IN a startling admission, the wife of Fred Thompson, the Republican presidential contender, confessed last week that the “bone-crushing” pressure on candidates’ wives was like “walking down the street with no clothes on”. She was “terrified of embarrassing Fred”, she added. “It would break my heart.”

Jeri Thompson, 41, was attending a conference on women chaired by Maria Shriver, the wife of Arnold Schwarzenegger, who quizzed her on her reputation. “I’ve read everything, from you are the campaign mastermind to you are the campaign strategist, you are the trophy wife, you are everything,” said Shriver. “Which is the right depiction of you?”

Thompson laughed and said she was focused on her children, aged four and one. “I’m not even qualified to do a lot of the other stuff,” she said modestly. Her sole demand, she said, had been for a changing table for nappies on the campaign bus.

It was a nice line, but about as likely as Hillary Clinton staying at home to bake cookies, Thompson insiders say. Jeri has been at the forefront of her husband’s campaign from the moment he was pressed to run. The problem is that she is regarded as keener on victory than he is.

Ronald Kessler, biographer of Laura Bush, the first lady, said: “[Jeri] is a political operative who is naturally more active than any of the other Republican wives. She is very highly respected in conservative circles, but there is a widespread feeling that she got her husband into this business. I don’t think he really wants the job. He seems to be treating it as a part-time effort, a nice way to pass the time of day.”

Behind the scenes, Thompson is playing a crucial role in shoring up support for her husband. She has been leading contacts with Christian conservative leaders, who view the 6ft 6in former senator for Tennessee and former Hollywood actor as the most likely mantle bearer for their pro-life, pro-family views.

It is Jeri, as much as Fred, who has been winning them over. While some Republicans have been wondering whether Jeri, a second wife who is 24 years younger than her husband, is too sexy for the women voters of Middle America, she is receiving a resounding vote of confidence from some of the country’s most influential evangelical leaders.

Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council, a prominent Christian conservative think tank, said he had spoken many times to Jeri as well as to Fred Thompson. He said it was unfair to describe her as a trophy wife: “She’s certainly a gain for him, but it’s not just because she’s attractive. She is smart and has very strong conservative credentials.”

Before marrying Thompson, Jeri worked for the Republican National Committee in Washington, gaining an impressive contacts book and knowledge of the hot-button conservative issues.

Richard Land, head of public policy for the Southern Baptists, said, “I know Jeri is a person of faith. To me, calling her a trophy wife is a lethal blend of sexism and ageism. It’s assumed that if a woman is attractive and younger than her husband she is a trophy wife. Jeri Thompson was a guest on national television talk shows before she even met Fred.”

Fred Thompson’s stock with evangelical Christians dipped recently after it emerged he did not attend church regularly and had once given legal advice to a pro-abortion group. His position on gay marriage, which leaves open the possibility that some states may permit it, has also disappointed social conservatives.

However, Gary Bauer, head of American Values, a pro-life group, said: “I don’t have any doubt, having met Senator Thompson and his wife, that they are both Christians. He’s got good positions on many of the issues Christians care about such as the right to life.” The ability of evangelical leaders to influence conservative voters is crucial to Thompson’s chances at a time when many of his own closest supporters are questioning his appetite for the presidency. After losing some of his most important campaign staff over the summer, there were new high level defections among staff and volunteers last week amid grumbling that Jeri was too hands on and Fred was too lackadaisical.

Although Thompson is still in second place in the polls, he is running 10 points behind Rudy Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, according to a poll of polls from RealClearPolitics.

Some conservatives who dropped John McCain for Thompson last summer, in the belief that McCain was too liberal on immigration and too old for the job, are now giving the former Vietnam war hero a second look.

The Arizona senator scored a direct hit on Clinton last week when he attacked her for seeking $1m to fund a museum in Woodstock, New York, site of the 1969 hippie festival. In a line that he has turned into a television commercial, he said, “I wasn’t there. I’m sure it was a cultural and pharmaceutical event. I was tied up at the time” – a reference to his years as a prisoner of war at the Hanoi Hilton.

Thompson supporters were shocked when Dan Hughes, the Tennessee senator’s enthusiastic front man in the key primary state of New Hampshire, switched sides last week and became vice-chairman of McCain’s state campaign. Against the advice of his staff, Thompson has barely bothered to show up in New Hampshire since launching his campaign on the Jay Leno television show last month, instead of appearing at a debate with the other Republican candidates in the state.

“I’m not going to be the token chairman of a token campaign. I was told they were going to run a vigorous campaign and they haven’t,” Hughes said. “Fred Thompson would have been a good candidate but he doesn’t want to go out and campaign.”

Thompson’s support slumped to just 7% in New Hampshire’s poll of polls last week. A drubbing on that scale in an early voting state could put an end to his hopes of winning any primary contests. Hughes said Thompson needed Jeri’s energy to be in with a chance of the White House. “I like Jeri. I wish she was running. We’d have a horse in the race then,” he said.

Jeri’s alleged micro-management has upset Thompson’s staff and advisers. Nelson Warfield, the media guru who produced the television commercial for Thompson’s launch, last week became the latest in a long line of consultants to resign.

According to Kessler, part of the reason was Jeri’s “meddling” and Thompson’s “lazy” approach to campaigning and fundraising. “It’s not the way to operate,” he said. “It’s going to make it very difficult for Thompson to attract high calibre staff now.”

One former staff member predicted that Thompson would be crushed by Clinton if he did not raise his game. “Hillary is tireless,” he said. “She doesn’t take anything for granted.” However determined Jeri is, she cannot win it for him.

Watch a Fox News interview with Fred and Jeri Thompson

Fred Thompson presidential campaign site

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