The Problem With Thompson

isn't that he's lazy; it's that he most definitely is not the Second Coming of Ronald Reagan. The comparisons with Reagan are facile at best as simply being actors and politicians does not make them the same, or even very similar.

Reagan had been active in politics and had honed his ideology and principles since his days at the Screen Actors Guild. He also was was a sucessful two-term Governor of California who almost denied a sitting the President the nomination of his party before obtaining the nomination. Thompson is a former Republican Senate Committee Counsel who engaged in a bit of political theatre that helped bring down a President. He later served as a Senator with an undistinguished record, and I would argue that his actions as a Senate staffer were as or more important than his actions as a U.S. Senator. They could not be more different in terms of the experience and commitment to firm principles.

Reagan was a strident anti-Communist and forger of a great political realignment based on the conservative ideology he developed from Goldwater's campaign. Every knew were Regan stood on any given issue because he was committed to his ideals. Thompson however is presumably a strong anti-terrorist, but we don't really know what he believes - after all he was willing to lobby to liberalize abortion laws but then claims to be 100% pro-life. He was also willing to lobby for a deposed Haitian dictator trying to get the U.S. to launch and invasion to reinstall him as the nation's leader. This rasing issues about his commitment to human rights, which has other implications in the wake of scandals like Abu Ghraib and Guantanamo Bay.

As I said Thompson is Reagan. He's simply an echo of what the right yearns for - clarity of purpose derived from a coherent ideology (which we now lack) and a strong leader who doesn't betray our faith in some way.