A "serious conservative voter" knows how to do research.
If all conservatives agreed on everything all the time, then Free Republic wouldn't even be necessary.
Also, if we were supposed to all just shut up and do our own research without discussion, well, that would render this site quite pointless as well, wouldn't it?
As for Fred Thompson, I like him a lot. Therefore, I want folks to ask questions about him. I want to know the worst. If it so happens that he comes out of the ringer and still looks good, well, then, that's a pretty good candidate. But I'd never know without actually asking the question -- and it helps seeing what other conservatives think about the answers...