I'm With Freddie

So the big news really is that Freddie Thompson (yes, his legal name is Freddie) is running for President. That's big news? He's been essentially running since the spring, and only hasn't announced officially so he could keep his "Law & Order" episodes on the air and reel in those residual checks. But I guess this is a big deal. Well, OK, let's give him some scrutiny.

First of all, give it up for the NYT for actually putting this in the article, albeit in the middle:

It is perhaps no coincidence that several of Mr. Thompson’s main communications strategists also worked on Mr. Schwarzenegger’s campaign, similarly re-introducing an actor as a serious political contender. The talk-show setting in Los Angeles allowed Mr. Thompson to capitalize on his pop-cultural appeal as an actor and simultaneously reinforce his contention that he is a Washington outsider — although he lives in a suburb of the capital and worked extensively there as a lobbyist when not in the Senate.

However, I think it is a coincidence that Thompson's communication people are from Arnold's campaign, since they were about the only people left he hadn't fired. By the way, this is the team, Todd Harris and Karen Hanretty, that engineered the lowlight of Arnold's political career, the 2005 special election where he got spanked and almost lost his re-election as a result, before firing them and hiring Matthew Dowd and Steve Schmidt to get him back on track.

So just what is supposed to be the conservative appeal here? The idea is that he will appeal to real conservatives. Well, let's see, he's worked as an abortion rights lobbyist, he has a trophy wife who's seven years younger than his oldest kid (the age range between his kids is 46 years), his record on immigration doesn't satisfy the crazies, and he's a Hollywood actor. Is it because he talks all slow and folksy-like, is that supposed to be the appeal?

Well, so does George Bush. And he seems to have caught the Administration's I don't recall disease.

"I don't even remember the details of his plan."

-- Fred Thompson, quoted by Bloomberg, when asked how his ideas for overhauling the social security system differ from those of President Bush.

In case you were wondering, his position is not different at all on Social Security privatization, he's all for it, just like he's for private health accounts as the only reform to health care. In fact, he has drab and unimaginative conservative proposals for just about everything.

So what's the excitement all about? Is it because you've seen him at the movies? Is it because he was a "hero of Watergate," even though he was actually a mole for the Nixon White House? Is it because he's lazy, just like us? Or is it really because Freddie is a cipher, something dissastisfied Republicans can project all their hopes of a decent 2008 candidate onto? I think that's pretty much it. And like with most actors, the view through a lens from far away is a whole lot more attractive than the view up close.

UPDATE: That's gonna leave a mark:

Huckabee's criticism of Thompson got more severe from there, discussing Thompson's Washington experience. "I've never been a Washington lobbyist," said. "I've never lobbied for an abortion rights group."