Lots O'Competition

On the evening the Republicans were debating, Fred Thompson announced his candidacy a la Arnold Schwarzenegger on "The Tonight Show." It will be interesting to see how his unconventional approach to running serves him -- have expectations simply been set too high, is he able to catch up in the fundraising derby, is his organization strong enough? At any rate, it's long past time that he actually put the gloves on and got going . . . now we'll finally have a chance to see what he's made of.

Bill Clinton, too, was holding forth -- in a canny bit of counterprogramming, CNN had him on during the Republican debate. It's the latest appearance in a media blizzard the Clintons have launhced . . . obviously, Clinton's new book is nothing more than a vehicle to allow him to seek media attention that can be spun as serving some other cause than his wife's political interests.

One senses that the Clintons are making a big run at re-establishing Hillary as the prohibitive favorite, in hopes that she can simply shut down the rest of the field at this relatively early stage despite some early enthusiasm for Barack Obama.