Thompson came in third in the latest USA TODAY/Gallup Poll even though he hasn’t even campaigned or declared. And, apparently, he’s taking away Giuliani’s support:

On the Republican side, former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson shook up the field with his announcement that he would consider getting into the presidential race. Thompson is familiar as the actor who plays District Attorney Arthur Branch on NBC’s Law and Order.

Chosen by 12% of Republican and Republican-leaning voters, Thompson is third in the Republican field. He trails former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, at 31%, and Arizona Sen. John McCain, at 22%. Former House speaker Newt Gingrich is at 8%.

Thompson’s support seems to come largely from voters who had supported Giuliani. In the USA TODAY poll taken March 2-4, Giuliani’s standing had been 13 percentage points higher, at 44%. McCain’s support had been 2 points lower then.

Backing for former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, widely considered a leading contender, has dropped. He was chosen by 3%, the same as Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback. Romney’s support in early March had been 8%.

(via)
Maybe it’s the voters who are looking for a tough prosecutor.
And here is an article about the congressional support for a Thompson run (via).
BTW, I was listening to Hewitt’s Friday show on my palm TX this morning and once again he asked his guests (in this case Fred Barnes and Mort Kondracke) if they thought it was too late for Fred Thompson to enter the race (I think he’s desperately trying to find someone who agrees with him that it’s too late) and both of them said no!