The quote looks accurate to me. Like it or not, it's a Newsmax article questioning Thompson's conservative credentials.
Does Fred Thompson Have the Right Stuff?
John Mercurio
Thursday, April 26, 2007Does Fred Thompson believe in conservative principles? And, perhaps more importantly, do conservative principals believe in Fred Thompson?
Those two questions -- widely discussed, but largely unanswered -- stand at the core of Thompson's widely anticipated decision to join the GOP presidential campaign as a sorely needed savior for the Right.
After seven years of love-hate relations with President Bush, polls show conservative activists are increasingly anxious about a lackluster field of Republican candidates and are eager to recruit a viable conservative candidate who would more comfortably carry their mantle.
It might seem as though Thompson, 64, fits the bill. While his position on abortion has wavered somewhat, he became a pro-life diehard recently while preparing for the birth of his two young children. "I have seen the sonograms of my babies," he told Bloomberg News in mid-April.
He's a vocal supporter of President Bush's troop surge in Iraq and he considers himself a staunch hawk on Iran. He opposes gay marriage and supports Bush's tax cuts. And, in a piece of red meat for Bush/Cheney loyalists, he says he'd pardon his close friend, former Cheney aide Scooter Libby, who was convicted this year of perjury in the CIA leak case.
For 2002, Thompson received an 86 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union. Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), by comparison, received an 82 percent lifetime rating in 2006. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-KS), a darling of social conservatives who so far remains in the second tier of GOP presidential candidates, received a 94 percent rating that year.
"[Thompson] is a hard-core conservative, a consistent and non-threatening conservative, who can communicate like no other candidate in this race with the average American," said former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a fellow Tennessean, who briefly considered a 2008 presidential bid of his own but now is helping to organize a possible Thompson campaign. "He has broad appeal with conservatives and with moderates. This is what's important: Every individual listening believes that he's speaking just to them. It's not artificial, it's the real Fred. His genuineness comes across."
Still, conservatives' concerns about Thompson persist: In the Senate during the 1990s, he served as a chief backer of campaign-finance legislation, which conservatives say diminishes their influence in politics. He also called last month for "a tolerant nation" on gay rights.
And, perhaps most concerning, the longtime actor who currently plays a regular role on NBC's hugely popular "Law & Order" is a longtime fixture in a town conservatives openly revile and frequently deride (Hollywood). He remains a close friend and self-described "fan" of McCain, a conservative nemesis.
As part of a concerted effort to court conservative leaders, Thompson made a carefully choreographed visit to Capitol Hill in mid-April to huddle with more than 50 House Republicans. During the "Tour de Fred," Thompson and lawmakers discussed abortion rights, immigration, his first marriage (which ended in divorce) and the war in Iraq. Participants said five of the seven members of the party's House leadership attended.
"I just wanted to come over and see some of my old friends and make some new friends, and tell them what we on my mind and listen to see what was on their minds. We had a good talk. I enjoyed it and we'll be seeing more of each other, I'm sure," said a decidedly non-committal Thompson, before disappearing into a gray GMC Envoy and leaving lawmakers to promote his conservative creds.
And promote him, they did.
"The conservatives say he checks the boxes but he also transcends our party," said Rep. Zach Wamp (R-TN), a co-chairman of the Draft Thompson committee. "But he also reaches out to the middle. He brings Reagan Democrats back to our party. He has appeal that other candidates simply don't have."
Indeed, one top Republican strategist said Thompson possesses a unique blend of attributes that could offer Republicans a quick fix for their 2008 doldrums.
"The perception of Thompson is that he's right on the war, right on taxes, and right on immigration, he's pro-life, and anti-gay marriage and has generally been seen as a good guy by the religious right elements of the party," said Tony Fabrizio, a prominent GOP pollster. "He's not necessarily their favorite, but he's someone who can be a consensus conservative. He's someone the foreign policy-wing, the economic wing and the social/moral wing could rally around."
Ultimately, however, Frist acknowledged that Thompson's mission, if he runs, will be larger than appealing to conservatives. "Fred certainly understands that Republicans of all stripes want a candidate who can capture the hopes and aspirations of the American people. The candidates out there now have not yet done that," he said. "Barack Obama has done this on the Democratic side, but no one has done it for us."
Check the actual transcrip in post #55.
But, as we have already established, the quote within the story is out of context (what a surprise from someone whom Google turns up as "CNN Political Editor"!), and that the full transcript, known to the poster paints a very different picture.
The poster, therefore, used a bogus quote from a bogus story to prop up her bogus candidate by attempting to create a false equivalency.
I don't know where you grew up, but from where I did, that's called "lying".
You and zook are either intentionally trying to divert attention from Rudy's full on pro-homosexual position or you are trying to obfuscate Mr. Thompson's position on civil unions.
Stop wasting our time and the bandwidth of FR.
Were you here two hours ago? Yes, she accurately quoted that article. I defended her for it. That article inaccurately reports Thompson’s position, as seen in the Fox news transcript where the “statement” was made.
I defended her for not knowing that the article she quoted was lying about Thompson.
Then she came back and said that she KNEW the actual quote, she had read it, and had previously linked it.
So she admitted to posting the line out of the newsmax article KNOWING that it was a lie about what Thompson really said.
If you quote a known liar and pretend it’s the truth, you are lying.
Thompson SAID he didn’t believe in “gay rights”. Veronica ignored that and posted a false article line that said he thought we should be “tolerant” of gay rights. IN fact he was saying that, WHILE we should be a tolerant nation, we should NOT tolerate “gay rights”.
She abused my belief in her honesty, and my willingness to stand up for people I disagree with.
Thanks.