Meet the 2008 Dark Horse

Fred Dalton Thompson isn't a name on the tip of many tongues as a favorite in the already hot 2008 presidential race. He is better known as New York City District Attorney Arthur Branch from the wildly popular television drama, Law and Order. Yet only five short years ago he wrapped up his successful senatorial career as the Ranking Minority Member in only his eighth year (he replaced Al Gore in 1994 and was re-elected in 1996). In Fred Thompson we conservatives have a candidate eerily similar to our hero, Ronald Reagan.

According to OnTheIssues, Thompson believes in low taxes and a balanced budget, tort reform and capital punishment, school choice, free trade and welfare reform. In other words, he is fiscally and socially conservative with certain libertarian tendencies. He believes in deregulation of industry and loose federal control over the economy. He is fallible, of course, like every other human being on this earth. Not every issue will resonate with the entirety of the conservative base, but then again even Reagan passed the most liberal abortion law for its time when he was governor of California.

And now, twenty years removed from the last actor turned President, the stars have seemingly aligned in a similar pattern to bless this nation with yet another. And to add a proverbial cherry on top, some of Reagan's closest advisors have voiced support for Fred Thompson. Reagan's deputy chief of staff, Michael Deaver, says of Thompson:

He is very popular in his party. He could change this whole thing and turn this
primary system upside down. (source)

Clark Judge, a former Reagan speechwriter, added this, "Fred Thompson, like Ronald Reagan, is a man of tremendous substance." Roger Stone, a former Reagan campaign strategist, put it this way:

The president Americans want is, in fact, the guy they see on Law and Order:
wise, thoughtful, deliberative, confident without the cockiness of George W
Bush, urbane yet country. Fred Thompson communicates all those virtues.

And this coming Friday night, in Reagan's backyard of southern California, Mr. Thompson will address the 45th annual dinner of the Lincoln Club. The club has been portrayed as the largest and most active political club in America, and the event was highly sought after by other Republican candidates.

It will be interesting to see, in coming months, whether or not Thompson has delayed his decision too long even though it is still relatively early for the race to be so heated. These races ultimately come down to the person with the best message and more importantly, the most money. The former will most likely be firmly in Thompson's court, but the latter will be a difficult mountain to climb with several candidates having ties to Wall Street and other large-scale donors.

The candidate many on the right have been hoping and praying for is here. Now the only question is, will he run?