By Sean Mussenden
Media General News Service
Media General News Service
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CHARLESTON, S.C. - Last summer, polls and pundits gave Fred Thompson a strong chance of winning South Carolina's Republican presidential primary.
With a conservative message honed as a senator from nearby Tennessee, Thompson seemed well positioned to win the first crucial contest in the South. No longer.
Recent polls show him running a distant third or fourth, well behind another Southerner - former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
While other candidates decamped Friday to campaign in Michigan and Florida, Thompson focused all his attention on South Carolina, making a final attempt to keep his campaign alive.
To win, Thompson is wooing socially conservative and evangelical Christian voters who so far have backed Huckabee.
At a debate in Myrtle Beach Thursday, Thompson repeatedly attacked the former Baptist minister, arguing that Huckabee is "too liberal" on fiscal issues and would expand the federal government.
Thompson has kept up that drumbeat on a bus tour across the state.
"We have to decide what direction we want to go in as a party," he said Saturday after meeting with voters at a restaurant in Charleston. "We have to decide whether we want to keep the Reagan coalition or go with a more populist, liberal kind of approach."
Huckabee insisted Thompson is misrepresenting his record as governor. Attacking back, Huckabee suggested Thompson was a do-nothing lawmaker during his eight years in the Senate.
No independent polls have been released since Thompson began his harsh criticism of Huckabee at Thursday's debate. His anti-Huckabee message resonated with Liz Bennett, chair of the Charleston County Republican party, who is supporting Thompson. Huckabee's pledge to help working class voters hurt by the recent economic downturn would require an expansion of government spending, she said.
"I'm not sure that Mike Huckabee is a conservative. He's a good Christian and a good man, but it seems like he favors a big expansion of government," she said.
Nearly half the likely voters in South Carolina's GOP primary, scheduled for Jan. 19, are expected to be conservative Christians. Thompson needs some of that group to win, said Laura Olson, a Clemson University political scientist who has written extensively about evangelical voters.
"The idea was maybe Fred Thompson would catch on with evangelicals, but his campaign has not done that well thus far," she said.
Former Sen. George Allen of Virginia was campaigning for Thompson in South Carolina last week. Allen, a Republican, said he expected Thompson's message to break through as other candidates left the state to campaign elsewhere.
"I think people are starting to give him another look," Allen said in an interview. The question for Thompson is whether that look comes too late.
What do you think? Comment below. Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668.
With a conservative message honed as a senator from nearby Tennessee, Thompson seemed well positioned to win the first crucial contest in the South. No longer.
Recent polls show him running a distant third or fourth, well behind another Southerner - former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
While other candidates decamped Friday to campaign in Michigan and Florida, Thompson focused all his attention on South Carolina, making a final attempt to keep his campaign alive.
To win, Thompson is wooing socially conservative and evangelical Christian voters who so far have backed Huckabee.
At a debate in Myrtle Beach Thursday, Thompson repeatedly attacked the former Baptist minister, arguing that Huckabee is "too liberal" on fiscal issues and would expand the federal government.
Thompson has kept up that drumbeat on a bus tour across the state.
"We have to decide what direction we want to go in as a party," he said Saturday after meeting with voters at a restaurant in Charleston. "We have to decide whether we want to keep the Reagan coalition or go with a more populist, liberal kind of approach."
Huckabee insisted Thompson is misrepresenting his record as governor. Attacking back, Huckabee suggested Thompson was a do-nothing lawmaker during his eight years in the Senate.
No independent polls have been released since Thompson began his harsh criticism of Huckabee at Thursday's debate. His anti-Huckabee message resonated with Liz Bennett, chair of the Charleston County Republican party, who is supporting Thompson. Huckabee's pledge to help working class voters hurt by the recent economic downturn would require an expansion of government spending, she said.
"I'm not sure that Mike Huckabee is a conservative. He's a good Christian and a good man, but it seems like he favors a big expansion of government," she said.
Nearly half the likely voters in South Carolina's GOP primary, scheduled for Jan. 19, are expected to be conservative Christians. Thompson needs some of that group to win, said Laura Olson, a Clemson University political scientist who has written extensively about evangelical voters.
"The idea was maybe Fred Thompson would catch on with evangelicals, but his campaign has not done that well thus far," she said.
Former Sen. George Allen of Virginia was campaigning for Thompson in South Carolina last week. Allen, a Republican, said he expected Thompson's message to break through as other candidates left the state to campaign elsewhere.
"I think people are starting to give him another look," Allen said in an interview. The question for Thompson is whether that look comes too late.
What do you think? Comment below. Sean Mussenden can be reached at smussenden@mediageneral.com or 202-662-7668.