Factoring Fred

Politics: Conservatives are ready for a new candidate, but questions about Thompson arise | Jamie Dean

According to Richard Land, two words sum up Fred Thompson's burgeoning appeal to Republican voters: "red meat." That's what Land, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, says Thompson offers Republicans hungry for a conservative presidential candidate.

Just how hungry are GOP voters? Thompson's polling numbers suggest they are famished. When the former Tennessee senator mentioned on a news talk show in February that he might consider running for president, his poll numbers immediately hit double digits. He surpassed Republican Mitt Romney, who had been running for months and had raised millions.

In early July, though Thompson still hadn't announced his candidacy, the towering actor with a Southern drawl edged into second place among Republicans. He trailed Rudy Giuliani by less than 8 percentage points.