Many of us know Fred Dalton Thompson from his role as District Attorney Arthur Branch on the long-running series Law & Order. However, few people know that Dalton has also had a successful political career. Well, recently he announced that he was going to run for President in 2008.

Now this will probably turn out to be bad news for Republicans who already have plenty of people to choose from as their next candidate, but it comes as great news for people like me who think his performance on Law & Order and its sister shows has been less than stellar. In case you aren't aware, Dalton would be unable to stay with the show during his campaign as it would amount to unfair face time. So, unless Mitt Romney and the other candidates get cast on a show in November, Dalton will have to be replaced.

As the White House staff shakeup continues a name has been mentioned as a replacement for outgoing Press Secretary Scott McClellan: FOX News Channel weekend anchor and political analyst Tony Snow.

Snow, who was previously a speech writer for the elder president Bush, is currently in negotiations with White House officials to take over the position. The New York Times is reporting that Snow is also waiting for a clean bill of health from his doctors (he had surgery for colon cancer in 2005) before he makes a final decision.

Snow is not the first personality to leave politics then jump back in again. Back in the early 1970's Fred Dalton Thompson was an active lawyer during the Watergate hearings. He then appeared in such television shows as Wiseguy, China Beach, and Roseanne and the movies Die Hard 2 and The Hunt For Red October before returning to politics as Senator of Tennessee from 1994 til 2003. He is currently playing Attorney General Arthur Branch on Law & Order.

[via the New York Times]