After toying with the media for months over whether or not he would run for the Republican nomination, Fred Thompson finally announced and many pundits had him all but penciled in to be the nominee. After the first debate, when Thompson seemed to come up short of his image as a Reagan-esque communicator, and the first FEC fundraising report, enthusiasm waned.. He no doubt has the experience (he was a U.S. Senator from 1994-2003) and the celebrity status (NBC had to pull Law and Order reruns because of equal airtime laws) to carry the Republican banner, but many have instead focused on his age (he is 65) as a disqualifier. However, he is still within striking distance in both national and Iowa primary polls, so a misstep by one of the other frontrunners could allow Thompson to regain his previous status as favorite.
Biography
Thompson is likely the biggest celebrity in the Republican field. His career as an actor, most notably on Law and Order, spans from 1985 to the present. Before his career on the small screen, Thompson racked up experience as a DC attorney and lobbyist, especially as minority counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee. After beginning his acting career, but before Law and Order he served as U.S. Senator from Tennessee from 1994-2003. He no longer lives in his native Tennessee, but rather in Northern Virginia, with his second wife and their two children.