EDITORIAL - Former Senator from Tennessee Fred Thompson announced this week that he may dive into the bloody presidential election waters head first, perhaps as early as July 5th. Who is Fred Thompson, and is he a candidate that true small government believers can support?

Before quitting this week to pursue his political aspirations, Thompson, 65, played a District Attorney on NBC's “Law & Order” television program. He lives in Northern Virginia and enjoys a membership within the Council on Foreign Relations and is a Visiting Fellow with the American Enterprise Institute.

“After two years in Washington, I often long for the realism and sincerity of Hollywood,” Thompson once said in front of the Commonwealth Club of California, using his sense of humor, as the late Ronald Reagan did, to connect with the people. “I've still got a lot to learn about Washington. Thursday, I accidentally spent some of my own money.”

On the issues, Thompson has maintained a fairly small government direction with a few exceptions in the case of gay marriage, flag burning, the government's hugely expensive War on Drugs initiative and a few others. Thompson is a strong pro-lifer who supported a ban on partial birth abortions and a ban on human cloning; both of those votes came in the late 90's.

Thompson voted in 1999 to increase penalties for drug offenses and to redirect $53 million in additional funding to the international narcotics control program, which many small government believers consider an unnecessary expense. America's War on Drugs needs to be curbed, and according to his record of voting, Mr. Thompson cannot be counted on to lead or support that movement.

Delighting school voucher proponents, Fred Thompson voted in 1997 to allow the use of school vouchers in Washington D.C., and for Educational Savings Accounts three years later. Thompson also supported a bill that retains the $75 million expenditure for abstinence education, another expense many might find unnecessary.

The former senator supports drilling for oil in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) and voted to approve a nuclear waste repository in the Yucca Mountains in Nevada. In 2002, Thompson voted to terminate CAFE standards in 15 months. CAFE, or Corporate Average Fuel Economy, measures the miles per gallon (MPG) of a manufacturer's fleet of passenger vehicles weighing 8,500 pounds or less and provides restrictions that dictate and regulate the total MPG amount.

Thompson supports a ban on “soft money” and voted for the requirement to show a photo identification in order to obtain voter registration. He voted in favor of banning campaign donations from unions and corporations and, in an outrageous abuse of taxpayer money, voted to continue funding for the National Endowment of the Arts in 1999. Thompson supports the McCain-Feingold finance reform legislation.

He supports a limit on welfare for immigrants and voted to allow visas for skilled workers. He voted in support of a measure that killed an increase in the minimum wage back in 1999.

Fred Thompson supports the Social Security “lockbox” and the allowance of personal retirement accounts. Thompson also voted in favor of allowing a deduction of Social Security payments on federal income tax returns filed each year.

Music to the ears of supporters of a small government, Thompson voted in 2000 to eliminate the marriage penalty and in 1999 in support of spending cuts across the board. He supports a constitutional amendment that requires a “super-majority” before tax increases can be approved.

Thompson voted for the use of military force in Iraq in 2002 and also in Kosovo in 1999.

Many believe that Thompson's decision to (potentially) enter the race will cause a significant stir in the GOP, especially as many Conservative Republicans struggle to find a candidate to support. Thompson would join the GOP's leading contenders, Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani and John McCain, as a candidate with a potential to win, but also one that embraces more Conservative values that many disgruntled Republicans are in search of.

Thompson's advisers suggest that in the coming weeks, a solid and legitimate campaign will unfold. Fund raising in earnest has already begun, and a web site will be developed and released and campaign staff will be hired in short order.

"It's a daunting challenge, it takes a while to get your team together and get up and running but we're taking the steps necessary to put us there to make that decision," Thompson told FOX News at a stop in McLean, Va, where Thompson lives.

Thompson added that he is “testing the waters” and focused primarily on raising the funds necessary to compete with well-financed candidates and to get a better feel for the status of the election season. “There's a desire for someone to come in and run a different kind of campaign and come with a different message,” he said.