News analysis: Fred Thompson… President? | Affairs of State | NashvillePost.com – Nashville Business News — I was wondering if Fred Thompson would return to politics. He has the charisma to win nationally and I’m wondering if his sudden appearance on the scene has anything to do with McCain’s failure to get the kind of real traction the Republican puppet-masters want to see. I’ve personally predicted that McCain-Giuliani would be the ticket by agreement, but if McCain doesn’t perk things up anything can happen. And I wonder whether McCain still wants the job. The current situation is nightmarish.

With actor and former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson saying over the weekend that he is “considering a run” for President of the United States, it seems that Tennessee will continue its tradition of having one if its own on the national ticket. Thompson is being pushed by none other than his political patriarch Howard Baker, a former member of the Senate, White House Chief of Staff and diplomat, and briefly a candidate for president in 1980.

The Thompson announcement is just more evidence that Republicans, both nationally and locally, are at loss over what to do next. George W. Bush is now a liability to the GOP. Between his handling of the “war on terror,” the Scooter Libby verdict, the scandal surrounding Walter Reed Hospital and other issues, his days of unquestioned leadership are over. It could be argued that they were over as soon as the words, “You’re doing a heckuva job, Brownie” fell from Bush’s lips after Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast.