Fred Thompson likes to describe himself as a slow-talkin', slow-walkin' Tennessean, but the former senator is hoping to put some bounce in his step following his assertive performance at the FOX News debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., Thursday night.

Thompson has steadily lost the wind from his sails since formally launching his late-game campaign in September, but has set up South Carolina as a firewall after pulling 1 percent (write-ins got 2 percent) in the New Hampshire primary.

And at the debate, Thompson stepped up, throwing elbows and dishing pithy sound bites that promised him airtime during debate replays. He went after former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee for "liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies" and after former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani for allegedly stealing his tax plan.

Perhaps Thompson's most memorable line came during a discussion about the U.S. response during a recent standoff between a U.S. Navy ship and five Iranian speed boats.

"You can’t take the judgment like that out of the hands of the officers on the ground there. I think one more step and they would have been introduced to those virgins that they’re looking forward to seeing," Thompson said, earning laughter from the audience.

Shrugging off polls that show him trailing in the Palmetto State, Thompson calls it "home territory" and says he's drawing a line in the sand. He's planned five stops in the state Friday.

While Mitt Romney focuses on winning Michigan, Giuliani eyes Florida, and John McCain and Huckabee split their time, Thompson is all South Carolina, which holds the first-in-the-South primary Jan. 26.

"We’ve been going all over the state in the bus, getting out and doing a little retail politics," Thompson told FOX News Radio Thursday.

He calls himself the consistent, conservative choice among the GOP field and received some vindication Friday from conservative publication Human Events, which endorsed him.

"The issue for us — and for the conservative community — boils down to which of the candidates is most representative of the fundamental conservative principles we believe in. The answer is Fred Thompson," Human Events wrote in its endorsement.

Click here to read the Human Events endorsement.

This was welcomed with enthusiasm by the Thompson campaign, which immediately began circulating the positive press reports following Thursday's debate.

"There were two tiers of candidates in tonight's debate: Fred Thompson, and then everyone else," spokesman Todd Harris said in a statement. "Our campaign is 'all in' in the Palmetto State. Tonight's performance will go a long way to demonstrate that Fred Thompson is the only candidate they can trust to be a strong, consistent conservative with the experience and judgment to lower taxes, keep the country safe, fight illegal immigration and secure our borders."

Despite the glistening self-assessment, polls show he is still running fourth in South Carolina. A FOX News poll of 500 likely primary voters released Thursday showed him with 9 percent in the state. The poll also showed McCain with 25 percent, Huckabee with 18 percent and Romney with 17 percent.

Thompson's got those candidates in his crosshairs. 

"This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party," Thompson said at the South Carolina debate during a discussion about Ronald Reagan's conservative principle, suggesting Huckabee's stances would endanger Reagan's formula.

"He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies. He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy and the tradition of, blame America first," Thompson said, ticking off his Huckabee grievances. "He believes that Guantanamo should be closed down and those enemy combatants brought here to the United States to find their way into the court system eventually.

"He believes in taxpayer-funded programs for illegals, as he did in Arkansas ... So much for federalism. So much for states' rights. So much for individual rights. That's not the model of the Reagan coalition; that's the model of the Democratic Party."

Huckabee responded: "The Air Force has a saying that says that if you're not catching flak, you're not over the target.  I'm catching the flak; I must be over the target."