DES MOINES, Iowa — Fred Thompson, a veteran actor and former Republican senator, launched his bid for the presidency Hollywood style on Wednesday night. "I'm running for president of the United States," Thompson told Jay Leno in a taped appearance on NBC's "Tonight Show" airing Wednesday night.
Thompson, 65, called opponents former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and former Massachusetts Gov Mitt Romney formidable but added: "I think I will be, too" as he rejected the notion that he was getting into the race too late, only four months before voting begins.
"I don't think people are going to say, 'You know, that guy would make a very good president but he just didn't get in soon enough,'" Thompson said as the studio audience laughed. Poking at his rivals who have been running since the year began, he added: "If you can't get your message out in a few months, you're probably not every going to get it out."
Thompson also called attention to his candidacy with a 30-second ad broadcast during a Republican debate in New Hampshire that he did not participate in. He explained the rationale for his candidacy during a 15-minute Webcast on his campaign Internet site just after midnight.
"On the next president's watch, our country will make decisions that will affect our lives and our families far into the future. We can't allow ourselves to become a weaker, less prosperous and more divided nation," Thompson says in the ad that will air on Fox News Channel.
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.
Meanwhile, Republican presidential contenders welcomed Thompson to the race Wednesday night with humor and pointed advice that he will have to fight them for the nomination.
"There's nothing like getting to know the folks in New Hampshire and Iowa," said Romney in the opening moments of a debate.
"This is a nomination you have to earn," said Giuliani. "Nobody's going to give it to you. Nobody's going to grant it to you."
"I was scheduled to be on Jay Leno tonight, but I gave up my spot to somebody else because I'd rather be here in New Hampshire," joked Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas.
Thompson thus managed to upstage the eight men on the debate stage, even though they have been campaigning for months in pursuit of their party's presidential nomination.
The debate was the fifth of the campaign, and came as the pace quickened in the presidential race.
Two contenders, Jim Gilmore and Tommy Thompson, have abandoned their bids since the last debate. Romney won a big victory in the Iowa straw poll after Giuliani and Arizona Sen John McCain decided not to compete.
Huckabee edged out Kansas Sen Sam Brownback for second place, hoping to position himself as the true conservative in the race.
Romney also maintains a lead in the polls in early voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.
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