Thompson names campaign leadership team

The day before he joins his first Republican candidate debate, former Sen. Fred Thompson announced his campaign leadership team. It includes three former senators and the daughter of a vice president.

The honorary chairman of his presidential campaign is Howard Baker, another Tennessean, a close friend and a longtime political mentor of Thompson's. Baker also served as White House chief of staff for President Reagan and as ambassador to Japan.

The three campaign co-chairs are Spencer Abraham, former Energy secretary and senator from Michigan who was defeated in his first reelection bid in 2001; George Allen, a former Virginia assemblyman, governor, representative and senator whose reelection defeat by James Webb last year ended his own 2008 presidential ambitions; and Elizabeth Cheney, an attorney and former principal deputy assistant secretary of state for Near Eastern Affairs.

During the presidency of George H.W. Bush, she served in the State Department and Agency for International Development and in the two most recent presidential campaigns was a frequent surrogate speaker for the Bush-Cheney ticket and was in charge of debate preparation for her father, Vice President Dick Cheney.

The latter skills were no doubt put to good use these last four days, when Thompson left the campaign trail to study for his crucial first national debate appearance with his veteran GOP competitors on CNBC Tuesday at 1 p.m. Pacific time and again on MSNBC at 6 p.m. The subject of the debate, which is co-sponsored by the Wall Street Journal, is economic issues.

--Andrew Malcolm