he may not have "said" he was running, but he is. McCain is going nowhere, so if that's his impediment to getting in - it will soon be cleared.
You are right, he is sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the social conservatives to beat Rudy up. He doesn't want to enter the race with Rudy strong, he wants him beaten up.
Also, Thompson is clearly for a guest worker/normalization policy for illegals already here. He talked about border security in the interview this morning, but then went on to say that "once the border is secure, then you can begin to deal with the millions already here".
Well Well Well that's exactly what Rudy said. Thompson seems to be agreeing with Rudy and the same thing with Same Sex marriage. He's okay with civil unions but not marriage - just like Rudy.
That could mean a lot of things, but it's exactly what Tancredo and company said last year when they insisted on building the wall before they would consider any other part of the immigration bill.
It's what most of us have been saying all along -- ANY immigration reform must start with sealing the borders. That's true even if you want NO reform at all.
My guess from some things he said recently is that he won't make Tancredo-types happy, but he's probably a little to the right of Bush's position, and further to the right of Rudy's position, on illegal immigrants (at least he called them illegal immigrants).
There aren't too many people who believe we can take 12 million workers out of our workforce without harming the economy. And since a vast majority of americans support a guest worker program that doesn't lead to citizenship, I imagine if he has that position it will help him win the nomination and the election.
I'm OK with his immigration stance.
We do have to secure the border first. It is realistically impossible to deport 12 million people.
However...I would support a policy of "zero tolerance" for non-green-card immigrants who commit felonies with immediate deportation.