Free Republic

Make no mistake about it - when the nation's largest pro-life group endorsed Fred Thompson on Tuesday its goal was to shake up the Republican contest for the presidency. The National Right to Life's endorsement is the gold standard coveted by those Republicans seeking the White House because it bestows a legitimacy and authenticity on the candidate who receives it as the standard-bearer for those who want to end abortion on demand. The Thompson endorsement not only signals how the organization representing 3,000 pro-life groups has grown up, but it shows just how close the country is to seeing Roe...

Presidential candidate Fred Thompson, the former Tennessee Senator and Law & Order actor, slammed Mitt Romney for supporting and signing into law the Massachusetts Health Plan that allows for women to have an abortion with no restrictions for a $50 co-pay. Columnist David Brody of the Christian Broadcasting Network, whose founder Pat Robertson endorsed Rudy Giuliani, a pro-choice candidate, for president, analyzes the contradictions of Romney’s abortion stance. Brody writes that “the problem that Romney continues to have on abortion is that it’s hard for him to criticize Giuliani, Thompson or anybody else on the issue because he has his...

Fred Thompson and the NRLC It is interesting that the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) has chosen to endorse Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson, a man who once offered legal advice to a pro-choice group, voted against key pro-life issues in the Senate and now espouses convoluted reasons for rejecting constitutional protection of the unborn. ... Recently, Mr. Thompson refused to support a constitutional amendment that would protect innocent life by restricting the availability of abortions. The sanctity-of-life amendment was a core plank in the Republican Party's 2004 election platform, and yet Mr. Thompson said he could not support...

A new Gallup poll of the national Republican race shows Rudy Giuliani's support slipping to its lowest level since before he entered the race. The survey of self-identified Republicans and Republican leaners has Giuliani leading the GOP contest with 28 percent – down from 34 percent in the Gallup survey taken two weeks ago. Fred Thompson is second with 19 percent, John McCain is third with 13 percent, Mitt Romney is fourth with 12 percent, and Mike Huckabee is fifth with ten percent. Giuliani's support reached its highest point in Gallup polls, 49 percent, in March. In the months since,...

The Romney campaign may be disappointed because they didn’t get the endorsement from National Right to Life but maybe the organization had a look at the following videotape. If you go about three and a half minutes in, Romney is seen distancing himself from being endorsed by Massachusetts Citizens for Life during a debate while he was running for Governor in 2002. He didn’t want any part of that endorsement at the time. Watch the video here. This video has been out before but I bring it up because in it, he’s speaking directly to the endorsement issue and arguing...

I've talked to several campaigns and I've talked to NRLC sources... -snip- Thompson himself, I'm told, persuaded the NRLC in writing, giving himself very little room to later go squishy. I'm told he made several points that really stood out to them. One of the NRLC guys said they really liked seeing in writing, from Thompson, one point that I have been harping on as well. Thompson apparently made the case that candidates saying they'd appoint originalist judges was not enough. Thompson said the President needed to make sure key executive appointments who could affect abortion policy did, in fact,...

Fred Thompson received the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee on Tuesday and a surrogate for the campaign of Mitt Romney claimed Wednesday that it was motivated by money. Paul Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, says he can't find any other explanation. National Right to Life officials said Tuesday they backed Thompson because of his 100 percent voting record on pro-life issues, his willingness to back overturning Roe and the viability of his campaign. But Weyrich, a Romney backer, told the Washington Times the endorsement "makes no sense" and claimed the Thompson campaign bought off the...

Responding to the National Right to Life Committee's endorsement of Fred Thompson, Paul Weyrich suggested that Thompson's backers greased some palms. "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," Weyrich told the Washington Times. That's a pretty tough charge and almost certainly not what Romney's campaign wanted their big social conservative "get" to suggest (at least not publicly). Sensing opportunity to win more points from their own big "get" (the group's nod) Thompson communications director Todd Harris unloaded: "Gov. Romney is new to the pro-life movement and his...

Citing a pro-life voting record and electability, the nation's largest pro-life organization endorsed Republican Fred Thompson for president Tuesday. The endorsement by the National Right to Life Committee (NRLC) comes just weeks after Thompson said on NBC's "Meet the Press" that he opposes "criminalizing" abortion and that he does not support the call for a pro-life amendment to the Constitution in the Republican Party platform. Thompson campaign spokesman Darrell Ng told Cybercast News Service that Thompson has since clarified his remarks and does not favor changing the platform. Thompson has had a 100 percent pro-life voting record during his eight...

I feel comfortable saying, based on conversations with NRLC members, that Jim Bopp's attack on Sam Brownback did not help the Romney team with the NRLC. Paul Weyrich coming unglued and accusing Thompson of bribing NRLC for their endorsement is really not going to help Romney at the grassroots level. Weyrich can say what he wants, but (a) it's not true and (b) it's not helpful. I would suggest that if they don't think Thompson is a threat, the Romney camp might not want to get bogged down on this. The latest poll numbers in Iowa and South Carolina are...

Some pro-life advocates were astonished by the National Right to Life Committee's endorsement of Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson yesterday — a move they say puts politics over principle. Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, said the endorsement "makes no sense," and speculated that it had been motivated by money. "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," said Mr. Weyrich, who has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. "In the past, the Republican Party has funded National Right to Life,...

McLean, VA - On the heels of strong grassroots showings in Myrtle Beach, Columbia, Ft. Mill, Spartanburg and Greenville, Fred Thompson is officially announcing his statewide Campaign Chair, several regional leaders and 27 county chairs and co-chairs in 19 counties across the state. Congressman Gresham Barrett (SC-03) has been named Statewide Campaign Chair and will help lead Thompson's effort in South Carolina along with Thompson's Steering Committee, chaired by Major General James E. Livingston, USMC (Retired), and Regional Chairs. "Senator Thompson is a consistent conservative leader with a solid record in supporting life, fighting illegal immigration and defending the Second...

Today’s Washington Times has a bit of an eye-opening comment, high in its story of the reaction to the National Right to Life Committee’s endorsement of Fred Thompson. Paul M. Weyrich, president of the Free Congress Foundation, said the endorsement "makes no sense," and speculated that it had been motivated by money. "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," said Mr. Weyrich, who has endorsed former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney for the Republican nomination. "In the past, the Republican Party has funded National Right to Life, and...

When the National Right to Life Committee endorsed Fred Thompson for president this week, their news conference was less announcement than cri de coeur — not just from this group but from the whole social conservative movement. No one could miss the irony in the choice of Thompson or in the justifications offered for that choice by NRLC executive director David O'Steen. Here was the nation's largest and best known anti-abortion organization embracing a candidate who had just told NBC's Tim Russert that he did not support the Human Life Amendment — the centerpiece of the NRLC legislative agenda for...

The swirling social conservative endorsements of Republican presidential candidates continued yesterday when the National Right to Life Committee endorsed former Tennessee Senator Fred Thompson. At a press conference yesterday morning, Executive Director David O’ Steen said the 58-member NRLC committee voted Sunday based on three critical factors: his 100% pro-life record, his commitment to the unborn and his electability. “He is well-positioned -- best positioned to be President of the United States…for unborn children,” said O ‘Steen. Thompson came under fire from pro-lifers recently when he recently said he would not support a human life amendment. Questioned on this point,...

The most cynical group currently operating on the American political stage, the National Right to Life Committee has endorsed the most cynical man to seek the presidency in recent memory, Fred Thompson, for the Republican nomination. It is a perfect match, although not one that can be said to have been "made in Heaven." After all, what brings the National Right to Life Committee and Fred Thompson together is the fact that both the interest group and the candidate have sold their souls to the highest bidder. National Right to Life gave its blessing to Thompson despite the fact that...

Fred Thompson is the Republican most likely to beat abortion-rights supporter Rudy Giuliani, the National Right to Life Committee said Tuesday, announcing its endorsement of the former Tennessee senator for president. "While there are various polls, and some are up-and-down, the overwhelming consensus has been that he is best-positioned to top pro-abortion candidate Rudy Giuliani for the Republican nomination," the group's executive director, David N. O'Steen, said at a news conference. ...By emphasizing Thompson's political potential _ he ranks second behind former New York Mayor Giuliani in national Republican polls _ the anti-abortion group played down its own differences with...

On Monday evening, officials at the National Right to Life Committee agreed to take some written questions from National Review Online regarding their pending endorsement of Fred Thompson for president. I just received the answers from Darla St. Martin, NRLC’s co-executive director. They are posted below in their entirety. Kathryn Jean Lopez: Why Fred? Darla St. Martin: National Right to Life endorsed Fred Thompson based on three factors: his commitments on life issues, his record on life issues and his ability to win. Lopez: Did you hear what he had to say on Meet the Press the other day? He...

The National Right to Life Committee endorsed Fred Thompson yesterday. The question I have is...why? There are other Republican candidates with better pro-life records. In fact, Duncan Hunter has a 100% lifetime rating from the NRLC and 0% from NARAL. Here is the theories and rebuttals for the endorsement: Why did the National Right To Life committee and NRLC PAC decide to endorse Fred Thompson? We won't know until tomorrow's press conference, but here are some theories (1) His record in the Senate. It's strong and solidly pro-life. Rebuttal: But other candidates -- John McCain, Duncan Hunter, have better records....

NATIONAL RIGHT TO LIFE SHAKES UP RACE FOR REPUBLICAN PRESIDENTIAL NOMINATION: Nation’s largest pro-life group endorses Fred Thompson WASHINGTON – Marking the first major endorsement by a national grassroots organization in the Republican presidential contest, National Right to Life, the nation’s largest pro-life organization representing pro-lifers in fifty state affiliates and more than 3,000 local chapters, today announced its endorsement of former Senator Fred Thompson for President of the United States. “As the first major grassroots organization to enter the Republican presidential race, National Right to Life is proud to endorse Fred Thompson,” stated Wanda Franz, Ph.D., president of National...