Is Fred For Real?

Actor and former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson declared his run for president on Leno last night as we all suspected he would. Now things are going to get interesting. This man managed to incredibly steal the public limelight while not even officially declaring himself and now we will see if he can maintain his appeal with his hat officially thrown into the ring. I'm not going to be like many conservatives and instantaneously throw my support behind Thompson for 2008, because I'm not sure I'm entirely convinced. Thompson needs to be hard pressed just like all the other candidates. He doesn't need softball questions. Thompson needs to be pressured on issues like Iraq and the border and needs to make it clear exactly what he wants to bring to the table.

We don't need to hear stupid politicians like McCain making "old man" jokes about someone who ironically is six years his junior. We don't need to hear about how much younger his wife is then him and how his wife his hot even though she is.

But what we do need to hear is about Thompson's record. I like Thompson for his straight to the point attitude and his unwavering stance on federalism and small government but I also am very worried about the wide open borders in this country and who is getting here and why. Thompson's record from the 90's on immigration doesn't sit to well with me especially when he is now claiming to be very strong on border control. I'm not throwing the man under the bus, but I think he needs to be viewed in black and white just like the other candidates. Not as an actor or a public figure, but as the potential next leader of the free world. I fear people have become so worked up about Fred that they've spent more time worrying about name recognition and what they DREAM they are getting instead of worrying about what they are actually getting. I seem to recall us doing this back in 2000 with Bush and look what it's got us?

So let's quit shaking the package and actually open it up.