Fred (Or Is It "Freddie"?) Thompson on Wikipedia

How's Wikipedia handling Fred Thompson's candidacy?:

The most contentious dispute of all—at least last week—was over Fred Thompson's proper name: Is it Freddie, the name he was born with? Or Fred, as he's called now?

'Freddie' makes Thompson sound ridiculous," a user argued. "It's not about making Thompson look silly," another responded. "It's about having accurate information."…

Thompson's "talk page" is the busiest of the candidate pages, primarily because of two topics: how to address the 25-year age difference between Thompson and his wife, Jeri, and the Sept. 6 Los Angeles Times article that said Thompson's birth name was Freddie.

[Wikipedia editor] Tvoz insists that the article should begin with "Freddie Dalton 'Fred' Thompson." [Editor] Ferrylodge argues that it should be "Fred Dalton Thompson (born Freddie Dalton Thompson)."

Ferrylodge said with a sigh: "We're still waiting for a consensus."

One campaign staffer was foolhardily bitchy about the Freddie imbroglio:

"I'm pretty sure the people debating 'Fred' versus 'Freddie' are the same people who debate whether or not Britney Spears looked too fat at the MTV music awards," said Karen Hanretty, who is working for the Thompson campaign. "Seriously, how many hours do these editors spend on the site?"

Stay tuned for a none-too-flattering–and probably short-lived–Wikipedia entry on Karen Hanretty.

While you're waiting for the great Fred/Freddie debate of 2007 to be resolved, check out my piece on Wikipedia from the June issue.