Can Washington Handle Another Actor in the White House?

Fred Thompson, who plays D.A. Arthur Branch on NBC's Law and Order, is seriously considering running for President of the United States in 2008. Despite a relatively successful acting career, which took off in the late 80's, this would not be Thompson's first political move. Fred Thompson served as the minority counsel during 1973 and 1974 for the Watergate Committee (which resulted in the publication of his book "At That Point in Time", a memoir of his time spent on Watergate). He then served as counsel to different politicians and committees until he ran in the special election to fill the Senate seat vacated by Vice President Al Gore. Senator Thompson resumed his acting pursuits in 2003 after the death of his daughter.

Thompson is conservative in his beliefs; he supports similar stances as the current leadership. Thompson is opposed to gay marriages, believing that the sanctity of marriage is between a man and a woman; however he has not said that homosexual civil unions are not unlawful. Thompson is pro-life, and would seek to have Roe v. Wade overturned, or at least reexamined. Thompson also opposes gun control. Most notably, Thompson supports an increase in troops to Iraq, believing that we should rectify the mistakes we have made during the war and give it a chance to work.

Disturbingly, Fred Thompson (who is a fundraiser for the defense of I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby) would grant a pardon to Scooter Libby's recent guilty verdict concerning the leak of the identity of former CIA operative Valerie Plame. He believes that despite the outcome of the trial that Libby is "bearing the brunt of something that should've never happened". Whether or not it should have never happened does not change the fact that it did happen, and Libby should be held responsible for his actions contributing to the exposure of Ms. Plame.

Thompson is not giving a definite answer as to if he will run or not, just that the option is there and that waiting a few months should not be detrimental to a possible run. If he should decide to run in 2008, Fred Thompson would join and ever growing list of Republicans including Sen. John McCain, Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. Sam Brownback, Rep. Duncan Hunter, former Governor Mitt Romney, Michael Charles Smith, and many others who have formed exploratory committees or have shown serious interest in a bid for the White House.

Sources:

www.washingtonpost.com

www.foxnews.com

www.imdb.com

www.philly.com