Posted on 03/18/2007 1:59:16 PM PDT by FairOpinion
Former Sen. Fred Thompson, who is considering running for the Republican presidential nomination next year, is not new to the will-he-or-won't-he speculation about seeking public office.
Thompson, 64, has been urged to run by former Senate majority leaders Howard Baker and Bill Frist, as well as by other Tennessee Republicans in Congress.
"I'm giving some thought to it, going to leave the door open" and decide in the coming months, Thompson told "Fox News Sunday" this week.
Thompson, a movie and television actor before and after serving as a Republican senator from Tennessee, was also linked to a potential run for the 2000 presidential nomination. He waited until March 1999 to declare that he would not run because of his heavy Senate workload.
Thompson said later that he had "never been on the verge" of running for president despite all the speculation, and that he was not interested in raising the millions of dollars necessary to be a legitimate contender.
Explaining in 1999 why he didn't shut down speculation sooner, Thompson said, "I saw no reason to foreclose my options."
Some later sought to shape Thompson into a vice presidential contender. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., a currentpresidential candidate whom Thompson supported in the 2000 primaries, was among those calling for George W. Bush to consider Thompson as his running mate. Bush instead chose Dick Cheney.
Thompson in February 2001 dashed speculation that he would run for Tennessee governor, announcing that he would instead concentrate on his work in Washington.
Thompson also waffled on whether to run for a second full term in 2002. He initially indicated he wouldn't, but following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, Thompson said he would run again because "it wouldn't have felt right to walk away."
Then his daughter died in January and two months later he said, "Isimply do not have the heart for another six-year term."
Thompson expressed a desire to step away from politics in 2002.
"I've always felt like a fellow ought to have a life other than politics," he said at the time. "We need to keep things in perspective."
Thompson, the minority counsel in the Watergate investigation, was elected to the Senate in 1994 to fill the unexpired term of Vice President Al Gore. He was chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs Committee and left the Senate in 2003 to resume his acting career.
Thompson has acted in films such as "The Hunt for Red October," "Cape Fear," and "Die Hard 2," and currently playsthe role of a district attorney on the NBC drama "Law & Order."
It may have been Frist's decision not to run for president that opened the door for Thompson to consider a run next year. Frist has voiced his support for a Thompson run on his Volunteer PAC fundraising Web site.
In a post on his Web site on Friday, Frist said he had talked to Thompson the night before, and that "Fred is listening" to those urging him to run.
"He will carefully consider running over the next several weeks," Frist said. "His public statements exactly reflect what he is thinking inside."
Do we really want to have a candidate like that against Hillary?
And you base this dream on what evidence?
He's not a candidate... so how could you make that judgement?
There are fighers and there are quitters.
Clearly Thompson is the latter.
Hillary is fighting to win with everything she has and she has a well oiled Clinton & Dem juggernaut at her disposal.
He's demonstrated that he dabbled in politics for fun, then went back to acting, enjoyed the attention of having people speculate about him running and didn't have the decency to tell them he won't run, until the last minute.
Doesn't sound like presidential material.
Rank speculation at it's worst. If Thompson decides to run it will be well considered and thought out as anyone making such a committment should do.
People such as yourself who think they can read minds and divineintent are almost invariably wrong.
Sounds more like another RudyBot whistling past the graveyard.
I hope he runs!
The more, the better.
One AP article and your mind is made up... even though he hasn't announced he's running. You're a real pip...
NOT just the one article.
Thompson also supported McCain against Bush and a McCain supporter, Baker, is pushing for Thompson's candidacy. Do you wonder why?
Clearly Thompson is the latter.
What is it about Fred Thompson that has the Giuliani supporters sniping at him so early in the game?
I have an idea. How about you wait until Thompson is officially a candidate - *then* attack him. In exchange, I'll refrain from pointing out all of Rudy's weaknesses until the same date.
In the meantime, go pound sand.
"Thompson, 64, has been urged to run by former Senate majority leaders Howard Baker and Bill Frist"
I would have thought they'd be backing Rudy or McCain.
"What is it about Fred Thompson that has the Giuliani supporters sniping at him so early in the game?"
He's not liberal enough?
I know he was a big McCain supporter... and I'm not ruling out he's just trying to help kill the Giuliani momentum. His stand on illegals is probably close to McCain's as well. All I'm saying is that he isn't running at the moment. When/if he does...we'll ALL find out where he stands.
Thompson, 64, has been urged to run by former Senate majority leaders Howard Baker and Bill Frist"
I would have thought they'd be backing Rudy or McCain.
====
They ARE backing McCain -- the talk about Thompson didn't start until McCain started to falter, so they want Thompson to split the vote, so McCain could get nominated even with a low number of votes, because the Republican votes gets split among so many candidates. I posted it before, that Baker is a big McCain supporter, and so is Thompson, who ran McCain's campaign in 2000 against Bush.
You want to have a candidate like Hillary.
in his first incarnation, he served with the H bomb on the watergate committee
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