Fred Thompson: We barely knew ye.

When I heard Fred Thompson might get in to the race, I almost had to change my shorts.

Fred Thompson was a man who had a uniformly conservative voting record that spanned his whole time in office. With the sole exception of his vote for McCain-Feingold, Thompson was essentially the perfect candidate. He had experience speaking in the Senate, as well as his acting experience, and I was sure that if anybody could make the case for conservative policies, it was Fred.

Unfortunately, Fred Thompson ran a lackluster campaign, and put all of his eggs in one basket: South Carolina. His speeches were uninspiring, and his campaign ads were full of empty rhetoric. His debate performances improved towards the end, but most were so halfhearted that he probably turned more people off with them than he won.

I have seen Fred Thompson give a good speech. I know he can do it. Why he did not do so during the campaign, I cannot say.

Were I conspiracy-minded, I would suggest that he was a spoiler for McCain, intended to draw support from Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee in the key early contests. However, I honestly can't bring myself to accuse Sen. Thompson of doing this. He's a good man, and given that his record is almost diametrically opposed to McCain's, I can't imagine that Fred would want to see him elected.

Que sera sera. Good luck, Senator, in whatever you pursue next.

Looking to the future, good luck Governor Romney! You are now the last conservative standing. I suppose I would turn out to vote if Rudy gets the nomination, but McCain or Huckabee? Not a chance. In the event that either one of those two R.I.N.O.'s gets the nod, I will be interested to see how many conservatives feel the same way...