Actor may have mistimed his entrance
September 7, 2007
Fred Thompson has finally confirmed he is running for the US presidency, adding a new dimension to the race for the Republican nomination. Anne Davies reports.
IS IT too late for the Die Hard 2 and Law & Order actor Fred Thompson to enter the presidential race and snare the Republican nomination?
Outside of America, it seems implausible that an actor would become the leader of the free world. But here there is a long history of actors becoming politicians and, besides, there is much more to Fred Thompson than acting.
From humble beginnings, Mr Thompson became a successful lawyer, a Washington lobbyist, and served as a senator for eight years. At 65 he has a young wife, Jeri, and two small children, and seems to have recovered after he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin lymphoma two years ago.
He also has the backing of powerful, conservative Republican figures who believe he has true conservative credentials on issues like abortion and gun ownership, coupled with broad appeal.
Born in Alabama and raised in Tennessee, where his father was a used-car salesman, Mr Thompson trades on his southern charm and slightly folksy personality. In part, the homespun Thompson is the real Thompson. He was married and supporting a child while still at high school.
He showed determination from an early age. After putting himself through college and law school at Vanderbilt University, Nashville, he spent several years in private practice and as a prosecutor. He went on to Washington in 1973 to work on the Watergate investigation. As the Republican-chosen counsel, he was initially seen as the Nixon White House plant on the commission, and viewed with suspicion. But Mr Thompson proved that he was taking his role as an independent investigator seriously and was not prepared to compromise to serve president Richard Nixon's interests.
It was Mr Thompson who advised Senator Howard Baker to ask the question that sealed Nixon's fate: "What did the President know, and when did he know it?"
The foray into acting began accidentally after the film director Roger Donaldson interviewed Mr Thompson while doing research for a movie about a corruption case, and offered him the chance to play himself. He later starred in more than a dozen movies. Their common theme was Mr Thompson cast in leadership roles - as CIA director, chief prosecutor, district attorney.
But has Mr Thompson waited too long to catch up in the 2008 presidential race? A Fox News poll late last month found that the former New York mayor Rudolph Giuliani still leads the Republicans with 29 per cent, followed by Mr Thompson at 14 per cent. The former Massachusetts governor, Mitt Romney, is on 11 per cent, with Senator John McCain trailing on 7.3 per cent.
A poll of 500 Republican primary voters in New Hampshire - the first state to hold a primary - in July had Mr Romney leading with 33 per cent, with Mr Giuliani on 17 per cent, Senator McCain on 16 per cent and Mr Thompson on 13 per cent. Giuliani, who is pro-choice and pro-gay rights, might ultimately appeal to the middle ground in a general election, but first he has to win the primary. The real battle will be between Mr Romney and Mr Thompson, who are chasing the same votes, and it is likely to get dirty.
Mr Thompson's activities as a lobbyist and a lawyer will almost certainly get close attention. In 1982, he lobbied the US Congress to deregulate savings and loans institutions.
The legislation was relaxed to allow the sector to invest in potentially more profitable, but riskier, ventures as well as bailing out companies already in trouble.
These measures probably contributed to the sector's collapse in the late 1980s. Given the current turmoil in the markets, due in part to lax regulation, Mr Thompson could be vulnerable. His lobbying for a second client, Equitas, which occurred after he left the Senate in 2004, is also fertile ground. Equitas held billions of dollars to pay off claims from people with asbestos-related illnesses caused by building products.
Mr Thompson helped remove a provision in a 2005 bill that cut the amount Equitas had to pay into the trust fund for victims.
Mr Thompson's personal life will also come under the microscope. MSNBC's late-night host, Joe Scarborough, sent the shock jocks and the blogosphere into a lather earlier this year when he said of Mr Thompson's wife, Jeri: "Does she work the pole?"
The debate continued for days. Was she too sexy to be the first lady? Was she just a trophy wife? In fact, she was a media consultant for Verner, Liipfert, Bernhard, McPherson and Hand, a law firm in Washington. She worked for the Republican National Committee before she met Mr Thompson in 1996.
This week articles appeared asking whether Mr Thompson was soft on illegal immigrants - as a senator he had opposed cracking down on their access to services other than emergency services and public education.
But the first issue will be money. Mr Romney has raised $US44 million ($53 million) so far, and spent $US32 million. In his pre-campaign phase he fell short of his goal of $US5 million, raising just $3.4 million. "It's the mother's milk of politics," the Republican strategist Chris Watson said.
http://www.smh.com.au/news/wor.....ullpage#contentSwap1I hope he has mistimed it because he is a 33rd degree freemason and is the exact same as D ick Cheney IMHO.
Can't stand him in Law and Order and for goodness sake do not make him the Prez of the US. Arnie and Clint are an entirely different kettle of fish.
. . funny that!!! 
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