Thompson will run for president

After months of flirting and “testing the waters,” former Sen. Fred Thompson finally turned his unofficial presidential campaign into an official one today, declaring that he would indeed be running for president.

Thompson will be announcing Sept. 6 through a Webcast and will then, starting that day, have a grassroots tour of early primary states Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina.

That will be followed by a trip to Florida before concluding it in his hometown of Lawrenceburg, Tenn., Sept. 15.

In a written statement, Thompson explained that he was running for president because he felt he could take on the challenges of the “global threat of terrorism,” taxes, spending and “a government that can’t seem to get the most basic responsibilities right for its citizens.”

“The response that we’ve received makes me confident that we have an opportunity to change politics in Washington and across the country, and take on these challenges the way every generation of Americans has faced the challenges of their time - with unity, hard work and a belief that we will come out on the winning side,” Thompson’s statement concluded.

Thompson is the first Tennessean to run for president since former Vice President Al Gore ran in 2000 and now Sen. Lamar Alexander also casting a bid that year. Both of those tries were ultimately unsuccessful.

Alexander also ran in 1996, Gore again in 1988 and Sen. Howard Baker in 1980.

Lt. Gov. Ron Ramsey (R-Blountville), who was present on a mid-afternoon conference call Thursday with members of Thompson’s camp, said the general tone of the call was “very enthusiastic.”

“It’s amazing that we have had a presidential primary running now for a while and yet there’s still no clear cut frontrunners,” Ramsey said in an interview. “I think Fred is positioned correctly to step right in.”

Asked if Thompson had waited too long to formally announce his candidacy, Ramsey said “absolutely, positively not.”

“In fact, this may be one of the smartest political moves I’ve seen in a long time,” Ramsey said, adding that Republican rivals like former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney had already spent multi-millions on their campaigns.

Thompson started “testing the waters” in June, but began heavily flirting with running for president earlier this year.

That flirtation was partly the result of an extensive “Draft Fred” movement, led by a group of Tennessee politicians that included former Senate Majority Leader Baker and U.S. Rep. Zach Wamp (R-Chattanooga).

For the Republican nomination, Thompson will compete against Romney, former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, U.S. Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, among others.

In national polls, Thompson and Giuliani have been contending for first or second place. Romney has been fairing the best though in state specific polls of early primary states like Iowa and New Hampshire.

Thompson campaign manager Bill Lacy said the former Tennessee Senator and Law & Order actor enters “this campaign in a strong position.”

“By announcing via webcast, Fred is able to take his consistently mainstream conservative message directly to the voters, who are already responding to that message with a strong upwelling of grassroots support,” Lacy said in a statement. “The webcast and the following campaign tour will play to Fred’s strengths, a consistent record of conservatism.”

The webcast will be posted on Thompson’s official site, www.imwithfred.com.

For more on this story, see Friday’s City Paper …