If Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson is still running by the time Pennsylvania's primary comes around, he'll have a familiar face at his side.

Former U.S. Rep. Bob Walker, an East Petersburg resident, agreed to chair Thompson's campaign in Pennsylvania, Walker confirmed Sunday afternoon.

"The thing that really has attracted me is that he's willing to put down in detail real positions on real issues and willing to talk about the really tough issues like Social Security in a real problem-solving way," Walker said during a telephone interview.

"That's what I find missing in this campaign on both (Republican and Democrats) sides: A willingness to talk about the issues in something other than 30-second sound bites."

Walker, 65, who retired from the U.S. House of Representatives in 1997 after serving 20 years, much of which was spent in GOP leadership positions.

Thompson, 65, is a television and film actor and former U.S. senator from Tennessee who retired from Congress in 2003.

Walker described Thompson as a friend.

"He's very down to earth," Walker said. "He's somebody who is fairly soft-spoken, but he has a tremendous sense of humor, and he's the kind of person you'd like to sit and have dinner with."

Thompson, though, faces a difficult road to the GOP nomination. He finished third last week in the Iowa caucuses with 13 percent of the vote, behind former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, who garnered 25 percent, and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, who won with 34 percent.

And Thompson has a tough sell in New Hampshire, Walker said. Relationships with Granite State voters are sour because Thompson announced his presidential bid on NBC's "The Tonight Show With Jay Leno," overshadowing a GOP debate held at the University of New Hampshire the same night.

"There's some leftover resentment there in New Hampshire," Walker said.

The key to propelling Thompson forward is the South Carolina primary on Jan. 19, according to Walker. South Carolina borders Thompson's home state of Tennessee and is an early test for any presidential candidate on how well their message resonates with Southern voters.

Thompson will face stiff competition from Huckabee, Walker said.

"That's two Southerners who will now be able to split the vote in South Carolina," he said. "(Thompson's) going to have to do well in South Carolina to continue to raise money and stay in the race."

Pennsylvania's primary isn't until April 22. By then, more than half the states will have already voted. If Thompson is still in the race, Walker will kick-start the Pennsylvania campaign into high gear, the former congressman said.

Walker admitted Thompson wasn't his first choice for president; former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich was.

"When he decided he wouldn't get in the race, I started looking in-depth at some candidates and decided who I thought would make the best president — not who would spend the most money and not who would run the most aggressive campaign."

E-mail: dpidgeon@lnpnews.com