A Chequer-Board of Nights and Days

. . . [Senator Fred] Thompson is running the kind of campaign -- substantive, policy-laden, not based on gimmicks or sound-bites -- that pundits and journalists say they want, but he's getting no credit for it from the people who claim that's what they want. It's like in Tootsie when Dustin Hoffman tries doing the things he's heard women say they want from men, only to discover that they don't really want those things at all . . . .

Well, I think that Glenn (I call him Glenn) is right, but then you would expect that, since I announced my support for Thompson. But even if you don't support Thompson, ask yourself whether the thrust of Glenn's post is right and whether your biggest beef with the Thompson campaign is that the Senator has not acted too much like a traditional politician in seeking the Presidency.

If you come to that conclusion and still decide that you are not going to vote for him . . . well . . . that's your right. But if a lot of people feel this way and the Thompson campaign fails as a result, then I will have to laugh bitterly and sardonically the next time people talk about wanting a breath of fresh air in politics. It's okay to say that Fred Thompson didn't approach the campaign with the right mindset. But isn't that even more of an indictment of the political environment than it is of the candidate?

Remember: We are not voting for "Best Campaign." We are voting for the person who would be the best President if forced to walk into the Oval Office tomorrow and assume the responsibilities of the Presidency instantly. And I have a feeling that if more people voted on that basis, Fred Thompson's campaign would be running away with popular support.

See also this. I'm not sure that I trust Zogby. But I can certainly understand the motivations of David Limbaugh in writing what he wrote. I feel the same way. And so does Patterico.