Thompson inches closer to full-fledged run

By Michael Kranish, Globe Staff

For a non-candidate for president, Fred Thompson is continuing to talk and travel like the real thing.

He plans to appear Friday in the first-caucus state of Iowa, where his non-campaign says via email that he will be "available to meet and greet GOP supporters." Like numerous declared candidates, Thompson will speak at the Iowa State Fair and, in an unusual step for him, will make himself available to the media. He also travels to St. Louis on Tuesday to deliver a speech to a convention of the Veterans of Foreign Wars.

At the same time, Thompson, who has given few interviews, sat down for two hours with Washington Post columnist David Broder, who published the result today in a piece titled "Fred Thompson's Gamble" that focused on Thompson's concern about budgetary issues.

The non-campaign, known as the "Friends of Fred Thompson," liked the column so much that it sent it out via email immediately upon publication. Thompson is still officially in a "testing-the-waters" stage -- enabling him to avoid disclosing all of his latest donors and releasing personal financial information -- but friends say they are continuing to hear the "Law and Order" actor and former US senator from Tennessee might announce the week of Labor Day.