Fred Dalton Thompson is an actor, lawyer and former Republican Senator from the state of Tennessee. He served Al Gore’s last two years and was reelected, to serve from 1994 to 2003. He decided not to run again in 2002, which is thought to be because his daughter, Elizabeth, died from an accidental overdose of prescription drugs earlier that year.

He also had a burgeoning television career at that point, having joined the cast of “Law & Order” as Arthur Branch in the last few months of his last Senate term. He also played the same character in “Law & Order: Trial by Jury.” Thompson got his start acting when he played himself in the 1983 film Marie, which was based on a book about a 1977 Tennessee Parole Board scandal. He went on to roles in television and movies such as The Hunt for Red October, Days of Thunder, and Cape Fear.

Thompson has started fundraising for a Presidential run, and is expected to announce his candidacy over the Fourth of July holiday.

He will join Rudolph Giuliani, John McCain and Mitt Romney in their quest for the Republican ticket. Polls have Thompson in third and just aboutt tied with Romney, with former NY City Mayor Rudy Giuliani in a slim lead.

While I liked his character, I’m a Democrat and am not likely to vote for him based on what I’ve read about his politics, although none of the Democratic hopefuls really stick out for me either. Hillary is not my favorite person, and while I would support Obama I don’t know if he has a chance in the race. We’ll have to see who else throws their hat in the ring on the other side. Now if George Clooney, Matt Damon or Brad Pitt would run, you know who the next President would be.