Thompson Ready to Run: This Time He Really Means It

It didn't happen in April and it didn't happen in June, but this time, Fred Thompson is serious when he says he will officially announce his candidacy for the Presidency next week.

In various meetings with key supporters and in an early-evening email to supportive "Fred Heads", Fred Thompson has indicated that he will officially kick off his campaign on September 6th. The announcement will be webcast online at www.imwithfred.com, and will be followed by a five-day campaign blitz in key early-primary states including Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina. On the evening of the 6th, supporters will host a national "house party" where they will be able to dial in to a conference call with the candidate, as he begins to rally the troops. The one-time Senator and long-time actor and radio personality has been flirting with the Presidential race for months. His exploratory committee has been among the longest-standing and most active in memory, leading many pundits to call it the "non-campaign, campaign committee." Despite not yet entering the race - and despite a series of negative articles about the stability of the fledgling campaign - Thompson is a contender in most pre-primary polling, and his presence is sure to shake up the paper-thin Republican field. He is taken seriously enough that the Democratic National Committee web-site has an anti-Thompson page. The email told supporters that:

We enter this campaign in a strong position. Fred is consistently near the top in the polls, and conservatives across the country have put together the closest thing to a draft in recent presidential campaign history in an effort to bring about this day.

Thompson stated, via press release:

I believe that there are millions of Americans who know that our security and prosperity are at risk if we don’t address the challenges of our time; the global threat of terrorism; taxes and spending that will bankrupt future generations, and a government that can’t seem to get the most basic responsibilities right for its citizens.

Thompson's committee will formally file with the Federal Elections Commission within 15 days and will begin to participate in candidate-based events such as debates following following the September 6th webcast.