After months of keeping his name off the official list of candidates for the Republican Party nomination, TV’s Law & Order star Fred Thompson has finally thrown his hat into the ring. The Republicans seem to have not yet decided on who to pit against the Democrat nominee in hopes to retain control of the White House as two-term President George W. Bush steps down early 2009. Incumbent Vice-President Dick Cheney is not in the race so it’s a wide-open race for 2008. According to early polls, the current front-runner for the GOP nomination is former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani. Though many Americans view him as a strong leader given his record during the days after the 9/11 terrorist attacks six years ago, Giuliani’s positions may not sit well with the Republican base. It’s no secret that Bush got re-elected on the power Evangelical Christian votes so the New York native’s position on issues of abortion, same sex marriage and gun control may turn off a lot belonging to that particular demographic.

A little over a year before Americans troop to the precincts to fill out their ballots, Giuliani has 27% of the projected Republican votes. Fred Thompson - who wasn’t even an official candidate during the last survey — is a distant second at 17%. The once highly vaunted bid of John McCain has lost steam and has him languishing at third place. Mitt Romney, the winner of the Iowa Straw Poll after spending millions in the state, is in fourth.

Thompson is a “values” guy and may appeal to the old school and conservative base of the Republican Party. He has a lot going for him in terms of image, experience (he is after all, a former Senator) and popularity, but did he wait far too long for this campaign to be fruitful?

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