Not Encouraging....

I've been open to the idea of a Fred Thompson candidacy. I still am. But maybe not for much longer. From this longer Stephen Hayes piece in The Weekly Standard (click through and read the rest):

He believes that elements of the CIA were out to get Scooter Libby and his boss, Vice President Dick Cheney. Libby, though not the original leaker of the identity of CIA employee Valerie Plame, was convicted of lying and obstructing justice. "It makes me mad as the devil just to think about it," Thompson says. He had never met Libby when he volunteered to serve on the advisory board of the Scooter Libby Legal Defense Trust. Is Libby innocent? Thompson answers with one word. "Yes."

And this:

"Unfortunately, today it can't be considered in isolation, so you have to take into consideration our capabilities and our priorities worldwide right now. And unfortunately we're stretched too thin." Nonetheless, he says, the long-term objective in Iran is the same one that led to the Iraq war. "I think the bottom line with Iran is that nothing is going to change unless there is a regime change."

Give him points for not trying to hide anything, I guess. But don't say a few years from now that you're surprised by more faux-Schumpeterian adventurism if he's elected.

Then there's this worrying snippet of deja vu:

Thompson seems to recognize that he wins the guy-I'd-want-to-get-a-beer-with primary the moment he announces. He comes across as a regular guy--"folksy" will be the political cliché that attaches to his candidacy--and punctuates explanations of his positions with the kind of off-the-cuff homespun witticisms that Dan Rather spent a career trying to come up with.

A good ole boy -- the real conservative! -- with an easy southern accent everyone would love to invite to a barbecue. Remind you of anyone else?