Thompson to Delay Announcement Beyond July

According to The Politico, Fred Thompson isn't quite ready to announce his candidacy just yet:

He has collected millions of dollars. Aides go to work every day in a secret suite of offices in McLean, Va. He has policy briefings. He is preparing for nationally televised Republican debates. He just named a communications director and a political director.

But yet, Fred Thompson still says he’s not sure he’s going to run for president.

The “Law & Order” actor and former U.S. senator from Tennessee is delaying his formal entry into the race in part because his current status makes him less of a target and lets other candidates continue to get chewed up. “We’re in no hurry,” one close adviser said mischievously.

The charm's going to go out of the Thompson non-campaign if he continues to wait too long. I think Joe Carter sums it up pretty well at Blogs for Fred:

We’ll wait, Senator; just don’t make us wait too long. We’re a loyal group of supporters. We deserve a candidate worthy of such loyalty.

We’re here for you, Fred. We need you to be there for us.

I'm sure it's probably fun to sit on the sidelines and watch the McCain campaign disintegrate and hope the same happens to Rudy and Mitt, but Fred needs to fully join the battle and start getting his own licks in. Yes, being a candidate means that things won't be quite so easy and relaxed, but the GOP needs to see him on stage with the others at the coming debates. The only way he's going to fully differentiate himself from the others is to appear side-by-side with them.