Fred Thompson Drops Out of Presidential Race

To no one's surprise, Senator-turned- actor-turned- presidential- candidate-wannabe Fred Thompson has dropped out of the hunt for the Republican party nomination. Thompson had not done very well in any of the early caucuses or primaries and his exit may actually mean a bump for Mike Huckabee, who has a similar more-conservative-than-the-others platform.

Thompson left Law & Order to pursue the nomination, giving Jack McCoy a promotion and giving the public dreams of a Law & Order cabinet (Lieutenant Van Buren as Secretary of State, Detective Stabler as Secretary of Defense, ME Rogers as Surgeon General!). And his status as someone who worked in New York seemed to give him a chance to needle Rudy Giuliani, especially on issues like gun control.

However, Thompson couldn't quite shake off perceptions that he was lazy, sleepy and disinterested - Newsweek even put him on the cover with the headline "Lazy Like a Fox." But not all people thought Thompson was lazy - President Nixon reportedly once said he was "Dumb but friendly." Well, now Thompson can enjoy time with his family - especially his smoking hot wife.