Questions about Fred Thompson

03/29/07 | Kevin Davis

[KevinDavis]

I have some questions about Fred Thompson that needs to be answered.

1. Besides being a Senator and an Actor, what else has he done?

2. Is this the same Fred Thompson that was rolled over by John Glenn in the Chinagate hearings?

3. Is this the same Fred Thompson that supported McCain and voted for the McCain/Fiengold bill?

4. Why is it ok for Fred Thompson to start as Pro-Choice and end up as Pro-Life but not ok for others like Romney?

5. Does he have any executive experience?

[flashbunny]

"1. Besides being a Senator and an Actor, what else has he done? "

You could have found this by searching the internet yourself.

Google "fred thompson bio" and you find this:

THOMPSON, Fred Dalton, a Senator from Tennessee; born in Sheffield, Ala., on August 19, 1942; attended the public schools in Lawrenceburg, Tenn.; graduated from Memphis State University 1964; received J.D. degree from Vanderbilt University 1967; admitted to the Tennessee bar in 1967 and commenced the practice of law; assistant U.S. attorney 1969-1972; minority counsel, Senate Select Committee on Presidential Campaign Activities (“Watergate Committee”) 1973-1974; special counsel to Tennessee Governor Lamar Alexander 1980; special counsel, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations 1980-1981; special counsel, Senate Intelligence Committee 1982; member, Tennessee Appellate Court Nominating Commission 1985-1987; actor; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in the November 8, 1994, special election to fill the unexpired portion of the term ending January 3, 1997, left vacant by the resignation of Albert Gore, Jr.; took the oath of office on December 2, 1994; reelected in 1996 for the term ending January 3, 2003; not a candidate for reelection in 2002; chair, Committee on Governmental Affairs (One Hundred Fifth and One Hundred Sixth Congresses; One Hundred Seventh Congress [January 20, 2001-June 6, 2001]); resumed acting career.

If you really want more, try wikipedia.

[KevinDavis]

LOL!!!!

[RockinRight]

I've never said that.

Kinda funny though...the same people (not you) trashing Thompson worship the feet of Rudy.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Man this is gittin old, ain't it? : )

[Pox]

I'm also a Hunter fan, and although I do not think he has any realistic chance of winning the election, I would support him in a Thompson/Hunter ticket! :)

[jdm]

LOL

[KevinDavis]

How do you know I support Rudy????

[Extremely Extreme Extremist]

translation no dares to post anything bad Thompson, or that said person will be a liberal

The point is, there are dozens of existing Thompson threads that would have answered all of your questions, your attempts at trying to cast self-doubt among Thompson supporters notwithstanding.

[Pox]

And they've repeatedly asked the same 'questions' here on FR in the last week while suggesting that these issues are deal killers compared to the mountains of baggage being carried by their personal favorites.

[flashbunny]

"4. Why is it ok for Fred Thompson to start as Pro-Choice and end up as Pro-Life but not ok for others like Romney? "

Gee, didn't you see this one covered in the dozen other "thompson is pro choice" threads started by the Rudyphiles?

Here's the real answer:

http://www.spectator.org/blogger.asp?BlogID=6017

BREAKING NEWS: National Right to Life Committee on Thompson - Thursday, March 22, 2007 @ 5:37:50 PM

This morning, I cited reports being promoted by the pro-Romney blog Evangelicals for Mitt suggesting that Fred Thompson ran his two campaigns for Senate in Tennessee as a pro-choicer. Not so, National Right to Life executive co-director Darla St. Martin just told me.

St. Martin said that she went down to Tennessee in 1994 to speak with Thompson personally when he first ran for Senate, and that she determined he was against abortion.

"I interviewed him and on all of the questions I asked him, he opposed abortion," St. Martin said. She told me that the group went on to support him in that election, and his record reinforced for her that their determination was correct.

"He has a consistent voting record that is pro-life," she said.

On the NRLC website, they archive their congressional ratings back to 1997, so they include six of his eight years in the Senate. Thompson took the pro-life position on every vote he cast on the abortion issue. The only reason he didn't have a 100% rating is that, as Jim pointed out, the ratings also include votes on campaign finance reform, which he supported. I specifically pressed her on the 1994 National Review story that read: "On abortion, both Thompson and Cooper are pro-choice. But Thompson favors parental notification, Cooper voted against it." I also asked her about the 1996 AP story mentioning Thompson's opposition to a constitutional amendment banning abortion.

St. Martin said she was skeptical of such media reports, because they can be wrong as was her experience with stories in 2000 that George W. Bush had been pro-choice. She reiterated the fact that she knows Thompson opposed abortion because of her conversation with him, and that was reinforced by his subsequent voting record.

No doubt, there will be new articles and video clips to come out should Thompson decide to run, publicizing any past pro-choice statements, and clearly Romney supporters have a vested interest in pointing to Thompson as another recent convert to the pro-life cause. However, it seems that Thompson's voting record is consistent enough, and dates back far enough, to satisfy the pro-life community.

This is the record of jim cooper (his democratic opponent, also labeled "pro choice") that I can find from ontheissues:

* Voted YES on allowing human embryonic stem cell research. (May 2005)
* Voted YES on restricting interstate transport of minors to get abortions. (Apr 2005)
* Voted NO on making it a crime to harm a fetus during another crime. (Feb 2004)
* Voted YES on banning partial-birth abortion except to save mother’s life. (Oct 2003)
* Voted NO on forbidding human cloning for reproduction & medical research. (Feb 2003)
* Rated 30% by NARAL, indicating a pro-life voting record. (Dec 2003)

So the truth is he was endorsed by PRO LIFE groups when he ran for the senate, and the person he ran against, also labeled as "pro choice" has a pro life voting record.

[stephenjohnbanker]

I would be happy with that ticket, and it would unite the now fractured party.

[RockinRight]

I never said you did. You're a Romney guy, right?

But most of the Thompson-haters are Rudy bots.

[outofstyle]

In and of itself this garbage from the liberal sect on FR is getting old real fast.

KevinDavis asks a few simple questions. That hardly warrants labeling him a liberal. I think Fred Thompson is a great guy. He may or may not be electable. We can not go down House, Senate & White House too. Let us see how this develops.

[flashbunny]

"3. Is this the same Fred Thompson that supported McCain and voted for the McCain/Fiengold bill? "

Yes, and he's called it a failure.

http://www.opinionjournal.com/editorial/feature.html?id=110009798

Many on the right remain angry he supported the campaign finance law sponsored by his friend John McCain. "There are problems with people giving politicians large sums of money and then asking them to pass legislation," Mr. Thompson says. Still, he notes he proposed the amendment to raise the $1,000 per person "hard money" federal contribution limit.

Conceding that McCain-Feingold hasn't worked as intended, and is being riddled with new loopholes, he throws his hands open in exasperation. "I'm not prepared to go there yet, but I wonder if we shouldn't just take off the limits and have full disclosure with harsh penalties for not reporting everything on the Internet immediately."

[Pox]

Translation: The RINO Rudy Rooters have been asking the EXACT same questions over the last week on FR and have suggested that these issues spell doom for Mr. Thompson while conveniently ignoring the liberal record of Giuliani or the rest of the unbelievable negatives surrounding McVain or Romney.

Have a look for yourself, you don't have to take my word for it.

[Pox]

See my post #35 in this thread and if you search for the other couple of dozen threads concerning Mr. Thompson that have been posted in the last week you'll understand why I posted what I did.

[Pox]

It's just getting so old seeing the same tripe over and over again.

[Petronski]

Is Romney still running?

[Pox]

Oh, and to be honest, I never actually labeled KevinDavis a liberal, I simply pointed out that this garbage from the liberal sect on FR (which is where it originated IMO) is getting old.

[jr48154]

Bravo for asking the questions. I like Fred Thompson. I like Mitt Romney. I even think I could vote for Rudy or, gulp, McCain -- I would against HC or BO anyway.

I appreciate the critical questions, especially amid the Thompson lovefest (and I admit I've been excited about the prospects of a Thompson candidacy, as well). I ask myself similar questions about the others, too. No one's perfect.

Too bad so many freepers don't even take such questions seriously. I mean, you're not attacking FT. You're just asking critical questions that any serious conservative voter would have to ask.

In the end, Thompson may well get my vote if he were to run -- but I'd rather vote knowing full-well that even though he's a solid conservative, he's still a mere mortal with some notable shortcomings.