Fred Thompson’s lagging campaign finds solace in the latest Rasmussen poll in South Carolina which shows he is TIED with Huckabee and Romney for SECOND.

His campaign launched a new ad in South Carolina on the heels of the good news.

The Rasmussen Report in announcing the latest numbers says:

“Over the past several days, the only real movement in South Carolina’s Republican Presidential Primary has been a four-point gain for Fred Thompson and a five-point decline for Mike Huckabee.

The big winner from that trade-off is John McCain.

The latest Rasmussen Reports telephone survey shows McCain at 28%, Huckabee at 19%, Mitt Romney at 17%, and Fred Thompson at 16%. Rudy Giuliani and Ron Paul are tied with 5% support. Giuliani is betting his entire campaign on a strong showing in Florida, where he is now tied for the lead with three others.”

 

Fred Thompson is not competing in Michigan which holds it’s primary on Tuesday, January 15th and it is hard to gauge how his showing there will effect momentum and ultimately his turnout in South Carolina.