If Thompson is the great hope of the GOP's conservatives, why is he only raising a quarter of what Romney raised his first quarter of fundraising?

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson will report raising more than $7 million in the third quarter, a source inside the campaign tells CNN Senior Political Analyst Gloria Borger.

How is that going to make him competative with Hillary/Obama? But he is going to best McCain:

On the Republican side, Arizona Sen. John McCain is expected to show he raised more than $5 million this quarter...

Now, I know the third quarter is traditionally slow, but with Hillary and Obama raising close to $20 million each, do we dare trust the nomination to two men who just don't excite people enough to open up their wallets?