Wow. Surprise, surprise Republican Fred Thompson has dropped out of the presidential race after only four months. Or wait... was this any surprise? Well, it's certainly a slap in the face to the many pundits who thought the Tennessee stud was the second coming for the GOP ticket.
In the end, Thompson ran a lazy campaign and no one could have predicted that. But if you look at the rumors swirling around the man there was no need for him to put vigor into his candidacy. Thompson was practically likened to a bull moose in heat. Apparently Viagra had been modeled on his DNA and the "smoke" fuming from Thompson's ears was the cause of global warming. Fred didn't do much to distill this reputation either. He once professed to a group of republicans, "I was single for a long time. I got chased by a lot of women, and usually I got caught." Wow, this man was going to put the Rrrrrr back into Republican!
As the rumor mill goes, so does the punditry. They did a good job of promoting Thompson's chances for the presidency by reinforcing this macho man mantra.
Check out some of the choice quotes preceding Thompson's entrance into the race.
Chris Matthews: "Can you smell the English leather on this guy, the Aqua Velva, the sort of mature man's shaving cream, or whatever, you know, after he shaved? Do you smell that sort of -- a little bit of cigar smoke? You know, whatever."
Whit Ayres On ABC's Good Morning America: "Senator Thompson's campaign has enormous potential."
Liz Sidoti, Associated Press: "Thompson brings to the eight-man GOP field a right-leaning Senate voting record with a few digressions from GOP orthodoxy and a healthy dose of Hollywood star power. He is hoping to attract conservatives who are lukewarm about the current crop of candidates."
John Harris on CBS's The Early Show: "... he would be the only mainstream conservative from the South in the race. That clearly gives him a window."
The punditry should have dug their nails into the Thompson's past a bit more for a deeper character analysis. The stud said it best himself in his high school yearbook when he scrawled the sign off: "The lazier a man seems, the more he plans to do tomorrow."