When I first contemplated the candidacy of Fred Thompson in mid-March, my reaction was positive. I was sick of the election then, and I'm more sick of it now, but I might as well repeat what I said:

I would not be surprised to find that because Thompson is the equivalent of genuine combat veteran of the worst political war this country has seen in modern times, he has a different view of the process than your typical ego-driven, hard-charging political animal.

The man has been in the arena and seen the worst of it.

What appears to be an absence of drive might indicate the presence of something much more important and in generally short supply: political wisdom.

I think Fred Thompson has sufficient political wisdom that he might be worthy of being drafted into service even if he expressed no interest in the office.

The problem is, it's too early to be sick of the election -- mainly because it's too early for there to be an election to be sick of! (That this is lost on political junkies is not surprising, because like any other variety of junkie, they have a craving not shared by non-junkies.)

What I like most about Fred Thompson is that he doesn't seem to be in all that much of a hurry to kowtow to the political junkies. I think he senses that there's huge disgust among ordinary people over the growing movement to estabish a national culture of, of....

Election addiction? I don't know exactly what to call it. Many commentators have been talking of campaign fatigue -- and if there's fatigue at this early stage, what are the implications for the future? If one thing's certain, it's that the culture of "premature election" (which is what this is) will not go away anytime soon. Instead, it will get more and more relentless. There's already talk of ruining the Fourth of July with more premature announcements that people just don't want to hear.

So far, Fred Thompson has made it quite clear that he won't mind being a candidate when he's good and ready, but he doesn't seem to be in a hurry to insult ordinary voters by being in everybody's face. It's a delicate balancing act, but I hope he keeps it up, because I hate this seemingly irreversible process of premature elections that won't go away.

For shutting up the loudest and not beating people over the head, Fred Thompson gets an A. As to how to go on being a front runner (or near front runner) without running in a campaign nearly all normal non-junkie types are totally sick of, I wouldn't know how to advise him, though.

Maybe he can make his announcement, then take a summer vacation.

UPDATE: I'd be willing to bet that Fred Thompson neither owns nor wears a pair of these. (The wearing of which a prominent law professor deems impeachable.)