Fred Thompson, Popular Man of Mystery

I had never heard of Fred Thompson before his potential candidacy became a big story. As it turns out, I actually have seen Fred act, but I didn't recognize his name and face initially. Since Thompson having emerged as one of the GOP frontrunners even without officially announcing that he would be running for president, I wonder to what extent my experience is shared by those who have become early Fred Thompson supporters. The notion that Thompson owes much of his support to rabid Law & Order fans seems farfetched, although Fred obviously does have excellent name and face recognition among that group of people. My pet theory is that Thompson, with much help from the media, has become the living equivalent of a "None of the Above" vote. Some Republican voters are clearly deeply dissatisfied with their current set of candidates, so their support for Thompson, an unannounced candidate, is both a vote of protest and hope.

When Thompson officially becomes a candidate, he will probably lose some of the edge he currently has on his rivals. Those who like Fred in theory may well not like him so much in practice. Those who now consider him to be the Ultimate Conservative may wonder just why they flocked to him rather than Sam Brownback or Mike Huckabee a few months down the road. It'll surely be interesting to see Thompson's substance as a candidate once the buzz around him has exhausted itself. It is probably a shrewd move on the part of the Thompson camp to delay an official announcement and prolong that buzz. Additionally, I'm afraid we may soon lose two or more Republican candidates in the aftermath of the Iowa Straw Poll later this month, so when Thompson emerges as an official candidate the Republican field may be considerably smaller. Then again, who knows for sure that Thompson won't deliver the ultimate buzz-killer on his own volition by announcing that he has decided not to run?