Thompson: "I Need to Come in Second"
" To finish second in Iowa, Thompson has a lot of ground to make up. While Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee are both polling in the 27 to 28 percent range, Thompson is neck and neck with John McCain at around 11 percent. When asked if he would stay in the race if he finished third, he said “I’m not going to talk about things like that.”
He did talk about the consistency of his presidential run. “Let the political world swirl around me and let everyone run their attack ads and spend their money and spin their wheels and all that,” he said. “But I’m going to be the same. It’s worked for me pretty well in my career, being Fred, and I’m going to continue to be Fred.”
AMES, IOWA -- Saying he plans to make no changes to his campaign, Fred Thompson asserted today that he needs a strong finish in Iowa caucuses. “I need to come in second,” he said. “We’re going to continue to see a lot of people between now and then.”
Don’t forget, McCain’s negatives in Iowa are at least double his positives (due to opposing ethanol subsidies—which while a valid position, doesn’t win any brownie points with the Iowa farmer). Thompson may trounce McCain, and if Huckabee melts ala Dean, puts FDT in play for a second place finish...