Fred Dalton Thompson is planning to enter the presidential race over the Fourth of July holiday, announcing this week that he has already raised several million dollars and is being backed by insiders from the past three Republican administrations, Thompson advisers told The Politico.[...]
Since Thompson began hinting he might get in, polls have generally showed him tied for third with Romney. In the most recent average of national polls on RealClearPolitics.com, each had 10 percent of the vote, behind Giuliani at 26 percent and McCain at 18 percent. Since those polls were taken, Romney has shown increasing strength in early-voting states.
I’ve heard that much of Thompson’s support has been the result of “core conservatives’” frustration with the conservative credentials of Romney, McCain, and Giuliani. If that frustration translates to true support for Thompson, I can easily imagine a bigger gap being opened for a moderate/centrist third-party candidate to have a shot at a viable run.