Fred Thompson is NOT a political outsider by any stretch of the imagination. If he goes that route, he risks losing credibility, which is the key to his campaign. He is what is he: a long-time lobbyist and a 2-term Senator that is best known as an actor. He should play to his strengths.
I'll vote for a guy who's not dependent on cronyism for political survival ANY day. As for lobbying, a million over that many years, to try to get a nuke plant (alternative energy source) and bail out the banking industry (which imploded anyway through greed - cronyism again) is hardly Linda Daschle. Anyone who REALLY supports Thompson can make a credible counter argument based on a comparison to the INSIDERS currently in the race on both sides of the aisle.
This is nothing but the Rockwell Doctrine being put into play again.
He can be an ‘insider’ that knows Washington and therefore is running against how stupid Washington is, or he can run as the ‘outsider’ running against how stupid Washington is.
The result is the same and the tactics are the same. Neither is really a stretch and both are winning strategies. This will appeal both to conservatives, Libertarians, and many moderate Dems. The idea is ‘Washington is stupid and I’m here to make sense of it’. Inside or outside is just semantics.