Matt Ortega

The soon-to-be-launched campaign of Fred Thompson was profiled in today’s Washington Post, along with some concerns that he is overhyped.

He is sure to face sharper criticism from those who say that his eight-year Senate record was undistinguished and that his credentials as a conservative are marred by his support of campaign finance reform. Some also say he is a lackadaisical campaigner, pointing to his sometimes rambling maiden speech last month in Orange County, Calif., as evidence that he is overhyped.

“If you’re an instant front-runner, you can’t afford a subpar performance coming out of the gate,” said one GOP strategist, who spoke freely about the campaign on the condition of anonymity.

Thompson’s acting background brought on many allusions to the conservative standard-bearer and one-time B-movie actor, former President Ronald Reagan. Wonkette put it best last March:

The anti-Hollywood Values party is again pleading for a Hollywood actor to be president.

As Todd Beeton noted yesterday, as Thompson’s stock climbed, Giuliani’s — the current frontrunner — plummeted. Neil Newhouse, pollster for the NBC/Wall Street Journal Poll, says that the former lobbyist’s entrance would hurt Giuliani and Senator John McCain in the polls.

The former Tennessee senator’s inner cirlce includes:

Thompson has been steadily assembling a circle of advisers. They include former FEC chairman Michael E. Toner, who will serve as general counsel; former Justice Department spokesman Mark Corallo; and Tom Collamore, a former executive at Altria, the corporate parent of Philip Morris USA. Collamore will lead the campaign effort, several sources have said. He has hired the firm McLaughlin and Associates to do the polling.

Former PATRIOT Act-installed U.S. Attorney, Tim Griffin, was reportedly in talks to work for the campaign.

Among his inner circle, a number of contacts from the presidencies of Richard Nixon and George H.W. Bush are included, but his “closest adviser” is his wife, Jeri, reports the Post.

Updated 5/31/07, 11:30am: Read more on the pending Thompson candidacy at the New York Times blog, The Caucus.

Former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson says that the Democratic takeover of Congress last November had nothing to do with Iraq.

Instead, the presidential hopeful contends, out-of-control spending by Republicans and “unrestrained partisanship” were to blame. Thompson’s Leon Panetta-esque perception of the 2006 midterm elections is, to put it mildly, just plain wrong. (But why should that surprise us? He did vote for the war in 2002.)

Here are the numbers to prove it.

On election night, CNN had an exit poll that showed corruption being the top issue for voters.

sked which issues were extremely important to their vote, 42 percent said corruption and ethics; 40 percent, terrorism; 39 percent, the economy; 37 percent, Iraq; 36 percent, values; and 29 percent, illegal immigration.

But even taking that exit poll at face value and giving Thompson the benefit of the doubt, his claim still does not hold water. (Notice partisanship in Washington? Yeah, me neither.)

With Thompson all but formally seeking the GOP nomination, the former senator’s got to rattle off a series of right-wing talking points based on half-truths and falsities to catch up with the likes of Rudy McRomney.

So far, he’s off to a good start.

(Hat tip: Greg Sargent, TPM Cafe)

TPMmuckraker picked up on a Wall Street Journal article about former Senator Fred Thompson’s pending presidential candidacy announcement that former Karl Rove aide and RNC hatchet man, Tim Griffin, is reportedly in talks to join the campaign.

Backers look for Fred Thompson to use a June 2 speech to Virginia Republicans to step closer toward the race. Thompson allies have had discussions with Tim Griffin, the Arkansas U.S. attorney and Rove protégé, about taking a top job with the campaign.

Griffin, the RNC Opposition Research Director in 2004 for Bush/Cheney, would have his work cut out of him considering the current crop of Republican front runners.

Huffington Post has ads from Senator Edward M. Kennedy (D-Massachusetts) dated back to 1994 when Mitt Romney challenged him for his senate seat.

The first ad has former employees saying Romney cut wages to put in his pocket. The second ad has former employees challenging Romney’s claim that he created 10,000 jobs. “I wish he’d create them here,” says one man. The third is a litany of things employees say Romney didn’t do, such as healthcare, wages, and a claim that employees had to ask the foreman to use the restroom.

So says The Politico.

Fred Dalton Thompson is planning to enter the presidential race over the Fourth of July holiday, announcing that week that he has already raised several million dollars and is being backed by insiders from the past three Republican administrations, Thompson advisers told The Politico.

The former Tennessee senator is expected to announce in Nashville. An exploratory committee will be created next week on June 4.

A member of Thompson’s inner circle, who insisted on anonymity, said the former senator will offer himself as a consistent conservative who can unite all elements of the Republican Party. …

“Consistent conservative” was already taken. Try again.

Is it all over for Rudy McRomney?