If it gets him off Law & Order...

Posted by Philip Barron at 8:42 AM on March 9, 2007.

There's a push to get fantasy district attorney, ex-fantasy rear admiral, and former senator Fred Dalton Thompson into the GOP run for the White House. It's not as funny as it sounds, not for Republicans already in the race.

A glance at Thompson reveals some interesting complications. The politician-turned actor has pleased the Tennessee Conservative Union with his votes for military spending and against education funding and the earned-income tax credit, though his immigration stance may be a touch too pragmatic for some on the right. The tobacco industry loves him. The NRA loves him. He's been married more than once, which apparently matters to certain conservatives. He has a folksy, down-to-earth appeal that supporters liken to the last genuine conservative icon, another ex-thespian named Ronald Reagan, but is also a former DC lobbyist (for 18 years) who seemed quite adept at insider politics. Interestingly, Thompson has supported lobbying reform.

Thompson himself is playing coy about a presidential run and is letting such backers as once-Senate Majority Leader Howard Baker and Tennessee GOP chair Bob Davis carry the water for him.

With the concerns that disparate conservative groups of conservatives have over the ideological bonafides of the major would-be standard bearers - the McCains, Romneys and Giulianis of the world - the notion of Thompson riding in on a white charger to unify the party must seem awfully appealing to some.

One caveat: Thompson is good friends with McCain and is characterized as reluctant to enter in a race against the Arizona senator. The relationship between friendship and politics is ever a tenuous one, however.

Tagged as: gop, fred thompson

Philip Barron is a St. Louis writer and author of the blog Waveflux.