Fred Thompson, Actor and Possible Presidential Candidate, Reveals Cancer History

Fred Thompson, former U.S. Senator from Tennessee, announced on Wednesday that he was diagnosed with cancer two and a half years ago, but that the cancer is in remission, and the potential Republican Presidential candidate says he has no fears the disease will shorten his life.

In a blog post at Redstate.com, Thompson said "I have friends in politics, some in Congress, some running for president, and others who have successfully dealt with cancer. I have had no illness from it, or even any symptoms."

Thompson, who is currently an actor on the television show "Law and Order," says he was diagnosed in 2004 during a routine physical check-up. The type of cancer was described by Thompson as indolent lymphoma, which according to Thompson is "very treatable with drugs if treatment is needed in the future."

According to some political analysts, this unexpected announcement can mean only one thing: Thompson has serious designs on the the White House. "I think it means he's running," said one Republican strategist who spoke to the Washington Post on condition of anonymity. "You wouldn't put this out there unless you had decided to get in."

This announcement and the supposed rationale behind it mirror another potentially-damaging announcement Newt Gingrich made a few weeks ago. The former House Majority Leader revealed that during the Bill Clinton impeachment proceedings, Gingrich himself had been involved in an extra-marital affair. Conventional wisdom would suggest that both Gingrich and Thompson are revealing what they are for one reason: to get their problems "out there" now, while it's still early, and is more likely to have been forgotten by the time serious campaigning gets underway.