Fred Thompson Bets the Farm in Iowa

Thinks a top 3 finish in Iowa will give him the momentum he needs to get him a win in South Carolina ... that means he's got some work to do:

Thompson, a former U.S. senator from Tennessee who waited until September to formally enter the race for the Republican nomination, has slipped to fourth place in the Iowa Poll, at 9 percent.

Giuliani's in third at 13%. Both Rudy and Thompson have been hemorrhaging support in Iowa in recent weeks, likely because neither of them appear to give a shit about the kind of retail politics Iowans demand from their presidential candidates. The question is if Thompson can hold on to his numbers or at least keep them from slipping at a rate faster than Giuliani's, whose ShagFund scandal looks to be seriously weighing him down.

Of course, if Ron Paul manages to squeak by Thompson in Iowa -- then it's game over. It will be very hard to recover from such an embarrassment.

By the way, the Ron Paul blimp will launch on the same day as the much anticipated Led Zeppelin reunion concert in London, thus creating the perfect segway for evening news broadcasts.