Fred enters the fray

Fred Thompson, the actor and former senator from Tennessee, is in several ways an attractive candidate for the Republican presidential nomination. He has charm and charisma, a personable, relaxed demeanor, and a conservatism sufficiently established to appeal easily to the party’s primary base.

But there are caveats, too. The rap against Thompson is that he is lazy. This may be a calumny, but it is not one he can afford to ignore. The same weakness was suggested of Ronald Reagan — Thompson won’t mind the comparison — and it did the Gipper little harm; rather, it conveyed the impression that he was guided by a few important ideas and avoided the micromanaging failings of his predecessor.

But Thompson cannot rely on the allegation to go away by itself, which makes it odd that he is announcing his candidacy only tonight, even though The Hill first reported it in March. Fred fever built for months but has now been dwindling for many, many weeks, and there is something perhaps excessively laid-back about skipping tonight’s GOP debate and announcing a couple of hours later on TV with Jay Leno.

Instead of surfing breezily along on a wave of speculation through the summer, why didn’t Thompson charge out of the gate in June, when his candidacy was stirring the most excitement, and outwork his rivals? Why not prove the critics wrong and make everyone sit up and pay attention? Instead, some of those who sat up and paid attention have now dozed off again. They certainly were not gripped by Thompson’s big-billing, lackluster speeches.

The candidate’s relaxed approach to a bid for the White House has thus stoked another unflattering suggestion about him — that there is no “there” there. That is, the critics suggest, when he finally shows all his cards, explains his policies, unpacks his thinking and presents his credentials, it won’t be an impressive package. Again, why not come out earlier with guns blazing and wow the skeptics?

Entering the race in the wake of the New Hampshire debate suggests that the Granite State is not part of Thompson’s strategy for victory. It also hints that he only wants to find enough substance to fill a few short months before the primary season is effectively concluded on Feb. 5.

He may prove all doubts wrong after he jumps in tonight. Thompson certainly excited many of the Republicans who do not much like the other candidates already in the race. So he has a head start and he has many of the political gifts that make a winner. But he needs to deploy them with energy from now on. He has something to prove, and he does not have very long to prove it.