If, and, and but

When you want to be president, polling in the low single digits in your party's primary has to be discouraging. Now imagine not even being the first choice among candidates with your last name.

That, in a nutshell, is why former Wisconsin Gov. Tommy Thompson abandoned his efforts to grab the Republican presidential nomination earlier this week, ceding the mantle of "GOP White House hopeful named Thompson" to former U.S. Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn.

So when might the old Law & Order regular might stop the countless months of exploratory footsie and officially enter the race? Let's get a clear and concise answer from Thompson himself: "We are going to be getting in if we get in, and of course we are in the testing the waters phase. We're going to be making a statement shortly that will cure all of that. But yeah, we'll be in traditionally when people get in this race."

Bold and decisive. Eventually. Maybe.