NEWTON, Iowa – There comes a moment in every Fred Thompson speech when it is easy to spot the difference between the Iowans in the room and those visiting here from Washington. It's when the locals applaud and the big-city guys roll their eyes.

It's when Thompson, a former Tennessee senator, sets out his prosperity platform: “I have a radical idea. Let's keep doing what works and quit doing what doesn't work.”

Tax cuts, he told about 100 people sitting under the Halloween decorations at the Midtown Cafe on 1st Street, are what work.

This is the cue for cheers, laughter and approving nods from the locals for Thompson, the former “Law & Order” TV star and veteran of more than 20 movies.

But it is also the cue for critics who wonder when he will flesh out his policy positions and move beyond the platitudes that peppered his speeches during a campaign swing through several Iowa towns last week.

That criticism follows copious news coverage of what were seen as several stumbles by Thompson in the days after he announced his candidacy on “The Tonight Show With Jay Leno” five weeks ago. While not major gaffes, Thompson appeared less than sure-footed as he answered questions on the importance of capturing Osama bin Laden, oil drilling in the Everglades, Terry Schiavo and ethanol subsidies.

Taken together, it raises the stakes for Thompson tomorrow when he will participate in his first nationally televised debate. The two-hour debate in Dearborn, Mich., will be broadcast live on MSNBC at 1 p.m. PDT and will be rebroadcast at 6 p.m.

For now, Thompson and his campaign team are brushing off the pressure for a more meaty platform. They contend that the pundits who demand one are out of step with Iowa voters who will be the first in the nation to weigh in on the campaign when they caucus in January.

“There is a huge disconnect,” said Todd Harris, the campaign's communications director. Thompson, he said, is “talking in the language of the voters” and “it resonates with them.”

What the voters saw last week was a candidate who didn't challenge them as much as comfort them; who didn't offer a platform as much as a manner and a style. It seemed designed to assure Republicans anxious over poor polls, a diminished president and an unpopular war that here was a true conservative who may be able to win in November 2008.

“There are Republicans who are adrift right now and don't find the other candidates very appealing,” said Peverill Squire, a political scientist at the University of Iowa and longtime observer of the Iowa caucuses. “They very much want to like Thompson. He has a certain persona that can be comforting to people who want to like him. ... He makes people feel comfortable and content without necessarily having a lot of substance to his comments.”

That persona was very much on display during stops in Newton, Marshalltown, Iowa Falls, Cedar Falls, Fort Dodge, Clinton and Coralville. There was talk of his “momma” and “daddy” and life as the son of a used-car dealer in small-town Tennessee, and of being captivated by Barry Goldwater's “The Conscience of a Conservative.”

There was even a flash of the good ol' boy in the successful lawyer-lobbyist-actor when the candidate made an unscheduled stop at a roadside truck stop on the way to Iowa Falls. Thompson hopped out of his car with a cigar in his mouth and, atop his head, a baseball cap that proclaimed “Cocks” – a salute to the Gamecocks of the University of South Carolina.

When he visited the Webster County Republican headquarters, Thompson never got within camera range of the large, life-size cutout of President Bush. But he made sure to claim kinship with Ronald Reagan, whose picture was on the wall, promising to do “what that fellow right there did.”

“That's the model we ought to keep in mind as we go forward and not worry about all the process stuff and the techniques and how we're going to do this, that and the other thing, but keep our minds firmly grounded on our principles,” Thompson said.

He mocked the other candidates with their multi-point plans.

“Issues come and go. And everybody's got 15-point plans on them,” Thompson said, adding that other candidates say, “Well, I'm better than you. I've got a 20-point plan.”

He also mocked the notion that the presidency is a complex job.

“It's really pretty simple and it has to do with what's good for America,” he said in Cedar Falls.

Everything, he said, will work out if you do “what's good for America.”

With very little passion or fire in his oratory, the audiences were appreciative but not wild. Sometimes his folksy approach is so low key, the crowd misses its cue. When he ended his remarks in Marshalltown, attendees just sat there until Thompson prodded them, saying, “Can I have a round of applause?”

Some, though, clearly were inspired.

“Boy, can he talk,” said Rich Boesen, 59, a retired police officer from Waterloo who attended the Cedar Falls speech. “This is the first guy in my entire lifetime of voting that I feel I want to vote for rather than for as the lesser of two evils. He believes in the things that I believe in.”

Mark Wampler, 55, an administrative law judge who went to two of the events, said he is leaning toward Thompson because he can win and because “he's my kind of conservative.” But Wampler added, “I would like to have him be a little bit more peppy.”

Expectations were raised mightily by the mere notion of Thompson's candidacy, in large part because of dissatisfaction with the other Republican candidates. His long-delayed announcement seemed to generate a “this-better-be-good” attitude toward Thompson, at least among some pundits.

Campaign spokesman Harris said it is unfair to expect more out of Thompson so soon after his official entry into the race.

“There will be a time when our campaign is presenting more specific policy proposals,” he said. “But he's only been a formal candidate for a couple of weeks. The most important thing you can do in the beginning stages of a campaign is introduce who the candidate is in terms of character and leadership skills and background. That is always step one.”

Harris agreed with others that the stakes are high for Thompson at tomorrow's debate, anticipating attacks from other candidates.

“He'll have a target on his back,” said Dennis Goldford, an expert on the caucuses at Drake University in Des Moines. “Are you able to play with the big boys? That's the question.”