Fred Thompson is scrambling the field of GOP presidential hopefuls, even though the “Law & Order” actor has yet to declare his candidacy and disclosed last week that he has cancer. Thompson finished ahead of declared candidates John McCain and Mitt Romney in a Republican preference poll by the Los Angeles Times and Bloomberg last week. The only candidate who topped Thompson in the poll was Rudy Giuliani.
“I told someone the other day I can’t afford to announce — I’m doing too well,” Thompson joked on Fox News Channel.
The popularity of the former Tennessee senator is viewed as evidence of conservative dissatisfaction with the current crop of White House hopefuls.
“There’s this vacuum,” said Tony Perkins of the Family Research Council. “People are looking for a candidate who can cast a broader vision for the country.”
“It’s not Fred Thompson that’s creating the excitement,” he said at a breakfast sponsored by the Christian Science Monitor. “It’s the fact that somebody else may get into the race.”
To clear the decks in advance of possibly getting into the race, Thompson announced last week that he was diagnosed nearly three years ago with a mild form of lymphoma. He said the cancer is in remission and should not affect his ability to be president.
“Not only will I have an average life span, but in the meantime I will not be affected in any way by it,” the 64-year-old told Fox. “Now of course, nobody knows the future, but that has been the history for almost three years now, in terms of no symptoms and no sickness.”
Thompson is scheduled to meet Wednesday with Republican House members to gauge support for a White House run. Because of acting commitments, he is not expected to make his intentions known until next month.
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But some analysts are already questioning whether he has the proverbial fire in his belly to mount a campaign. Thompson said he does not want to spend months at a time away from his second wife, 3-year-old daughter and 4-month-old son.
“I have never really craved to be president,” he conceded. “But I do have a desire to be able to do those things that only a president can do. And that is to have the opportunity to lead your country through perilous times.”
Read other stories by Bill Sammon
