The Fred Thompson moment, if there ever was one, is already passed. It’s strange how passed-the-sell-by-date his candidacy already feels. A lazy-man’s John McCain to start with, I can’t see Hollywood Fred catching fire… or really even sending off sparks.
But his candidacy is fantastic news for Mr. 9/11. And here’s why:
The under-the-radar candidacy of Flip Romney has actually been doing very well for itself. He’s the frontrunner in Iowa. And New Hampshire is literally his back yard. He’s no favorite in Dixie, largely because of his heathen LDS religion. But talking with religious leaders, in particular the Dr. Richard Land of the Southern Baptists’ political arm, Mitt’s Mormonism is a lot more tolerable than Rudy’s rocky personal life.
So fast forward to whenever it is that these ever-accelerated primaries and caucuses get going: Mitt takes Iowa and wins New Hampshire running away. Without Thompson in the race, Mitt stood a pretty decent chance of capturing South Carolina too. With that kind of momentum, it’s not hard to imagine Romney up on the podium in Minneapolis accepting the GOP nomination.
But that dream bites it with Thompson in the race. I’m not sure he’ll convince the hard-core religious right of any deeply held religiosity. But his Southern style and wit will make him very hard to beat in the Palmetto state. And a win by Thompson in South Carolina would substantially muddy the electoral waters going into Tsunami Tuesday on Feb. 5.
Instead of a media narrative about Mitt The Unstoppable, you’re going to have the pundits anxiously anticipating how Rudy the social moderate is going to fare in the friendly, delegate-rich contests of California, New York and Illinois.
In basketball terms, Fred sets the pick on Mitt, and Rudy rolls to the lane for what is suddenly a much easier shot at the nomination. Rudy’s still clumsy enough to clank it off the rim. But if he loses it won’t be Fred Thompson’s fault.

Email
Stumble
AIM
Del.icio.us
DiggThis
Fark It!

- Portions of Album Content Provided by All Music Guide © 2009 All Media Guide, LLC.