Getting the Story Straight from Fred Thompson

Fred Thompson corrects the record on a recent article quoting him about how he's not that interested in running for President.  Part of the reason I like Fred is that his ambition is not to win the election just for the sake of personal fulfillment -- he wants to do what's best for the country.  I think he's honest about his approach to campaigning.

http://www.redstate.com/stories/elections/2008/getting_the_story_straight

I am not consumed by personal ambition. I will not be devastated if I don't do it. I want the people to have the best president they can have.

When this talk first originated from people around the country both directly and through polls, liked the idea of me stepping up and of course, you always look better form a distance.

But most of those people are still there. I approached it from the standpoint of a deal. A kind of a marriage. If one side of a marriage really has to be talked into the marriage, it probably ain't going to be a good deal. But if you mutually decide it's going to be a good thing. In this case, if you think this is a good thing for the country, then we have an opportunity to do some wonderful things together.

I'm offering myself up. I'm saying that I have the background, the capability and concern to do this and do it for the right reasons. I'm not particularly interested in running for president, but I think I'd make a good president.

Nowadays, the process has become much more important than it used to be.

I don't know that they ever asked George Washington a question like this. I don't know that they ever asked Dwight D. Eisenhower a question like this. But nowadays, it's all about fire in the belly. I'm not sure in the world we live in today it's a good thing if a president has too much fire in the belly. I approach life differently than a lot of people. People, I guess, wonder how I've been as successful as I've been in everything that I've done. I won two races in TN by 20 point margins in a state that bill Clinton carried twice. I've never had an acting lesson. I guess that's obvious by people who've watched me…

When I did it, I did it. Wasn't just a lark. Anything that's worth doing is worth doing well. But I've always been a little more laid back than most. I'm only consumed by very, very few things. Politics is not one of them. The welfare of our country and our kids and grandkids is one of them.

If people really want in their president super type-a personality, someone who has gotten up every morning and gone to bed every night and been thinking about for years how they win the presidency of the united states, someone who can look you straight in the eye and say they enjoy every minute of campaigning, I ain't that guy. So I hope I've discussed that and didn't talk you out of anything. I honestly want – I can't imagine a worse set of circumstances [than] achieving the Presidency of the United States under false pretenses. I go out of my way to be myself.