Recently I wondered whether Mike Huckabee would turn out to be a Paul Tsongas—win an early primary then fade away—or a Jimmy Carter who came out of nowhere to win it all. Some readers further suggested he was Howard Dean, who flamed out even before winning that early primary (or caucus, as the case may be).

When it comes to the actor/politician Fred Thompson, another model suggests itself—Gen.Wesley Clark in 2004. Those old enough to remember will recall that the general who opposed the war in Iraq looked for all the world like the answer to Democratic dreams—a progressive with a great military background who would immediately erase any question about being strong on national security.

His announcement of candidacy was eagerly anticipated; many progressives (including myself) lined up to participate; his poll numbers looked wonderful before he even entered the race. Unfortunately, soon after entering the race he made all kinds of first-timer’s mistakes, waffled on the war, uttered some dumb comments and showed that whatever else his qualities, he just wasn’t ready for prime time.

So, too, in his own way, the twice-elected Tennessee senator and big-time lobbyist looked like the answer to GOP prayers for a reincarnated Ronald Reagan. Here was a genuine, non-conflicted conservative with political experience and an ingratiating public persona based on the celebrity of appearing in a couple of dozen movies and the popular TV series, “Law and Order.”

For weeks on end the punditocracy speculated on his incipient candidacy. They were titillated by the fact that Thompson had been a Republican counsel during the Watergate hearings (credited with coining the question “What did the president know and when did he know it?”) and maybe he might be pitted against Hillary Clinton who had been part of the Democratic legal team!

The national polling began looking good well before his announcement on the Jay Leno show just after Labor Day.

Suddenly he was a presidential candidate and…and…not much happened.

This tall, impressive man turned out to be a political somnambulist. Worse yet, he infected his audiences with the disease. At times he literally had to ask people to wake up and applaud him.

The actor somehow could not play the role of a candidate—perhaps figuring that he could phone in the part without semblance of a script. He supported the war, of course. He was for free trade, of course. He opposed abortion, of course. He was against high taxes, illegal immigration…whatever.

Then little things began to dribble out: Richard Nixon was said to have called him a dummy. Thompson may have committed ethical violations by communicating with Nixon during the hearings. Thompson’s lobbying firm once represented a pro-abortion organization. He was accused of being a lazy senator—and he gave credence to the charge by complaining about too much boring minutiae in the senate.

None of these things really stung, but they didn’t help. The campaign showed few signs of life. He even committed a primal political sin by suggesting he might not win the nomination.

Duh?

So there he sits, still with low double-digit polling numbers; lower than when he entered the race. He recently criticized Mike Huckabee for not paying attention to the recent intelligence reversal on Iran.

Wow! Maybe there’s still a pulse there.

Goodness, even Wes Clark managed to win one primary.

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Veteran and legendary progressive political strategist Don Rose is a regular political analyst for The Chicago Daily Observer.