After a long period of what some would say has been flirtatious coyness, Sen. Fred Thompson is finally formalizing his campaign over the next week starting today with his closest supporters:

Fred Dalton Thompson will tell his supporters that he is running for president today in a 4 p.m. conference call with 800 to 1,000 elected and party officials from around the country, a source close to the campaign said today.

On the call, Thompson will detail his plans for the future, which are expected to include an appearance on Jay Leno’s “Tonight Show” on Wednesday night — even as his rivals debate on Fox — and could be followed by a formal announcement the next day.

The confirmation of Thompson’s plans end a months-long flirtation with the public about whether the former senator and Hollywood actor would seek the Republican nomination for the presidency.

In addition to the 4 p.m. call with supporters, Thompson’s campaign will also hold a concurrent 4 p.m. call with top donors. Thompson will speak on both calls, the source said.

I think he has lost a bit of momentum as far as excitement goes, but he has remained steady in the polls and is still on top of everyone but Rudy nationally and is ahead in a few state primary polls in the south.

I think on one hand waiting has been good, because most people aren’t paying attention to primaries right now that aren’t occurring until next year (except people like us), but on the other hand with several states moving their primary dates up and up closer to Jan. 1 he will have to hit the ground running.