Oct. 19 (Bloomberg) -- Fred Thompson hasn't dazzled many political professionals with his early stump appearances, yet when it comes to building a base of small campaign donors he's showing the potential to keep pace with better-funded rivals.

Thompson, 65, a former Tennessee senator who's running for the Republican nomination as a Ronald Reagan-style populist, tapped 74,217 individuals for an average gift of $125 between July 1 and Sept. 30, the first fundraising quarter of his presidential bid.

That's more than double the contributors Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani signed up during their first reporting periods. If Thompson keeps adding donors at this clip, he may be competitive in early primaries even though he trails Giuliani and Romney in cash raised.

Thompson may be ``stirring the base of the party, which has so far been on the sidelines,'' said Craig Shirley, a Republican consultant in Alexandria, Virginia. ``Reagan in '76 or '80 was never the favorite of Wall Street, he was the favorite of Main Street,'' said Shirley, who isn't aligned with any campaign.

Thompson's stint as an actor -- he appeared in the TV show ``Law & Order'' and in popular films such as ``Die Hard 2'' and ``The Hunt for Red October'' -- may also explain some of his grassroots allure.

Actors' Appeal

``A lot of the appeal that Senator Thompson has derives from his acting career,'' said Ron Christie, a Republican strategist and former special assistant to President George W. Bush. ``That's where a lot of Americans were introduced to him.''

Thompson's folksy manner and jabs at Big Government led Toni Simpson, 52, a claims processor at Progressive Insurance in Riverview, Florida, to give $250 to his campaign -- her first- ever donation in a presidential race. ``I think he'd be a nice breath of fresh air,'' she said.

Givers like Simpson ``aren't the donors who are necessarily getting the slick invitation in the mail to attend the chicken dinner,'' said Karen Hanretty, a Thompson spokeswoman. ``These are just real people who are hearing a message.''

It remains to be seen whether Thompson's small-donor strength can be his salvation.

After some early stumbles and meandering speeches, an Oct. 16 CNN/Opinion Research Corp. poll found the Tennessean trailing Giuliani with 19 percent support among likely Republican voters, down from 27 percent in September. Arizona Senator John McCain was third, with 17 percent.

The Cost of Waiting

Because Thompson ruminated so long before making his move, many big givers signed on with competing campaigns, leaving him with little choice but to rely on a small-donor strategy, said Terry Holt, a Republican consultant who worked on Bush's election drives.

``This is the course they've got to pursue until some of those donors are freed up or until some of the high-dollar donors who have not yet joined the fight decide to get engaged,'' Holt said.

In the meantime, his burgeoning list of small contributors gives Thompson the ability to go back to those who gave less than $2,300, the maximum allowed for the primary, and ask for more money.

John Fontana, 64, a retired New York state trooper who now works at a Wal-Mart upstate in Geneva, gave $500 to Thompson. While he said contributing ``is kind of difficult, a lot of bills come up,'' he plans to match his donation in the next quarter.

Almost Even

Thompson aides say that he now has about 106,000 donors, which pulls him almost even with the roughly 107,000 contributors that Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, signed up. Officials for Giuliani, the former mayor of New York, declined to provide current numbers.

None of the Republicans can claim the championship when it comes to developing the biggest donor base. That honor goes to Democrat Barack Obama, who has tapped into the Internet as a potent funding source.

The Illinois senator enlisted 104,000 donors in his first reporting quarter as a candidate and had 365,000 on board through the third quarter. About 92 percent of the gifts were in amounts of $250 or less.

To contact the reporter on this story: Julianna Goldman in Washington at jgoldman6@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: October 19, 2007 00:15 EDT