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Posted: June 13, 2007 1:10 PM
Fred Thompson Expected to Announce in July
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Actor and former Tennessee GOP Sen. Fred Thompson is expected to officially announce his candidacy in July, and his supporters are trying to raise $4.6 million to launch the bid.

Even without an official candidacy, Thompson has been consistently ranked among the top three Republican candidates for the party’s nomination in national polls. When asked about these rankings during an appearance on the Tonight Show with Jay Leno on Tuesday, Thompson answered, “Some people decided that you had to run for a couple years — these campaigns are entirely too long — and that you had to raise a hundred million dollars this year, well, half the year is gone, I haven’t had my first fund raiser yet, and I’m in the middle of the pack, so you know, I don’t think the common wisdom necessarily holds this year.” He added, “I’ve never craved the job of president, but I want to do some things that only a president can do.”

Thompson’s Web site raised $220,000 during its first 18 hours, according to Hotline . He continues to record “The Fred Thompson Report,” a show on ABC Radio network and post to his blog.

He has gained the support of former Sen. Alfonse D’Amato, R-N.Y., a politician who has had a shaky relationship with Republican front-runner and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani.

Thompson has formed an organization called Friends of Fred Thompson Inc. to raise money for travel and staff, according to the Des Moines Register .

Members of his team are expected to include Burson Snyder, a former spokeswoman for House Minority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., her husband Pete Snyder, founder and CEO of New Media Strategies, and his colleagues Howard Mortman, William Beutler and Jon Henke, also a former new media adviser for Senate Republicans. Other hires are expected to include Mike Turk, former Bush-Cheney ‘04 eDirector, Blaise Hazelwood of iWebStrategies, Ken Smith of Episode 49, Todd Zeigler of the Bivings Group and Dan Hopkins of Segmented Media.

Thompson has not committed to the Ames, Iowa, straw poll in August, though he said he does plan to attend the Iowa State Fair at the same time.

The senator-turned-actor also intends to go to a Senate Republican PAC fund raiser on June 28 in Bedford, N.H.