NEW HAMPSHIRE REPUBLICANS: FREDDY AIN'T READY

They were both invented in Hollywood, but have you ever seen them in the same room at the same time?

The public has looked over the 10 old white dwarves who have put themselves forward as successors to George W. Bush. And the publicv has, collectively, puked. Oops... who will stop Hillary? Must... stop... Hillary. Disinterring Ronald Reagan was quickly taken off the table and, one after another there have been moves to prop up one of the dwarves. They've all failed. Rudy McRomney will never be president-- starting with the fact that none of them can win the GOP nomination. But someone has to win... right? The party can't just skip this one and run General BetrayUs in 2012, right? Yes, there has to be a sacrificial pig put up, like that old Dole guy in 1996.

So some wise old heads looked around at the list of reactionaries on the long list of Republicans on the Free Scooter Mandela Committee and they came up with a long-forgotten ex-pol, a contemporaryish actor, Freddy Thompson. A few days ago DWT readers got to watch a video showing how completely unfit Freddy Thompson would be as a candidate-- above and beyond the two decades as a slimy Inside the Beltwat lobbyist part of his resume.

Thompson has been trying to hold his appearances down to backwater gatherings in South Carolina, where all you have to do is scream "build a wall" and "support the troops" a few times and they want to crown you king. But sooner or later he was going to have to leave the Old Confederacy and come up to the U.S. This week ole Freddy popped up inNew Hampshire, a high info state that the rest of the states count on to separate the wheat from the chaff. The Republicans in the Granite State took a look and found... all chaff. They were "decidedly underwhelmed... 'He's got a nice voice. But there was nothing there. He's for apple pie and motherhood. He's going to have to say what he's for.'" That's Freddy!

...He left some Republicans thinking he needs more work before his nascent campaign matches the media hype it's gotten in advance.

The former Tennessee senator with the baritone drawl showed up Thursday in New Hampshire, the site of the first primary voting, and gave a speech that lasted only nine minutes, skipping over hot-button issues such as Iraq and immigration to invoke platitudes about freedom and strength.

He left more than a few Republicans disappointed.

One serious conservative donor took a look and saw another empty suit (like Willard). "He looks good onstage, but I don't know if he has the gravitas, It seems like he's trying to win over conservatives, but I'm still not sure he has the credentials. I'm worried he's trying to get by on his celebrity.''