by Laura Conaway

The Blotter, from ABC News, posts a fascinating transcript of President Richard Nixon chewing over the merits of one Fred Thompson.

Back then, in 1973, Thompson was a Senate lawyer looking into the Watergate scandal. Today, he's a former Republican senator running for president and about to make his debate debut. Probably Thompson's people would have wanted a better take-home than this:

"He isn't very smart, is he?" Nixon asks.

Some days, you just have to take what you can get.