Is Fred Thompson the New Coke of 2008? Is He "Smoother, Rounder Yet Bolder?"

That's what George Will thinks, after looking at Sen. Fred's "rocky rollout" and recounting Thompson's Nixonian dissembling when it comes to his own record regarding the role he played in pushing McCain-Feingold campaign-finance reform. Though he was a major player in getting that legislation passed–and he objected when the Supreme Court struck down some of its most boneheaded, speech-strangling provisions–Thompson now sounds like a befuddled old man on it all. And, says Will, Thompson's grasp of the current scene–when asked what made him different than the other GOP candidates, Thompson replied, "Well, to tell you the truth, I haven't spent a whole lot of time going into the details of their positions."

Then there's this fun tidbit:

Is there, however, a huge cash value in the role for which he is auditioning—darling of religious conservatives? Perhaps. But their aspiring darling recently said in South Carolina, "I attend church when I'm in Tennessee. I'm in McLean right now. I don't attend regularly when I'm up there."

"Right now"? He has been living "up there" in that upscale inside-the-Beltway Washington suburb, honing his "Aw, shucks, I'm just an ol' Washington outsider" act, for years. Long enough to have noticed that McLean is planted thick with churches. Going to church is, of course, optional—unless you are aiming to fill some supposed piety void in the Republican field.

Will concludes:

New Coke was announced on April 23, 1985, with the company's president piling on adjectives usually reserved for Lafite Rothschild—"smoother, rounder yet bolder." Almost 80 days later, the public having sampled it, the company pulled the product from stores. Perhaps Thompson's candidacy will last longer than New Coke did.

Whole thing here. Smoother, Rounder Yet Bolder would make one hell of a campaign slogan, that's for sure.

Hat tip: Alan Vanneman.

All this being said: Wired's Threatlevel blog reports that Right Said Fred's website has been going gangbusters.

But reason's David Weigel asks How do you keep a moonbeam in your hand?