Crazy like a fox?

I have to admit, I had my moments of misgiving about Fred's timing in jumping in the Presidential race. But all along, too, I felt that Fred's support would continue to be strong and even skyrocket once he finally committed.

Turns out that hunch was right:

• CNN.com -- Giuliani & Thompson neck-and-neck in new poll: "Days after he officially jumped into the Republican race for the White House, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson finds himself in a statistical dead heat with Rudy Giuliani, according to a CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll released Tuesday. The former New York mayor garners 28% nationally among registered Republicans, while Thompson is one point behind at 27% -- well within the poll's 5 percentage point margin of error. In a similar poll taken in August, Giuliani registered 29%, while Thompson, then not an official candidate, was at 22%.

• The Washington Post -- "Dramatic erosion" in Giuliani's lead: "Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani continues to lead the race for the Republican presidential nomination, but he has seen a dramatic erosion in his support, which now stands at its lowest point of the year, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll. Giuliani's support dropped from 37% in a July poll to 28% in the latest (national) survey, and his decline from February has been even more sharp. Then, he had the backing of 53% of Republicans and Republican-leaning independents and had a better than 2 to 1 advantage over his closest rival. Former senator Fred D. Thompson (Tenn.), who formally entered the race last week after months of exploration, now stands in second place in the GOP field, with 19%. That is nearly double the support he received in an April poll taken as he began to express serious interest in running."

Full Speed Ahead, Fred!!