Fred Thompson's 'Trophy Wife' Running Campaign

Jeri Thompson, trophy wife of potential presidential candidate Fred Thompson , must have picked up a few tricks while a spokeswoman for the Republican party because she is now running his campaign. That really ought to set well with the conservative Christians Fred Thompson is trying to court.

She has sometimes been dismissed as a tanned and bleached blonde "trophy wife", only ever glimpsed in sleek and glamorous outfits on the arm of her much older spouse.

But in the past few days Jeri Thompson has suddenly emerged as the real political power behind her husband Fred's presidential campaign.

Mr Thompson, 64, a former senator and actor who is running second in most polls of Republican nominees even before he has officially declared his candidacy, last week replaced his campaign manager in a shake-up of his top team - which, it has emerged, was initiated by his wife.

Another senior aide quit after clashes with Mrs Thompson, a youthful-looking 40, who is in effect managing her husband's White House bid and has hiring and firing authority over staff, according to campaign insiders.

The upheavals have highlighted the key role of Mr Thompson's second wife, a lawyer and Republican political operative widely believed to have encouraged him to enter the fray. As her husband's de facto campaign manager, Mrs Thompson has the greatest hands-on role of any spouse in the presidential campaign, even though she has so far steered well clear of the political hustings.

Despite her political pedigree as a former spokesman for the Republican National Committee, her sway over day-to-day operations is troubling some of her husband's supporters. "I do worry that Jeri is the one really running his campaign," said a Republican in Congress who describes himself as "likely" to support Mr Thompson. "She's smart, but that could be a recurring problem."