He's a Howard Baker conservative. A RINO light.
Is Howard Baker worse than James Baker? I get those two confused some times.
Thompson isn't, or at leat doesn't appear to me, to be a highly ideological conservative. He does seem to be a man of principles, who stands by them regardless of where they lead. It means his voting record isn't lock-step, but it does seem predictable and not governed by political considerations.
If so, his record is very encouraging, because we wouldn't be too dissappointed if he lived up to what he says and has done.
With Rudy, you pray he won't be true to his principles. With Romney, you pray he will be true to what he says now, and not what he said a decade ago.
With McCain, you pray he won't go insane, assuming he isn't already insane.
Thompson is definitely on my list of considered candidates, along with Romney, then Brownback, then Gilmore and Hunter, although I'm not committing to that order yet.
If I was going to go with a no-name candidate who I thought was qualified, it would probably be Gilmore, he was a Governor, an RNC chair, a solid conservative, well-spoken, and with good conservative credentials. His executive experience and leadership in several positions puts him above Duncan Hunter for me, although I doubt he's electable.
I wouldn't go as far as RINO - he's just more of an all-around, "regular" conservative, less ideological, has a basic disdain for the way things are done in Washington, loves America, and has a basic conservative viewpoint.
Duncan Hunter he's not...but he's a considerable improvement over just about anyone else out there who actually has a snowball's chance in hell of winning.
He's a Howard Baker conservative.
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He reminds me more of Joe Don Baker.