Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

It's Friday, March 30, and the Fred Thompson train continues to roll, so here is today's edition of The Daily Fred filled with links to the latest related news and blog coverage and commentary about Thompson. 

Today we start in Nashville with former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, talking about Thompson in the Nashville City Paper and saying his former Senate colleague is "very, very aggresively" considering running," but may not make an announcement for "several weeks ... even months."

"He recognizes that at this point in history, people want somebody who can communicate effectively, who can communicate directly, who can cut through a lot of the rhetoric," Frist said of Thompson. "And Fred can do just that."

“Over the next several weeks, and it could even be months, he’s going to continue to consider it very, very aggressively,” Frist added.

And should his consideration turn into a decision to run, Frist said Thompson will have the automatic advantages of name – or at the very least, face – recognition as well as the communication skills necessary to cut through the “partisan rhetoric” that Americans have become fed up with.

But whether or not Thompson has what it takes to emerge out of an already crowded Republican primary field that includes other notable candidates such as Arizona Sen. and former White House hopeful John McCain and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani is still up for debate, Frist said.

“As to who can win the primary at this point, John McCain is doing a great job and he’s done it before, and the other people who are in are outstanding people as well,” Frist said. “So I can’t predict who’s going to most appeal to the American people. But I know that Fred has the tools and the substance to get in, communicate directly and get his message out in a way that few other people can."

Now, on the the rest of today's Daily Fred... 

...USA Today's Chuck Raasch writes, "Here's another sign that Thompson is on the move: His wife Jeri, a former GOP PR operative, has been dusting off her old political reporter contacts list."

...Jonathan Stein at the Mother Jones blog mocks Fred.

...J. Peter Mulhern at American Thinker thinks Mitt Romney should Consider the Virtues of Dick Cheney's Job and become Thompson's VP running mate, given that Romney's campaign is the one most endangered by a Thompson run.

...Rich Galen writes that Thompson's taking a bite out of Giuliani's support.

Newt will suffer from a potential Fred Thompson candidacy because Fred may become, in many GOP voters' minds, the alternative to the Big Three (Giuliani, McCain and Romney) which is the position Newt has been holding since the beginning of the campaign.

...Thompson speaks out on the "Flying Imams" lawsuit.

...The House of Chin blog says the Left is scared of Fred Thompson.