Fred Thompson: Re-Defining Dirty Old Man

One objective in the actor-politician’s pre-announcement positioning, if I may use that word, was a preemptive move to deal with his reputation as a, to use an old-fashioned euphemism, ladies’ man.

In a closed-door meeting in April, Thompson admitted to House Republicans that, as a bachelor, he was less than celibate.

"I was single for a long time, and, yep, I chased a lot of women," he said, "and a lot of women chased me. And those that chased me tended to catch me."

Now that he is, if I may put it this way, coming out, that potential negative is being converted into an asset. Today the Washington correspondent for the British Sunday Times gushes about “the legions of former girlfriends who still adore him and who want him to be president.”

Bedfellows make strange politics.