McCain/Thompson

As a FredHead, since Fred dropped out of the fray I have been wandering in the woods. I dismissed some early bits about Fred having actually been running for Vice President. But some other items that I have read lately make me stop to think.

During my wandering, I came across another angle or two. Since indeed my vote would show up without spin, I was comfortable with that approach. After all John Quincy Adams once said,

Always vote for principle, though you may vote alone, and you may cherish the sweetest reflection that your vote is never lost.

When I came across The War for The GOP, however, I started rethinking things a little. I also recalled an odd piece of information.

In the statement, Thompson did not say whether he would endorse any of his former rivals. He was one of a handful of members of Congress who supported Arizona Sen. John McCain in 2000 in his unsuccessful race against George W. Bush for the party nomination.

I also recall Mystery Solved! about Fred just happening to show up at the right time and take out McCain's upstart rival in Mike Huckabee.

Last night's debate in South Carolina has produced two story-lines from the laptops of the national press corps: (1) McCain unscathed, and (2) Fred Thompson is back. The former seems true enough. The latter sort of misses the point.

Fred Thompson can't be back. He hasn't been anywhere. He announced his candidacy three months ago and promptly...disappeared. Which raised the question: What in the world does Fred Thompson hope to accomplish with his non-campaign campaign? Put another way, at what point does losing to Ron Paul become too humiliating?

Happily enough, politics is a dynamic business. Things change. And by the time Fred Thompson arrived on the stage in South Carolina last night, circumstances had conspired to make him useful. His task: take out the preacher man on behalf of his friend Sen. John McCain and on behalf of the national Republican Party. In return, well, let's just say this: there would be a "quid" for the "quo."

So if indeed "A Deal Was Made" as Daily Pundit puts it, so goes some of my reason for being a Fred supporter. In it's own way, if true, it indicates to me that Fred was not sincere in the issues he brought forth. If Fred really is what he ran as, then to me a McCain/Thompson ticket is an attempt to put lipstick on a pig.

After 8 years of George W. Bush, conservative like me may just be a little too leery of yet another rope-a-dope towards "compassionate conservatism" -- translation: RINO.

Update: Wikipedia article had changed.