The Fred Thompson rationale

Stuart Rothenberg:

I'll admit that I have had a hard time warming to the idea that former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), whom I first saw as minority counsel during the Senate Watergate hearings and whose TV and movie credits include "Die Hard 2," "The Hunt for Red October" and "Law & Order," would run for president. And it seemed, at least initially, even more difficult to imagine him as the Republican nominee next year.

But try as I might to dismiss the idea of a Thompson candidacy, I no longer can do so. It isn't that the former Senator from Tennessee is such a good fit for the role of presidential candidate. It's simply that none of the other cast members is a perfect fit either.

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Still, Thompson's appeal is less about who he is and more about who he isn't.

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Regardless of whether it is deserved, Thompson earned a reputation around the nation's capital as someone who didn't like to raise money and who didn't have a high energy level in the Senate. When he had the chance to be handed a second full term, he turned it down, choosing instead to return to his acting career.

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The fire in the belly question is also there because he has not made a commitment to the race yet. Then there is the fact that I have never seen him really take on the Democrats in the same way Giuliani has. That is something that Republicans really need after watching President Bush and his "new tone" get run over by the Democrat hate machine. Being nice to Democrats gets you a slap in the face and low poll numbers. Democrats would rather destroy Republicans than al Qaeda. While Republicans do not have to treat them the same way, they do have to put them on the defensive where they belong with their desire for defeat in Iraq.