Republican and Conservative political analysis and commentary

The Cato Institute's blog Cato@Liberty asks the question, "Is Fred Thompson a small-government conservative?" The answer: Yes, mostly:

[W]hile he is not quite the second coming of Barry Goldwater or Ronald Reagan, he may be much better on most issues than the alternatives.

They like him on fiscal policy, entitlement reform and free trade and say that on the issue of federalism "there may be no better candidate." But Cato doesn't like Thompson's record or recent rhetoric on continuing the Iraq war, or on civil liberties issues, and hopes he really is evolving away from his previous support for the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform law.