Thompson Hunts for a Red November

May 31, 2007 — -- As he prepares to join the hunt for a red November, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson is walking into the line of fire.

Without raising a single campaign dollar or giving a single stump speech, Thompson threatens to knock one or more of the 2008 candidates out of the top tier -- and his 6-foot 6-inch frame will crowd out long-shot candidates who hope to emerge as the choice of social conservatives.

"I can't remember exactly the point I said, 'I'm going to do this,"' Thompson said of his planned presidential run in Thursday's edition of USA Today.

"But when I did, the thing that occurred to me: 'I'm going to tell people that I am thinking about it and see what kind of reaction I get to it."'

The move will also thrust into the spotlight a familiar face who nonetheless remains largely unknown as a political figure.

The conservative angst that has fed Thompson's ambitions has largely obscured questions about his stance on issues such as abortion, immigration and campaign finance reform -- not to mention his famously lax work ethic -- but that is set to change fast.

"At this point, he is a vessel into which many Republicans are pouring their hopes and dreams," said Whit Ayres, a Republican pollster who is not aligned with any of the 2008 candidates. "We know in general his values and his instincts, but that's not going to be enough to sustain a presidential campaign."

Thompson is moving toward announcing his candidacy in early July, according to two Republicans close to Thompson.

He plans to file paperwork June 4 with the Federal Election Commission that will allow him to begin raising money for a potential bid, and associates say he wants to start his campaign with a fundraising splash that will demonstrate his status as a viable candidate.

Over the past three decades, the 64-year-old Thompson has forged a unique career path that has left him shuttling between jobs in Hollywood and Washington.

He's perhaps known best known as District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC's "Law & Order," but his career has also included roles in numerous blockbuster thrillers -- as well as a stint as a top counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in the early 1970s.

It was in the Senate that Thompson developed most of his political reputation.

He won the race for the final two years of Al Gore's old Senate term in 1994, then won his own six-year term in 1996. He declined to run for re-election in 2002 after initially indicating that he would seek another term.