The appeal of Fred Thompson as a candidate will be huge and the Democrats know it. They've launched a pre-announcement salvo at Thompson's non-campaign campaign:

Democratic strategists say Thompson's populist style and show-biz allure could prove extremely appealing in a general election at a time when voters are so down on Washington. So the party has launched a preemptive campaign against him that includes a DNC fundraising e-mail branding Thompson, "The inside-outsider."

The gist of the Dem attack will be that Thompson is an insider who tries to portray himself as an outsider. They also are hitting him for his lack of legislation pushed through when he was a senator from Tennessee.

On the "outsider" issue: Thompson has not been in Washington in several years except to assist with the vetting of Supreme Court nominees. As far as I've read, he had no contacts worth mentioning with Jack Abramoff and Randy "Duke" Cunningham. As for Thompson's lack of bill introduction, Hillary Clinton has not exactly been a legislative machine while serving in the Senate and has more skeletons in her closet than Thompson. And Barack Obama is still too green to even level the charge.

And so it starts, the fact that the Democrats are attacking a man who has not even declared is indicative of their fear. They know that Thompson will pummel both Clinton and Obama and a Thompson/ Rudy Giuliani ticket would be unbeatable. They also know that their inaction in the current Congress will not go without comment. They foresee the GOP picking off Independents who voted Democratic last November and maintaining the Executive Branch while regaining at least one house of the Legislative Branch, plus with several more Supreme Court justices set to retire, it would change the court for thirty years. That scares the devil out of them and they are showing just how much by going after Thompson before he has even entered the race.