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Posted: January 4, 2008 1:25 AM
Caught in Battle for Third, Thompson Says He's Not Quitting
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As of early Friday morning, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson and Arizona Sen. John McCain were tied for third place in the Republican caucuses in Iowa, with each receiving 13 percent of the vote.

Thompson, perhaps seeking to squash rumors of his dropping out, told supporters at rally in Des Moines that he was staying in the race.

“It looks like somebody is going to need to carry a strong, consistent, conservative message — and it looks like it ought to be me,” Thompson said. “I don’t know whether it’s going to be a definitive third or tied for third, or whatever, but it’s pretty clear that we’re going to have a ticket to the next dance.”

Thompson will now face grim prospects in New Hampshire, where he may find reaching third place — or even fourth — difficult.

“The idea of Fred Thompson turned out to be a lot better than the candidate himself, Fred Thompson,” Stuart Rothenberg of the Rothenberg Political Report said Thursday on the NewsHour. “So I think when people heard about Thompson, they said, ‘Another Ronald Reagan, he can be the alternative to Romney, he can be the true-blue conservative.’ When he actually entered the ring, he just didn’t sell very well.”