by Rod D. Martin
March 21, 2007

Fred Thompson surprises everyone, from Bob Novak’s column today to the folks at the American Spectator (worth reading). In Novak’s words, “Hints of a possible presidential run by former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) have generated a surprisingly strong and wide reaction — indicating Republican dissatisfaction with the present field. The question is whether Thompson will work hard enough to be a serious candidate.”

And that is the question. Or one of them, anyway. The other one is whether someone else will emerge who provokes a similar reaction (after all, who was thinking Fred Thompson two months ago).

But this much is certain: the race is beginning, not over. Even the front-loaded primary doesn’t change that (for reasons not addressed in the Weyrich piece I blogged earlier today, and which I’m not ready to talk about publicly either).

If Giuliani figures that out, he may well have a Damascus/Des Moines Road experience on abortion. And maybe he’ll mean it. But if he doesn’t, that other stuff Weyrich wrote today is likely to be his (and maybe everyone’s) undoing.