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July 07, 2007
Trouble For Fred
Count us among those who have never believed there was much to a Fred Thompson candidacy for president. The folksy man from Tennessee undoubtedly possesses a certain charm as a candidate, and his years of film and television acting have clearly imbued him with media savvy.
But we have always thought Thompson's dream candidacy was based more on a longing for something missing in the GOP field than on his merits as a presidential aspirant. Thompson has been mythologized as the next Reagan -- the plain-spoken Washington outsider who could take the conservative mantle from the other wanabees in the race. The truth, it turns out, is a bit more complicated than that.
In fact, the former U.S. Senator is also a 30-year D.C. lobbyist -- hardly an outsider. And now that he's preparing to actually join the race, after teasing folks for the last few months, his conservative bona fides are beginning to be called into question. A Friday evening LA Times story pokes holes in Thompson's claim of being the real anti-abortion GOP hopeful.
Turns out the rock-ribbed conservative Fred lobbied for an abortion-rights organization about 15 years ago, despite his spokesman's denial that he did so. According to the story "...minutes of a 1991 board meeting of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Assn. say that the group hired Thompson that year." Well, which is it, Fred?
Being pro-choice, we have no problem with this particular lobbying effort, but then, we don't vote in the GOP primary either. A number of Republican primary voters may have a problem with this news, if it indeed is true.
In addition to the issue-based heartburn this latest Thompson revelation may cause, it attacks at the core his plain-spoken, true conservative rationale for his candidacy. Rather, he seems more like fellow aspirants Romney and Guiliani, who appear to have changed their positions on this (and other) issues out of political convenience. Turns out Fred Thompson is just another politician.
Again, we've always been skeptical of Thompson's prospects for success in the 2008 presidential race, and stories like this one only further strengthen that skepticism. Not a good start for Fred.
Posted by houtopia at July 7, 2007 01:53 AM