Waiting for Fred

When did people start announcing their upcoming announcements that they would be running for President? We are now awaiting with not-so-bated breath former Senator Fred Thompson's announcement of his candidacy. I imagine someone told us two weeks ago that last week he would announce that he was announcing next week. What this illustrates is the thinness of the Republican field. Any number of credible Republican candidates are sitting this one out. With all due respect, someone like Fred Thompson - a TV actor who served out one undistinguished term in the Senate - isn't someone who can keep the world on the edge of its seat waiting to see what the great man will do. Not that someone of his stature can't run for President. A lot of prominent Democrats decided not to try in 1992, and a young Arkansas governor ambled out to seize the brass ring. But such a candidate needs to run with heart and soul, needs to get up on the table and shout it out, not play coy games about "testing the waters." The fact that so many Republicans are willing to start gearing up for this mediocre savior speaks volumes. Anyone who thinks he would stand a chance against the Clintons is doubly deluded: about him and about them.