Tennessee Commercial Apeal, July 29, 1993, page B1
Tennessee's first seriously contested U.S. Senate election in 10 years came into focus Wednesday as Nashville lawyer Fred Thompson filed as a likely Republican candidate in 1994.
Thompson, 50, said his campaign for the seat vacated by Vice President Gore is still exploratory, but said ''the likelihood is great'' he'll formally enter the race early next year. Until then, he'll increase his public appearances across the state and build a warchest of campaign contributions.
His entry sets up a probable showdown with Rep. Jim Cooper (D-Tenn.), the early Democratic front-runner who has been campaigning for months and has $1 million in campaign contributions banked. Cooper's Fourth Congressional District stretches from Morristown in East Tennessee to Savannah in West Tennessee.
If Sen. Harlan Mathews (D-Tenn.) does not run for election to the seat to which he was appointed in January by Gov. Ned McWherter - and he is not expected to do so - it will be the first contest for an open Senate post in Tennessee since former Republican senator Howard Baker did not seek re- election in 1984. Senate elections since then have involved Gore and Sen. Jim Sasser as strong Democratic incumbents against underfunded and relatively unknown Republican challengers. Sasser is also up for re-election next year.
Thompson has never run for public office but has long been active in Republican politics, first as a protege of Baker. Baker appointed the Lawrenceburg native as the Republican counsel to the Senate Watergate Committee in 1973. Thompson maintains law practices in Nashville and Washington, where he also lobbies Congress.
Thompson may be better known outside politics as a part-time movie actor. Since he played himself in the Tennessee-filmed movie Marie in the mid-1980s, he has had supporting roles in nearly two dozen movies, including the current Clint Eastwood hit, In the Line of Fire.
In an interview Wednesday, Thompson depicted himself as a moderate Republican who will reach out to traditionally Democratic voters.
''I come from a middle class background in a rural county,'' he said. ''I worked and borrowed my way through school. I've met a small-firm payroll for over 20 years. I think I see eye to eye with most Tennesseans.
''I'm going to go hard for the middle class and working folks, and I'm going to be in the black community. I'm not conceding anything.''
Thompson took traditional Republican stands on several issues. He said he would oppose the labor-backed striker replacement bill awaiting Senate action that could make it illegal for business to permanently replace striking workers. Cooper voted against the bill when it passed the House of Representatives this year, saying it would hurt small business in his district.
Thompson said he supports the Supreme Court's Roe vs. Wade decision that established a constitutional right to abortion. He opposes federal funding for abortion and favors allowing states to impose limited restrictions on abortion, such as parental notification requirements for minors.
He also favors a constitutional amendment to limit congressional terms - including two six-year terms in the Senate.
Thompson is registered as a congressional lobbyist, currently for the Teamsters union's Central States Pension Fund, which has also been a law client of his for 10 years.
He has previously registered as a lobbyist for deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide; Westinghouse Electric Corp., in support of the abandoned Clinch River Breeder Reactor nuclear power plant in Oak Ridge; and the U.S. subsidiary of a Canadian cable television company opposing legislation that would have blocked its entry into the U.S. market.
Thompson is an ''of-counsel'' attorney with the Washington law firm Arent Fox Kintner Plotkin & Kahn. His lobbyist registration forms show the firm's other foreign lobbying clients include Toyota Motor Corp., Perrier Group, Potash Corp. of Saskatchewan and International Computers Ltd.
Thompson said his law practice is general, including criminal defense, lobbying, wrongful death litigation, general business and corporate consulting. He serves on the board of directors of Boston-based Stone and Webster Engineering Inc.
your RINO is showing through.