July 27 (Bloomberg) -- Bob Dole says his preferred presidential candidate, Arizona Senator John McCain, is fading and that his support is likely to be ``picked up'' by Fred Thompson, who is expected to announce his candidacy for the Republican nomination in September.

``My heart has always been with my good friend John McCain,'' said Dole, former Senate majority leader and Republican presidential nominee. ``But it's just not happening, the buzz is gone,'' he said in an interview with Bloomberg Television's ``Political Capital with Al Hunt,'' scheduled to air today.

Thompson, an actor and former Tennessee senator, is somebody people would like to ``have around the living room,'' and that will help him pick up McCain's supporters, Dole said.

Dole, 84, a member of a commission that delivered a report this week on health care for wounded veterans, said the recommendations have gotten a great response from President George W. Bush and congressional leaders. The nine-member commission spent three months investigating conditions at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington and other facilities in the wake of media reports about substandard care.

Dole, a former Kansas senator, said the Bush administration promised that the panel's recommendations wouldn't be ignored. They said ``they were really going to push it,'' Dole said.

An injured veteran of World War II, Dole has been going to Walter Reed for 30 years and said he'd like to see Congress order the facility -- slated to close in 2011 -- to stay open.

`Misjudged My Colleagues'

``I guess I have misjudged my colleagues,'' he said. ``I thought by now somebody would have jumped up and put an amendment in the bill that would just sort of delay any closure while they studied it.''

The morale of Walter Reed staff ``is pretty low because this is sort of a dead-end job,'' he said. That's why the report suggested the Defense Department should ``offer bonus incentives to keep people there and to recruit new people. Who wants to stay in a place that's about to fold?''

The panel's recommendations include creating a recovery plan and naming a coordinator to oversee medical care, rehabilitation, education and employment-related programs for each seriously injured service member, approximately 3,100 in the current conflicts.

On Iraq, Dole said ``the American people are very impatient'' for good news and for Iraq's security forces to take on more responsibility. ``Democrats, Republicans, are sort of saying, `well, it's their responsibility and if they are not ready by a certain date, we're finished.'''

`No-Win' Situation

The war cost the Republicans control of Congress in 2006 and threatens to drag down their candidates in next year's election, Dole said. It's a ``no-win'' situation, he said.

Dole stopped short of calling for a date for a troop withdrawal from Iraq. ``You would think in any conflict, you look at the exit strategy,'' Dole said.

On Thompson, Dole said Americans might be ready for an ``easy-going'' candidate.

While critics say Thompson is ``too easy-going, doesn't have fire in the belly,'' the ``Law and Order'' actor has ``kind of a nice, laid back, easy-going approach,'' Dole said. ``I'm not so certain people want to hear somebody scream and shout.''

Dole took issue with former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, who said earlier this week that the Republican presidential candidates were ``a bunch of pygmies.''

``I totally disagree with Newt Gingrich,'' Dole said. ``I don't know how he has set himself up as the spokesman for the world, but to say we have got a bunch of pygmies, of course unless he gets in, then there is one that is not a pygmy.''

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

Last Updated: July 27, 2007 13:58 EDT