Thompson fires it up in his make-or-break state

The '08 GOP hopeful is in a very tight race in South Carolina, the first-in-the-South primary state.

from the November 9, 2007 edition

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"I haven't bought one TV ad yet and haven't bought one radio ad yet, and yet I seem to be in the lead," Thompson, who plays a district attorney on NBC's "Law & Order," told a crush of reporters in Fort Mill, an upstate town some 20 miles south of Charlotte, N.C. "So, you know, from a management standpoint, I think I'm getting a little bit more for my money right now."

His comments drew a swift retort from Romney, whose poll numbers have shot up here since Thompson entered the race in early September. "Support from voters is earned through hard work and new ideas," a Romney spokesman said in an e-mail. "Unfortunately for Fred Thompson, he has never shown any passion for either."

Thompson has drawn criticism from some conservative leaders for his infrequent churchgoing, his brief stint as a lobbyist for an abortion rights group, and his opposition, because of a belief in states' rights, to a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

But those concerns do not seem to have trickled down to ordinary voters. Thompson placed first last month in a national CBS News poll of white Evangelicals who planned to vote in a Republican primary or caucus, ahead of Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and, in a tie for fourth, Romney and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.

In interviews in conservative upstate South Carolina, evangelical voters, if still undecided, said Thompson was in step with their values. Many said national security, stronger borders, and lower taxes – pillars of Thompson's stump speeches – are a bigger priority this election season than social issues.

"He's certainly made known his Christian beliefs, and he's certainly a conservative," says Lily Lenderman, a retired office assistant from Spartanburg, who is wavering between Thompson and Rep. Duncan Hunter of California and wore a lapel pin that read, "Press 1 for English, Press 2 for Deportation."

Bruce Rochester, a paramedic, echoed a common view here in saying he didn't care about small differences in candidates' positions on abortion and gay marriage. "I just don't think those are major problems now," he said before a Thompson campaign stop at The Beacon Drive-In in Spartanburg. "The main problems are the war and immigration."

Oran Smith, president of the Palmetto Family Council, a conservative faith and policy group, said, "If there's any stumbling block for Thompson among Evangelicals, it's the same stumbling block among other Republicans: Is he committed to the long campaign? It's the fire-in-the-belly issue."

Aides said they were pleased with Thompson's progress in South Carolina and said his stagnant poll numbers were a product of his short candidacy. "We've got to do better," James Livingston, chairman of Thompson's South Carolina steering committee, said after a campaign event for war veterans at the State House in Columbia. "But, you know, he got into the race late, so we're cranking it up now."

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