The Non-Candidate: A Look At Fred Thompson

With many Republicans and Democrats seeking to become the next president, it is interesting to note that one individual getting a lot of media attention is an unannounced candidate for President. Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson is considered by many to be a dark horse candidate for President. It is my contention, however, that Thompson will not enter the race.

Even with the press coverage he is receiving, he would be getting a late start in the race. While others disagree, I believe he would be getting more coverage if he were in the race and that his name recognition would be increasing. If Thompson really wanted to be President, he would have been doing things much earlier on. In this day and age, candidates are so calculated, they don't decide at the last minute to enter a race. He would have started campaigning much earlier.

The speculation is fun. I, like many others, enjoy a good game of 'What if,' however, I believe it is extremely unlikely Thompson will become anything beyond what he is right now, an actor, in the 2008 Presidential election.

As a New Yorker, I watched election after election, convention after convention, with many people in the media speculating about a 'draft Mario Cuomo' movement. The critics would point to a weak field of candidates, they would show numerous ways that none of the individuals running in the primaries would win enough of the delegates to become the party's nominee.

Obviously, this never materialized. While it is fun for the media to speculate and it makes for good radio and television talk shows, the reality is the American public wants someone willing to subject himself or herself to the primary process. While it is popular to claim to be an outsider, the American public wants someone who wants to be President. To think that a candidate will be drafted into the race is unrealistic.

To see a candidate drafted is unheard of. The fact is, since 1968, candidates have been officially nominated on the first ballot and the decision is really made during the primary process. In other word, to steal a line from a television commercial, 'You have to be in it to win it'.

Some candidates have tried to organize a grass roots campaign claiming that the rank and file is trying to draft him. Ross Perot tried that. It did not work. With the convention unlikely to pick an unannounced candidate and with candidates who do not express an interest in unlikely to be supported by the voters, I do not see Thompson getting into the race.