Republican Thompson enters US president race

Los Angeles, Sept 6: Hollywood actor and former senator Fred Thompson declared his candidacy for US president yesterday, formally entering the 2008 White House race with a TV interview as his Republican rivals gathered for a debate.

"I'm running for president of the United States," Thompson, 65, declared during a taped appearance on NBC's "The Tonight Show with Jay Leno," set to air later yesterday.

Thompson's announcement had been widely expected for months.

Reporters were permitted to listen to a live audio feed of Thompson's interview with Leno, whose late-night show has been used as a springboard by politicians of all stripes, most notably when California Gov Arnold Schwarzenegger announced his first bid for office in 2003.

By skipping yesterday's debate in New Hampshire to kick off his campaign on Leno's show, Thompson hoped to upstage a field of fellow Republican candidates who have left many among the Republicans' base of conservative voters dissatisfied.

In a one-two punch to his campaign launch, Thompson also planned to air his first television advertisement during the two-hour broadcast of the Republican candidates' debate on the Fox News Channel.

Thompson was scheduled to appear today in Iowa, which holds the first nominating contest for 2008, as he opens a five-day tour of early voting states, and launch a second TV ad. An online video of his campaign announcement also was planned.

Thompson quit his role as a prosecutor on the hit NBC show "Law&Order" and formed a committee in his home state of Tennessee at the beginning of June to test the waters for a potential bid.

But the formal announcement has been pushed back repeatedly amid staff shake-ups and questions about his work as a lobbyist, his slow fund-raising and the influence of his second wife in the campaign.

Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani leads national polls of the Republican field, and former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney leads polls in the key early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

Reuters
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