With Rudy Giuliani the target of a major media campaign from the international firefighter's union, Fred Thompson is actively moving in to poach the support of smoke-eaters on Rudy's home turf.

Today's New York Post reports that Thompson quietly slipped into New York yesterday to meet with one of Rudy's firefighter arch-foes, Sean Cassidy, the head of New York's local firefighter union. As we reported last week, Cassidy has pledged to destroy Rudy's candidacy.

Key nugget in the Post piece: The Thompson campaign is the one that requested the meeting.

One interesting footnote: Thompson is refusing to comment on the very thing that's got the firefighters steaming at Rudy in the first place -- that is, the alleged deficiencies in his 9/11 performance. "I do not know enough about those circumstances to even render an opinion," Thompson told the paper. If he's serious about wanting the firefighters' support, he may have to come up with an opinion fast.