Another national chance for Thompson to impress

Fred Thompson gets one more opportunity to impress or underwhelm a nationwide audience of Americans this morning with his own stint of intense questioning by Tim Russert on NBC's "Meet the Press" from Washington. The former senator will find the session considerably different from the casual political tradition of sitting on Jay Leno's couch in Burbank.

Being interrogated by Russert in such "Meet the Candidates" sessions has become a required political tradition that widely shapes impressions of politicians. Bill Richardson looked completely flustered during his session. He's one of six so far, the others being John McCain, Joe Biden, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton and Chris Dodd. Videos of those sessions are available here and transcripts available here.

No doubt Thompson will be asked about this morning's revelation that one of his advisors and fundraisers has a drug record.

Although Thompson still ranks relatively high in some polls and got off some good lines in one debate he joined, Thompson's light campaign schedules, short speeches and relaxed style have failed to energize conservatives who clearly want to like him but the excitement has been lacking.

Jon Ralston, probably Nevada's most preeminent political analyst, went to a Thompson speech in Las Vegas the other day and told his RalstonFlash.com blog readers: "Some pharmaceutical company ought to get what Fred Thompson has and start bottling it. It could put NyQuil out of business." He called Thompson's remarks a "soporific, mercifully brief speech" and summarized the contents as "Hillary bad, me good, me conservative, low taxes good. Yawn."

And the Onion satirical paper has had some fun with Thompson. "Fred Thompson Fears Presidential Run Will Typecast Him As Politician" in which Thompson allegedly notes that Ronald Reagan never worked again as an actor after his eight-year role in the White House and "If Elected, I Will Have the Hottest First Lady in U.S. History."

Chances are the jokes will be far fewer on TV this morning.

(UPDATE: To our eyes, Thompson fared pretty well. But you can read the transcript for yourself or check out the news story by The Times' Michael Finnegan and Walter F. Roche Jr. here on the website or in Monday's print editions.)

--Andrew Malcolm