Fred Thompson enters the race for White House
DES MOINES, United States (AFP) — After months of hints, and false starts, screen star and Republican ex-senator Fred Thompson Thursday launched his run for president, promising to stop "another Clinton" from seizing the White House.
Thompson, star of movies like "Hunt for Red October" and internationally syndicated crime show "Law & Order" hopes to follow Republican idol Ronald Reagan from the silver screen to the Oval Office.
"My friends, I come to you today to tell you that I intend to run for President," Thompson, who already runs second to Republican front-runner Rudolph Giuliani in national polls, said in a video webcast.
"I feel deeply that I am doing it for the right reasons. I love my country and I am concerned about its future."
The craggy ex-senator with a plain-spoken manner and folksy southern charm is wooing core conservatives unhappy with their 2008 field, who fear Democrat Hillary Clinton may follow her husband Bill to the presidency.
Thompson, due to set off later Thursday on a swing through Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina, which hold early nominating contests next year, vowed to protect America from looming economic and security threats.
In his Internet video, he said he would battle extremists "willing to take as long as necessary to bring the United States and our allies to our knees, while killing hundreds of thousands of innocent people."
Thompson painted Iraq and Afghanistan as central fronts in the US "war on terror" and warned "if we abandon our efforts or appear weak and divided, we will pay a heavy price for it in the future."
As Republicans watch Clinton dominate Democratic polls, Thompson said conservative principles had helped Republicans avenge Bill Clinton's 1992 election win by seizing control of Congress two years later.
"Now you don't want to have to come back from another Clinton victory. Our country needs us to win next year, and I am ready to lead that effort."
He tried to flesh out the personal mythmaking and appeal to the American dream that is an integral part of all presidential campaigns.
"My story is an American story ... where a small town kid of modest means and modest goals grows up to realize that he has been a very lucky person.
"I have had dinners on the factory floor, while working the graveyard shift, and I have dined with world leaders in foreign capitals."
Thompson jumps into the 2008 race much later than all his major rivals, and is under intense pressure to put up a strong showing in his first days on the campaign trail.
He was already under fire from rivals after chosing to skip Wednesday night's Republican presidential debate in New Hampshire, choosing instead to appear on comedian Jay Leno's late-night talk show on NBC television.
Thompson now faces a four month-long sprint to first nominating contests in January.
In an average of recent national surveys by website Real Clear Politics, he sits second to former New York mayor Giuliani, and is a clear top-tier candidate in polls in key states in the nominating process.
But former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney leads in polls in Iowa and New Hampshire.
The phantom candidacy has exerted a price, with many political observers asking whether Thompson has squandered precious political capital by waiting so long.
He has also engineered several campaign shake-ups and endured gossipy accounts of supposed overreaching by his wife and advisor Jeri.
But Thompson told the "Tonight Show with Jay Leno" that he did not believe his late entry in the race would hurt his candidacy.
"I don't think people are going to say, you know, 'That guy would make a very good president, but he just didn't get in soon enough,'" Thompson told Leno before heading to Iowa.
Some experts believe Thompson's return from the wilderness reflects weakness in the overall Republican field.
Giuliani's past positions on issues like abortion are seen as too liberal by many social conservatives.
Senator John McCain is struggling just to keep his campaign alive and Romney, is accused of hiding a moderate political past.
Thompson skeptics point to his disappointing fundraising haul of just 3.4 million dollars in June. His backers, however, predict money will pour in when he enters the race for real.
