Fred Thompson, the man many are hailing as the saviour of the Republican party and who you probably know best from his roles in Hunt for Red October, In the Line of Fire, Die Hard 2 and the TV show Law & Order, is in London right now and I went to hear him speak this lunchtime at Policy Exchange.
It is immediately obvious why so many politicos are attracted to a Thompson candidacy: he has presence, a Reaganesque demeanour and a great voice—John McCain likes to joke that if he had Fred Thompson’s voice he’d be president. These assets have propelled him into second place in the polls for the Republican nomination despite the fact he hasn’t even announced yet.
But the question with Thompson is, whether there is anything more to him than these qualities.
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