August 16, 2007 6:41 PM

Be the Butter Cow

Still wonder if former Sen. Fred Thompson is really going to get into the Republican presidential race?

Well then how do you explain his visit to the Iowa State Fair on Friday?

Maybe you think he really craves a deep fried Snickers bar. Or, could it be that he wants some of that Butter Cow/Harry Potter magic to rub off on him?

It's true. All serious presidential candidates must go to the Iowa State Fair, although not all people who go to the Iowa State Fair are running for president -- just most of them.

We'll see what happens on Friday afternoon, when Thompson takes his turn on the Des Moines Register's state fair "soap box" stage -- actually a ring of hay bales.

Since there will be a Democratic debate in Des Moines over the weekend, there are dozens and dozens more reporters than usual in Iowa right now. We reckon most have nothing better to do on Friday than to chase this maybe/probably/eventual candidate up and down the midway.

And why not? Just look at some of the buzz Thompson has been getting lately.

The Washington Post's David Broder wrote this week about how Thompson has the potential to truly shake up the presidential race if he sticks with his promise to talk tough on issues that he doesn't think get enough attention -- like the touchy topic of entitlement reform.

Thompson told Broder:

"There's no reason for me to run just to be president. I don't desire the emoluments of the office. I don't want to live a lie and clever my way to the nomination or election. But if you can put your ideas out there -- different, more far-reaching ideas -- that is worth doing."

Although Thompson, 64, has indicated that he will not announce a candidacy until September, he's already getting his message out there on a new web site: www.Imwithfred.com.

As the New York Times' Susan Saulny reports, his very active non-candidacy is already raising some eyebrows -- and a question about when a campaign really is deemed to have started in the Internet age.

Because Thompson technically is not a candidate, Saulny reports, NBC can continue to broadcast reruns of "Law & Order" featuring Thompson without being forced to give other candidates equal time.

And that raises the issue of whether, in legal terms, Thompson's campaign already could be considered well underway.

“The question is, at what point do your activities in fact become a candidate’s activities?” said Meredith McGeehee, policy director of the Campaign Legal Center, which advocates tighter campaign finance rules. “This experience will probably cause some folks, us included, to go back and say: ‘Is there something that needs to be updated? Are the rules clear enough? Are these really up to date with modern campaigns?’ ”

None of this will matter on Friday, when Thompson's big problem will be avoiding high-calorie temptation as he wades through a gauntlet of deep-fried food stands on the way to his state fair speaking engagement.

We'd advise Thompson to go ahead, have some sweet corn. Stuff yourself with all sorts of deep-fried delicacies on sticks.

Those are among the few emoluments on the back roads to the White House.

Posted by M.E. Sprengelmeyer at 6:41 PM | Comments (3) | TrackBack