eleni121 wrote: "...I wish I knew more about him..."
A review of Fred Dalton Thompson's voting record shows that he consistently voted for gun owners (the NRA called him a "staunch supporter of the Second Amendment"), against abortion, for business, against higher taxes, for a balanced budget, for a strong defense, for ANWR drilling, for capping foreign aid, for free trade, for private property rights, for personal retirement accounts, for the Iraq War Resolution and for welfare reform.
Among his interest group ratings, FDT earned a perfect zero from National Abortion Reproductive Rights Action, a perfect 100% from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, only 11% from the ACLU, 85% from the American Conservative Union, 86% from the Center for Security Policy, a perfect zero from the American Federation of Teachers, 6% from the National Education Association, 90% from the League of Private Property Voters, 97% from the National Tax Limitation committee, 88% from the National Taxpayers Union and a perfect zero from the liberal ADA. In a 1995 analysis, Project Vote Smart listed Thompson as having supported Contract With America items 100% of the time.
According to Lawrenceburg Online, among FDT's Senate accomplishments were his election as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Governmental Affairs in 1997, making him among the most junior senators in history to serve as Chairman of a major Senate Committee. He served as Chairman until June of 2001.
The Governmental Affairs Committee is charged with overseeing the management of the federal government. During his Chairmanship, Sen. Thompson's committee actively pursued an agenda aimed at producing a smaller, more efficient, and more accountable government. Of his efforts, the Kingsport Times-News wrote, "Sen. Thompson is to be applauded for keeping a watchful eye over Washington fiscal matters. There should be more like him."
Sen. Thompson held hearings on topics such as improving the federal regulatory process; reforming the IRS; exploring ways to eliminate waste, fraud, and abuse; and a number of national security issues, including the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missile technologies. Thompson also investigated and successfully enacted solutions to information management problems such as computer security.
Thompson was also a member of the powerful Senate Committee on Finance, which has jurisdiction over taxes, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, welfare reform, and international trade. From this position, he focused on reducing taxes, reforming the tax code to make it simpler and fairer, and restoring the Social Security and Medicare programs to long-term solvency.
While a strong supporter of free trade, Sen. Thompson advocated a balanced approach to trade and national security. He pushed for an export control policy that protects our country's national security without unnecessarily burdening American industry with bureaucratic red tape. He also proposed legislation to curb the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction by China and other countries and to strengthen the United States' response to such activities.
A third committee FDT served on was the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the National Security Working Group, which observes and monitors executive branch negotiations with foreign governments.
Even the liberal Washington Monthly, in a 1999 hit piece on Thompson, had to begrudgingly admit that as a Senator, Thompson worked hard to keep his campaign promises. But you'll see many libs posing here as conservatives to slam Fred Thompson. You'll also see Rudy, McCain and Mitt backers dissing FDT because he poses a major threat to them, too, if he gets in the race.
Thompson biggest negatives with conservatives are his stances on immigration (he wasn't a hawk on it) and McCain Feingold (he supported it). But those votes were a full decade ago, and we should at least give FDT a chance to tell us where he stands on those two issues today. If Mitt can have a change of heart and mind on gays, guns and abortion, FDT should at least be allowed to admit that both he and Ronald Reagan were wrong on immigration, and the reforms he hoped McCain-Feingold would produce didn't turn out to be "reforms" at all. Fred is a stand-up guy, and he will answer questions on those two issues honestly and in a straitforward manner.
Fred Thompson is media-savvy, has a commanding presence, enjoys superb name recognition (thanks to his Law & Order and movie roles, as well as pinch-hitting for Paul Harvey on radio) and left the Senate with a solid conservative voting record. He's much like Ronald Reagan in possessing those qualities. Also like Reagan, Thompson is that rare sort of conservative who doesn't scare away moderates and independents. And again like Reagan, he may be the only potential candidate who can unite the factions of the Republican Party right now. Oh, and lest we forget, Ronald Reagan was an actor, too.
"Rudy, McCain and Mitt backers dissing FDT because he poses a major threat to them, too, if he gets in the race."
If Fred Thompson jumps in and his polling goes to 68% against all others, I predicted it first here on Freerepublic.
This disturbing profile almost certainly qualifies him as a RINO and a 'socialist' by some. :-)
For the moment, I'm backing Romney, but if Fred joins the race, he's got my vote. He'll pretty much destroy Mitt's candidacy because he'll draw voters from the South and Midwest that Romney needs, and he'll put a big hurt on the Rudy bandwagon.
As for McCain, my thinking is, his own staff is telling him he won't get the nomination, so Fred jumping in allows him to bow out of the race with a bit of grace.
great review!!!! thank you SR.
PS..."you" produce my favorite .45 ACP
Thanks for that post.