Is Fred Thompson about ready to lay down the Law and Order?

by CHUCK RAASCH
WASHINGTON - Fred Thompson's surprising third-place showing in the latest USA Today-Gallup Poll is certainly a reflection of rank-and-file Republicans' unease about the declared GOP candidates. But it also provides insight into the show-biz requirements of a successful modern candidate.

Thompson, who has oscillated between the political and entertainment culture for 35 years, personifies that cross-cultural appeal more than any Republican now in the field. Simply put, Americans like a little rock star in their presidential candidates. (See Barack Obama).

The question is whether a few polls and some Internet buzz is enough to entice a 64-year-old man with two children younger than 4 and a successful career on NBC's "Law and Order" series to jump into an 18-month meat grinder toward the presidency.

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