So is Katie Couric going to tell Fred Thompson to just go home and die quietly?

Of course not. Because while it's unseemly for a Democrat to continue on the campaign trail when his wife, who supports continuing the campaign, is battling cancer, it's perfectly OK for a Republican to embark on a campaign after acknowledging that HE HIMSELF has cancer:

Potential presidential candidate Fred Thompson, known to millions of "Law & Order" viewers as a gruff district attorney, revealed on Wednesday that he was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma, a form of cancer, nearly three years ago.

Thompson, 64, said he is in remission, and never even felt ill, from a type of lymphoma that is very slow-growing and probably not life-threatening. The Tennessee Republican was prompted to make the disclosure on the Fox News Channel and ABC Radio because he is thinking about running for president.

"I know it's not a big deal, as far as my health is concerned, as much as a person can know about things like that," Thompson said.

"But other people have the right to look at it and weigh in, and I have a need to factor that into my decision in terms of the reaction that I get about it," he said.

Thompson's physician said he encourages such patients not to limit their activities, even if that includes a bid for the White House.

"They can lead a normal life. They can travel. They can work. They can possibly be president of the United States," Dr. Bruce Cheson, hematology chief at Georgetown University Hospital, told reporters at an afternoon news conference.

Former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a heart surgeon who abandoned his own plans to seek the presidency, said Thompson's disclosure "indicates his seriousness as a potential candidate."

On his Web site, Frist, also a former Tennessee senator, urged supporters to post statements encouraging Thompson to run.

Paul Tsongas, a candidate I supported in 1992, similarly said that he was in remission and that there was no reason he could not handle the presidency if elected. Tsongas died on January 18, 1997. His death sparked a debate, one seemingly now forgotten, about whether one can be a serious presidential contenter -- not a candidate's wife, but a candidate -- with a history of serious illness can be viable and can be expected to fulfill the demands of the job if elected.