In his ongoing effort to make a fool of himself save the Republican Party, Fred Thompson continues to plumb the depths of how badly he can campaign:

When it came time for Fred D. Thompson, the crowd was primed, having listened to his rivals deliver speeches, lasting about 20 minutes each, that the candidates each obviously thought played to their strengths.

Mr. Thompson walked slowly onto the stage, kissed his wife, Jerri, on the cheek, made a joke or two, claimed to be a “consistent conservative” — and said good night. He spoke for four minutes.

“I was really kind of shocked,” said Linda Hoffman, 47, who wore stickers for all the candidates on her blazer, reflecting her indecision. “We were all hoping he would say something we could get behind, but there was nothing.”

I’m not sure what’s more remarkable: that Thompson really is as absurd a presidential candidate as I have always thought him to be, or that such an absurd candidate still has a reasonably good chance of receiving more support than all of his rivals.  I think the GOP is in such disarray and enough Republicans are so unhappy with the alternatives that Thompson might yet be their ultimate choice.  For that to happen, though, he will have to give speeches that last longer than four minutes.