"We're drawing the line in South Carolina," Senator Fred Thompson said earlier today, laying out out the importance of next week's primary showdown and hinting at an impending attack against Mike Huckabee in this evening's debate in Myrtle Beach hosted by the Fox News Channel.

Staking claim to what is now a must win contest for Thompson on January 19, the former Tennessee Senator is relying heavily on his Southern roots and personal appeal to carry him to victory. "It's my neck of the woods, my territory," Thompson said on a conference call from South Carolina this afternoon. "They know me, I know them," he added, referring to Republican voters in the deeply conservative Palmetto State.

Initially, Thompson demurred when asked if he had anything specific in mind for tonight's debate. But moments later he said he would be more aggressive in drawing comparisons with his competitors, and hinted at a line of attack against his main rival and the current poll leader in South Carolina, Mike Huckabee.

"I think this is now a fight for the heart and soul of the Republican party." Thompson said. "We're going to decide whether or not we stay the party of the Reagan coalition or whether we go left in a more populist vein, and I'm going to draw that comparison tonight."

The remark is a clear reference to Huckabee, whose stump speech has been infused with populist rhetoric throughout the campaign, including his newest line that he "wants to be a president who's more like the guy you work with than the guy who lays you off." Huckabee's economic populism has drawn ire from all corners of the conservative establishment including Rush Limbaugh and the Club for Growth, which tried unsuccessfully to derail his rise in Iowa earlier this month with a series ads criticizing his fiscal record as Governor of Arkansas.

Thompson admitted he has been "frustrated" by the media coverage of his campaign, but said that regardless of how set the narratives about him have become, he's intent on staying the course and being himself to the very end. "If it [his campaign] is too laid back for folks, then it's too laid back for folks," Thompson said, adding, "I stand or fall on the basis of who I am and what I believe."