Washington insider Fred Thompson [1] is declaring his intention to run for President as an "outsider."

Consider how he responded two weeks ago when liberal filmmaker Michael Moore challenged him to a debate on health care and called him a hypocrite for favoring embargoed Havana cigars. Thompson had chided Moore's new documentary, Sicko, which unfavorably compares the U.S. health care system with the one in Cuba.

" 'Jeri said, 'You know, we could have some fun,' " Thompson recalls. " 'Why don't you do something on the Internet?' So I got to thinking about it."

"And Mark Corallo [2] and Ed McFadden [3] had that camera there in 40 minutes," Jeri, who is sitting in on the interview, breaks in. Corallo and McFadden, aides to John Ashcroft when he was U.S. attorney general, have been helping Thompson behind the scenes.

In the video, sitting in at the desk in his study, Thompson seems to be studying his calendar, an unlit Montecristo in his mouth.

So, Mr. Former Senator (resident of McLean, VA and employee of NYC-based Dick Wolf Productions) has Mr. "former RNC communications director for Victory 2000" and Mr. "former speechwriter for John Ashcroft" already on speed dial. Hm. Continuing DC experience... DC hacks on board... Where do the outsider bonafides begin?

According to the article, longtime Washington insiders Representative Zach Wamp and Senator Howard Baker are pimping his candidacy. Nope, no outsider bonafides here.

Well, gee. Fred's insider status even extends to the home. His wife, Jeri Kehn, was a political operative working out of the D.C. firm of Verner Liipfert Bernhard McPherson & Hand around the time that they married. Her resume also includes stints at the Senate Republican Conference and the Republican National Committee.

Looks pretty apparent, doesn't it? This is an insider candidacy being pushed from the inside. This "outsider" crap is "Hey! Rube!" schtick for the next GOP presidential campaign.

Senator Fred is an insider. He worked in DC. He lives in DC. His friends are in DC. His media campaign is being run out of DC. Presumably, his oncologist is in DC.

This straw-man looks pretty easy to knock down, but it's going to take repetition. Here's the message: From the moment he gets up to the moment he goes to bed, Fred Thompson is a Washington insider.

Only in his dreams and memories is he anything but.