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HMM, probable Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson flew to London this week so he could be pictured with Margaret Thatcher after a speech to a conservative organization there.
Thompson expressly wanted to be photographed with Maggie to draw comparisons with Ronald Reagan, the last Hollywood actor and conservative to be elected president.
Irish Americans, however, will be looking askance at this little bit of political theater.
If Thompson felt a visit to Big Maggie was the most important thing on his plate then it certainly shows he may well become the most Anglophile American president since, well, Reagan.
The links between the Repub-lican Party and the British Tory Party were never stronger than during the Reagan/Thatcher era. Outgoing British Prime Minister Tony Blair and former President Bill Clinton had a very different take of course, and the work both men did freed from the old constraints on the issue of Ireland was remarkable.
With Thompson, if he were elected, we could expect to go back to the future, especially if the Tories succeed in winning back power in Britain. Neither prospect would enthrall many Irish activists.
Blair to Convert
WHILE Thompson will be wooing Maggie, Blair will likely become the first ever former prime minister to become a Catholic.
It has been widely reported that Blair, who has attended Mass on numerous occasions with his wife Cherie who is Catholic, may have already taken instructions on becoming Catholic after he leaves office.
Blair was in Rome to meet the Pope last week and they had a lengthy meeting. The Guardian newspaper reported that Blair's conversion was very much on the agenda, though both sides denied that.
Britain has never had a Catholic leader since the reformation, although Ian Duncan Smith, who until quite recently was leader of the Tory Party, was a Catholic.
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