Samson, a judge?

Judges
It's kind of interesting to read that Samson was considered a leader of the Israelites.  It seems to me that he was just a capricious, somewhat angry, man who had a serious grudge against the Philistines.  Granted, the Philistines were pagans and therefore mortal enemies of Israel, but Samson doesn't seem to have any sort of typical judge characteristics.  He never offered wise advice, nor did he rally the troops and rout the Philistines completely.  By God's Spirit, he was able to kill an inordinately large number of Philistines on his own, but to what end?  What did his life demonstrate to the nation?
Perhaps the story was meant to show that in the end, Samson was more concerned with God's plan for his life than his own plan (womanizing, etc).  Or that God has compassion on those who call out to him, as Samson did just before he brought down the pagan temple.
An article titled "Samson's Silver Spoon" by Bob Deffinbaugh summed up in more detail my curiosities about Samson.  Basically, Samson had huge potential based on his birth (foretold by an angel, blessed by God as a Nazirite) and yet he squandered it.  He sort of saved Israel, but not in a great way.  Fortunately, in Jesus Christ we have a saviour who makes the grade, so to speak.  In fact, only through Christ can we be saved, as mortal man cannot hope to aspire to be as righteous as God.  We can see this through the story of Samson, since he started out so well, and yet didn't quite reach his potential.  So don't rely on your own strength to carry you through, because it will inevitably fail.  Rely on God!