THE MAN CAN ACT. Just look at Fred Thompson woo the camera in this video spot teasing tomorrow’s official announcement. Thompson appears to be channeling a stay-the-course mentality: “We can’t allow oursleves to become a weaker, less propserous, and more divided nation. Today, as before, the fate of millions around the world depends upon the unity and resolve of the American people. I’ll talk about this tomorrow on Fred08.com.” Finally! The anticipation has been killing me for six months.

Of course, Thompson’s rhetoric is GOP same-old same-old, relying on fear to whip the masses into ignoring the complete failure of conservative ideology under George W. Bush. What’s scary is how good Thompson sounds and how trustworthy he looks doing it.

–Dana Goldstein

Dana Goldstein, a former associate editor and writer at the Prospect, comes from a family of public-school educators. She received the Spencer Fellowship in Education Journalism, a Schwarz Fellowship at the New America Foundation, and a Puffin Foundation Writing Fellowship at the Nation Institute. Her journalism is regularly featured in Slate, The Atlantic, The Nation, The Daily Beast, and other publications, and she is a staff writer at the Marshall Project.