There’s no question there’s a Fred Thompson surge out there. It’s all over the blogosphere, and even I can see it in referral logs that show thousands of people showing up here after Googling Thompson’s name. If it can happen here, it’s happening elsewhere and it means something.
Consider this from Ohio:
According to a Quinnipiac poll out this morning (see Question 2) of registered Republicans in Ohio, Fred Thompson, only a few days after announcing on “Fox News Sunday” that he is “going to leave the door open” to a run for president, has already tied the former governor of Massachusetts, Mitt Romney.
In a survey taken from March 13 to March 19, of 1,122 Ohio voters, both Messrs. Romney and Thompson get 6% of the vote among registered Republicans. Mayor Giuliani came in at 31%, Senator McCain of Arizona at 21%, and the former speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich, at 8%.
Respondents were asked to choose between: Sam Brownback, Jim Gilmore, Newt Gingrich, Rudy Giuliani, Chuck Hagel, Mike Huckabee, Duncan Hunter, John McCain, George Pataki, Ron Paul, Mitt Romney, Tom Tancredo, Fred Thompson, and Tommy Thompson.
Six percent is still far behind the leaders, but this is a guy who hasn’t raised a single campaign dollar, and hasn’t even announced he’s running. It’s just the beginning of his support. One thing seems clear, if Thompson gets in, he has a good shot at immediately entering as one of the “Big Three” along with McCain and Giuliani, thereby knocking Romney into the also-rans.
Incidently, Ron Paul barely registers in the poll
H/T: Andrew Sullivan
