A little mid-evening joking around…

If Alex Trebek had a category for presidential candidates wives, one of the answers Jeopardy! contestants would have to guess at might be: “The relatively young second wife of former Tennessee Senator and current TV and film actor Fred Thompson.”

Whether or not Thompson ever officially, as in no-really-he-means-it officially, boosts the Republican candidate count to 11 it is clear from the number of search engine hits “Jeri Kehn” is generating that a lot of folks want to know more about her.

Forgive my snarkiness, but when the local 10pm news showed a picture of the native Huskie-ette from Naperville, IL … my wife and I thought Ms. Kehn was Fred Thompson’s daughter. With two and half decades between the two, she simply looks that young in comparison to the distinguished gentleman actor.

According to wikipedia (not always the most reliable source), Ms. Kehn and Sen. Thompson wed in the summer of 2002 as the Senator’s only full term in office was winding down. She is currently employed as an attorney and a political media consultant with a DC law firm after having worked for both the Senate Republican Conference and the Republican National Committee. Sen. Thompson had divorced his first wife, Sarah Lindsey, years earlier in the mid-80s.

Sen. Thompson may be joined in his quest for the Oval Office by Senator-wannabe, perennial candidate, and all-around conservative gadfly Alan Keyes who should also be quite familiar to Illinoisans. Once Sen. Thompson officially declares his intention to run for president, he will bring to 3 the number of divorced Republicans clamoring for that office (it’ll be 4 if Newt Gingrich also hops in) — so much for family “values”. The Democratic field has no divorcees among its top tier.

It should also be noted that for all his carefully crafted folksy-style down-home-feel, the actor Sen. Thompson leased that famous red pickup truck he used as a prop during his Senate runs. He actually drove a silver luxury sedan instead. Sen. Thompson did eventually buy the pickup and it has apparently been sitting in his mom’s driveway, unused, for years.