Is Fred Thompson a conservative? Human Events' John Gizzi put that question to Tom Griscom, publisher of the Chattanooga Times-Free Press and a longtime friend of Thompson.
When I asked him whether Thompson is a conservative, Griscom told me: “Look, a lot of people call him a centrist because his introduction to politics was via Howard Baker. He’s actually a lot more conservative than people realize. Fred’s not an extremist - he’d never be part of the religious right, but he’s certainly more conservative than Howard Baker.”
Gizzi notes that Thompson has a lifetime rating of 86% from the American Conservative Union over his eight years in the Senate (1994-2002) and says "Thompson’s record in the Senate, with few exceptions, was rather solidly conservative." The exceptions were almost all related to campaign finance reform issues and to tort reform.
On campaign finance reform, Thompson backed the McCain-Feingold law and its limits on donations to federal candidates. On tort reform, Thompson opposed a measure to require medical malpractice suits against doctors and medical providers to be filed within two years of discovering an injury.
On fiscal issues, Thompson's overall record "is conservative," says Gizzi, noting that in 2002 the National Taxpayers Union rated Thompson at 73%, the 7th best senator in the NTU ratings of lawmakers on spending issues.
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