Fred Thompson couldn't be president, so maybe he'll play one--again
Fred Thompson, the tall, wise-looking, deep-voiced former actor and senator who was the surefire next President Ronald Reagan until he actually announced his candidacy for the Republican presidential nomination, is returning to show business.
Actually, he never left. He's leaving the low-paying political part of show business and reentering the high-paid end, the one on a screen of some sort.
The high-powered William Morris Agency has announced it has signed to represent the man with so many formers in front of his name -- former prosecutor, former senator, former prosecutor-senator playing a prosecutor and also playing a president and an aircraft carrier commander and anything else that seems to need a wise, weathered commander. Except the real White House.
Thompson's political show flopped, showing a lingering hesitancy to launch, early organizational problems, lingering organizational problems, an apparent dislike for campaign workdays that went much past 10:45 or 11 a.m. and an occasional disconnect like the time he worked the Iowa State Fair riding in a golf cart and wearing fancy leather loafers.
Doggone it, folks really seemed to like him, and he had pretty good conservative credentials. They just didn't vote for him. Even libertarian-like Republican Ron Paul beat him at fundraising and at some polls. And after South Carolina, Thompson's political road show was canceled, unlike "Law & Order."
--Andrew Malcolm
Don Frederick has served as an editor helping guide coverage of every presidential election since 1984. He is a third-generation Washingtonian, so watching the political world comes naturally to him.
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000.
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Andrew,
You are a believer! Thanks for mentioning Dr. Ron Paul again. To be fair, you could have mentioned that Democrat-like Republican John McCain beat Fred, too!
Posted by: Tominellay | March 24, 2008 at 01:49 PM
You know, I had interest in supporting Fred Thompson. I enjoy his work on Law and Order. I could never figure out why he entered the Republican presidential campaign so late in the game.
Posted by: eric | March 25, 2008 at 02:55 PM
Here are much more informed and subsequently accurate assessments of why Fred Thompson never stood a chance...this was our grievous loss, not his.
How the Republican Party Committed National Suicide By JB Williams - Michigan News
Who Hijacked the Primaries? by Brett Winterble - Human Events
The Death of Conservatism? 43 Mistakes and the GOP's Dobson's Choice - Free Republic
GOP Leads Astray - GOP Leads Astray
AP Gives Thompson the ‘04 Treatment by Jed Babbin - Human Events
Conservative Blackout by Lisa Fabrizio - Spectator
Getting The Story Straight by Fred Thompson 12/29 - Redstate
"After two years in Washington, I often long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood." - Fred Thompson
Posted by: Winghunter | March 27, 2008 at 05:01 PM