percentage points.
Mr. Baselice noted that support for Mr. Giuliani, Mr. McCain and Mr. Gingrich has eroded since January.
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney's support in Texas has risen slightly in the last three months. He's the choice of 8 percent of GOP voters, up from 6 percent in January.
Mr. Thompson was not in the January survey.
Kathy Haigler, a member of the State Republican Executive Committee from Deer Park, said she would like to see Mr. Thompson become a candidate.
"We're hoping and praying he's going to enter the race," she said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dallasnews.com ...
Bah! Thompson/JC Watts ‘08!
I prefer Thompson/Watts or Thompson/Steele, but I think that it will end up being Thompson/Romney. I can tolerate that.
Gravitas combined with fundraising skills.
I think Fred will go for a more dignified announcement at the Republican event before the Tonight show, and then discuss it on the Tonight Show.
Actually I was very impressed with Steele when I listened to him, more so than Watts for some reason. But Mitt does bring a lot to the table and Steele probably won’t convince that many blacks that there is another way, unfortunately.
Maybe not that early, but it's a strong possibility prior to the first debate. If Romney is tanking in polls by then, he may also withdraw and back Thompson, especially if there's a VP spot in exchange for him.
I wouldn’t mind seeing him back in Congress. I’d say Senate, but I have no real problems with Chambliss or Isakson.
I think Fred would plan an announcement in a venue the opposite of that. Make it a big deal, but make a point about the location -- Independence Hall or someplace like that. It's clear he's trying to go about this in a different way.
Someone did a Steele/Watts comparison. Pretty similar. I don’t know as much about Steele as Watts. I have just always liked Watts.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1817610/posts?page=61#61
Fred BUMP!
A good place would be the WWII Memorial in Washington DC remembering that Freedom is not free.
I could live with Thompson/Romney. I’m not from South Carolina but what about Gov. Mark Sanford? I seem to always hear good things about him. Picking Romney or Steele will not win any extra states. If Thompson does decide on just one term I think we need a guy who is ready to take the baton in 2012.
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