T. Thompson: Still in and preparing for Ames

Tommy G. Thompson wants you to know: He's not dropping out of the presidential race.

Speaking a few minutes ago on a conference call with reporters, Thompson guessed (correctly, we think) that the media, after being invited to the call, thought maybe he was ending his campaign. Well, he's not.

"I wanted everyone to know that I am very much involved in this campaign," said Thompson, a former four-term Wisconsin governor and Bush cabinet secretary.

The real point of Thompson's call was to announce that he was, in fact, going to participate in a straw poll this summer in Ames, Iowa. (Thompson, like some of his competitors, were reassessing whether or not to compete in the poll after Senator John McCain of Arizona and former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani said last week that they would not.)

"This is in every way a good thing for our country, for Iowa, and certainly for the Republican Party," Thompson said. "I believe it is a mistake to skip the straw poll .... Let's start the race."

Thompson, who has raised comparatively little money and barely registers in most polls, has staked his campaign on doing well in Iowa, and, more specifically, coming in at least second place in Ames.