Yesterday, I suggested that Fred Thompson would be this campaign's Wes Clark: A savior candidate whose very best day was the one before he announced for president. But today, I see that Ross Douthat is rather bullish on Thompson's chances, and he makes some points that make me doubt my judgment in the matter:
Thompson has one thing going for him that Clark didn't: He's a savvy politician, not a wide-eyed neophyte, and he clearly knows a thing or two about running for office. His non-campaign campaign to win the conservative base's heart - from the radio commentaries to the anti-Michael Moore YouTube bit - has been smarter politics than almost anything else we've seen from the Republican field so far, and it suggests that Thompson understands the voters he's trying to woo in a way that many of his rivals don't.
That makes sense, and dovetails with the interesting parts of Thompson that I haven't thought about terribly hard. The guy has spent quite a bit of time deep in the conservative movement, guest-hosting talk radio shows, getting to know the base. He'll know how to resonate with his voters in a way McCain and Romney won't, and Clark didn't (Remember when Clark ham-handedly sought to appeal to the pro-choicers by suggesting that it's the woman's decision up to the point of birth?). I'm still unconvinced that Thompson won't flinch before the lights of the presidential race, but as a campaigner, he does have some advantages that may prove formidable.
