In an August 21 post on his CBNnews.com blog, titled “Fred, You're Such a Tease!,” Christian Broadcasting News senior national correspondent David Brody addressed speculation surrounding when, or if, former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-TN) would officially announce his presidential candidacy. After asserting that “Thompson is playing this thing like the cool, handsome jock in high school who teased all the girls who wanted to go out with him,” Brody went on to discuss a federal complaint blogger Lane Hudson filed against Thompson, accusing the former senator of violating the Federal Election Commission's (FEC) “testing the waters” clause. Brody wrote: “Well, now Fred Thompson has an angry girlfriend. His name (don't go there) is Lane Hudson.” Brody then reproduced part of an August 20 Associated Press article on Hudson's complaint.
Over the past two months, Brody has twice appeared on NBC's Meet the Press to offer his analysis of the 2008 presidential election. He was also a guest on the July 10 edition of MSNBC's Hardball.
Hudson's complaint against Thompson concerns a provision in federal election law that allows a potential candidate to raise money for traveling, polling, and other expenses for the exploration of a run for political office, without having to file financial reports with the FEC. The potential candidate may not save any of the funds for use during the actual campaign. In filing the complaint, Hudson, according the August 20 AP article, said that “Thompson has raised far more money than he needs to explore whether to run for president.”
According to a Time magazine profile, Hudson first posted emails sent by former Rep. Mark Foley (R-FL) to a congressional page, ultimately resulting in Foley's resignation and a widespread scandal just before the 2006 midterm elections involving allegations that the House Republican leadership failed to act despite having known about Foley's inappropriate communications with pages.
From Brody's August 21 blog post:
So Fred, are you in or not? The answer is obvious but this political dating game has gone on long enough. Thompson is playing this thing like the cool, handsome jock in high school who teased all the girls who wanted to go out with him. You know the guy I'm talking about. The one with the smooth line where he says, “Hey baby, I'll check you later. Maybe we'll hang out”.
Well, now Fred Thompson has an angry girlfriend. His name (don't go there) is Lane Hudson. Read from the AP story below:
A liberal blogger has filed a federal complaint against former Sen. Fred Thompson the actor and unannounced Republican candidate for president, accusing him of violating election laws as he ponders his entry into the race.
The blogger, Lane Hudson submitted his complaint to the Federal Election Commission on Monday saying Thompson has raised far more money than he needs to explore whether to run for president.
Federal law allows potential candidates to raise money to travel, conduct polls and pay for other expenses related to “testing the waters” for a political campaign. During that exploratory period, a potential candidate does not have to file financial reports with the FEC.
You can read more here. The complaint means nothing because Thompson is going to get in. That's not really the point. The real issue here is how much expectation and teasing can a nation take?