It had to be printed in a London paper... the leftymedia would never touch this story:
A key figure in the Reagan inner circle has now given his seal of approval to Mr Thompson, best known as a star of the television crime drama Law and Order.
As deputy chief of staff, Michael Deaver was a key member of the "troika" of aides who kept the Reagan White House on track. With the chief of staff James Baker and special assistant Ed Meese, he was the master of image and presentation.
Mr Deaver sees the same raw material in Mr [Fred] Thompson as was perceived in Ronald Reagan, describing him as someone "that could really make a difference". He added: "He is very popular in his party. He could change this whole thing and turn this primary system upside down.
"As Ronald Reagan used to say, after he stole a line from Al Jolson, 'Stay tuned, you ain't seen nothing yet'."
[snip]
Mr Deaver voiced the view of many Republicans that the current crop of declared candidates is unsatisfactory. Of the front runner, the former New York mayor Rudi Giuliani, he said: "His popularity may be a mile wide and an inch deep. I'm sure that lead will shrink."
Mr Deaver's intervention is significant. He is very close to Mr Reagan's widow, Nancy, and is seen as the keeper of the Reagan flame.
Clark Judge, a White House speechwriter for Mr Reagan, said: "Fred Thompson, like Ronald Reagan, is a man of tremendous substance. There is a sense in the party that none of the candidates is quite 'it'."
Mr Reagan, he said, had "embodied the mission of the party - entrepreneurial growth, limited government and a strong national defence. Whoever can bring that mission into this age will be the nominee. And it may be Fred Thompson." Roger Stone, who was a Reagan campaign strategist, said: "The president Americans want is, in fact, the guy they see on Law and Order: wise, thoughtful, deliberative, confident without the cockiness of George W Bush, urbane yet country. Fred Thompson communicates all those virtues."
It's looking more and more like Fred is going to jump in, probably at the Lincoln Club on Friday. And Reaganites will probably cheer him on.
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