The Early Bird

The Presidential race never ceases to amaze me. For one, I don't believe candidates have declared their intentions to run so early. I woke up this morning to the news that two more Republicans are expected to make formal announcements. One is a senator very vocal in opposition to the Iraq War, whose name I can't remember, but who reminds me of what the actor who played Jimmy Olsen on the old George Reeves Superman series would look like as an older man. The other is actor turned politician turned actor Fred Dalton Thompson, who would be undergoing another transformation back to actor.

I know what you're thinking. Not another actor in the White House; Reagan was enough. I will go out on a limb here and say that I'm willing to hear what Fred Thompson has to say. He made an impression on me during the fracas following the 2000 election. Most Republicans were pounding their chests like Tarzan, saying, "We won, we won," two behaved with more dignity. One was John McCain. The other was Fred Thompson. Both men, instead of gleefully declaring victory and accusing the Democrats of being sore losers, spoke about how unfortunate the entire situation was, and that they hoped a satisfactory resolution could be found. I have had respect for both politicians ever since.

While I respect John McCain, I do disagree with his position on the war, and I also feel he's a little old to be in the race; he'll be 72 at the time of the election next year, even older than the 69 the aforementioned Ronald Reagan was when first elected in 1980. I don't know too much about Fred Thompson, other than he left politics after suffering a personal tragedy (the loss of his daughter.) But I'm willing to hear him out. While I am a Democrat, I'm no party animal (i.e., whatever position the party takes is my position.)

It should be interesting.