Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

I have news for the folks who think that ol' Fred Thompson has been militantly pro-life throughout his career:

I was present at a speech Fred Thompson delivered to the College Republicans at Middle Tennessee State University in September 1993. When he finished his speech he agreed to take a few questions from the audience. a rather rotund lady stood up and asked, "What about abortion?" Thompson said something to the effect that abortion is a matter that should be determined by a woman and her doctor. While that's not exacly a NARALesque stand, it's not exactly the National Right to Life's stated policy either.

Let's not forget that Thompson's opponent in the August 1994 Republican primary, a nobody Christian conservative named John Baker, garnered over 1/3 of the vote, which resulted in Jim Cooper releasing a smarmy statement in which he stated that Fred Thompson was a "weak" candidate.

Joltin

I heard Evangelicals for Mitt may be bouncing checks soon - you better go cash yours quickly. You sound just like their hatchet job writers. Same lame attemtps at a smear, same lack of attention to the whole truth, same sleazy approach and sloppy language.

Can you point to even ONE pro-abortion vote made by Fred Thompson?

Didn't think so.

And didn't Thompson set a record for getting the most votes in his election in 94?

So much for a weak candidate.

Sorry, but when you are as disingenuous as a Clinton using half truths and shaded meanings with things taken out of their contexts, in order to attack a good man, then you lose.

The sad thing is that its so easy to refute you that even a caveman could do it.

If the best you can do is dredge up half-truths and innuendo stuff from 1993, then put a fork in yourself, you're already done.

Anonymous:

I'M like Bill Clinton? Talk about fightin' words! If we conservatives spent half as much time sticking it to the libs as we do to each other, we'd never have to worry about losing another congressional election ever again.

Nothing - nothing - I said was a half-truth. In late '93/early '94, Fred Thompson's rhetoric was a lot more libertarianish, if you will, than it was in Sept., Oct., and November 1994. That's a fact.

Fred Thompson DID appear at MTSU in Sept. '93; he did say that abortion was an issue between a woman and her doctor; and the MTSU Sidelines did refer to Thompson as a "Libertarian Republican" in a post-speech article. All fact.

In early 1994, Thompson was smart enough to figure out that his campaign was going nowhere. He jettisoned the suits for jeans and Western shirts, and he traded his Town Car for a pickup truck. He morphed from a libertarian wonk to a conservative populist as well. The Thompson campaign then steadily built momentum until it was a juggernaut by the time Election Day 1994 rolled around. Again, all fact.

All that said, I have never uttered one foul word against Fred Thompson. I simply pointed out that he's not the pro-life crusader that many anti-Romney folks have made him out to be. Indeed, I wouldn't expect a President Thompson to publish a pro-life manifesto as President Ronald Reagan famously did in the 1980s.

Methinks you need to round up a caveman, Anonymous. Perhaps said caveman can refute my facts and figur's. You damn sure can't ...