Maybe Blogs4Thompson Will Pick This One Up Too

Note the difference between this Hollywood Fred story, which mythologizes the ideal of the good ol' trucker boy in the opening graf:

The venue was vintage Fred D. Thompson: a gun shop. Perfect for the down-home, Washington-outsider candidate who campaigned across Tennessee in the 1990s with a red pickup truck, rolled-up shirt sleeves and a straight-talking attitude.

But there was a difference on Thursday. Thompson was dressed in a dark blue suit, a white shirt and shiny black loafers as he chatted with gun purchasers. And as he sped away to visit a diner, it was in a caravan of a black Chevy Suburban and a black GMC Yukon, each with tinted windows and filled with advisers.

Welcome to the Thompson for President campaign.

...with this piece in the New York Times, which actually commits the sin of journalism:

Now the elder Mr. Thompson, who also worked as a lobbyist before and after his eight years in the Senate, is aiming for an even higher post, preparing a run for the Republican presidential nomination. In the folksy drawl that built him a lucrative sideline as a screen actor, Mr. Thompson is presenting himself as a reform-minded outsider taking on Washington, just as he did when he campaigned for the Senate as “Ol’ Fred” the “real live country lawyer,” and cruised Tennessee in a rented red pickup truck.

But the lobbying work that Tony Thompson and another son, Daniel, did after their father won his Senate seat suggests how far the family has traveled from Fred Thompson’s early career. Not only has he parlayed his own political background into a lobbying business — a fact his opponents have seized on to challenge his outsider image — but his sons have also made lobbying a family affair.

To be fair, the WaPo article eventually gets around to mentioning that Good Ol' Fred is a lifelong lobbyist who's worked for dozens of corporate interests. Of course, that's buried near the end, and he's redeemed with the line from a New Hampshire supporter. "He does not like Washington ... he's in politics, but he's not of the Washington gentry." Right, that's why Sally Quinn practically fellated him in calling for his ascent to the Vice Presidency.

The truth is that Thompson is an occasional actor, but a career lobbyist with shilling for big business in his genes. So much so that the kids carried it as well. The punditocracy is still largely buying the myth of the ol' country gentleman. And from the looks of these two articles, about half of the reporter class is as well. But there's a long way to go until 2008.