Thompson somewhat fuzzy on post-Iowa plans

Fred Thompson fueled speculation this morning that a poor showing in the Iowa caucuses tonight might prompt him to drop out of the Republican race when he wouldn't definitely commit to going on to New Hampshire.

"At the end of the evening tonight, things are going to look differently for all of us," he told Tim Russert on MSNBC. "Some of us may get shellacked, some of may get a strong wind to our back. We've got to recognize the signals that we're being given and respond accordingly. I expect a strong win."

Then, there were reports that if he didn't finish at least third behind Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee, he would withdraw and endorse John McCain.

But asked about the reports later on CNN, Thompson sought to knock them down.

"Any speculation as to what I may or may not do it's just totally that," he told John Roberts. "I mean, it's obviously some other campaigns thought it to their advantage to put that up. I've never said that. I've never implied that in public or in private, and we should take that for what it's worth.

"I'm not playing into any pessimistic scenario," Thompson continued. "I think we have a great opportunity, and there's going to be better than a lot of the so-called experts think. As I look back in 1980, in '88, to 2004, they were all wrong and some pretty important outcomes and you know, we've been getting big crowds."

In the final poll before the caucus, Thompson, with 11 percent, had passed McCain for third place. McCain is now tied with Ron Paul for fourth at 10 percent, according to the Reuters/C-SPAN/Zogby tracking poll released today. Huckabee leads with 31 percent, widening his edge over Mitt Romney with 25 percent.