Posted on 11/14/2007 4:30:12 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
Responding to the National Right to Life Committee's endorsement of Fred Thompson, Paul Weyrich suggested that Thompson's backers greased some palms.
"I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing," Weyrich told the Washington Times.
That's a pretty tough charge and almost certainly not what Romney's campaign wanted their big social conservative "get" to suggest (at least not publicly).
Sensing opportunity to win more points from their own big "get" (the group's nod) Thompson communications director Todd Harris unloaded:
"Gov. Romney is new to the pro-life movement and his campaign clearly has a few things to learn about it. First, they should understand that despite their campaign's every effort, groups like the National Right to Life Committee's PAC (NLRC-PAC) cannot be bought. NLRC-PAC is supporting Fred Thompson because of Fred's 100% pro-life voting record. They know he stood with them yesterday, he stands with them today, and he will stand with them tomorrow. It is unseemly for the Romney campaign and its supporters to suggest that NLRC-PAC's coveted endorsement is based on a bribe. Second, this unfounded accusation is as outrageou s as it is ironic, given the Romney campaign's long history of spreading money around to anyone who will take it.
"If the Romney campaign is looking for the reason they did not receive the NLRC-PAC endorsement, they can start with the fact that Gov. Romney was pro-choice just two years ago. They should also consider the fact that Gov. Romney's own health care plan in Massachusetts offers taxpayer funded abortions for a mere $50 co-pay and requires by law that a representative from Planned Parenthood sit on the MassHealth advisory board. Tellingly, Gov. Romney made no such requirement for a representative from the pro-life movement.
"The Romney campaign was clearly hoping for this endorsement and are now clearly upset. But being denied an endorsement is no excuse to impugn the integrity of the very organization they were just days ago trying to woo."
Think he had fun with that one? Romney spokesman Kevin Madden responded by not disavowing Weyrich -- but also avoiding what he said.
"Governor Romney is thankful for the support he has received from pro-life advocates, he respects those that have offered their support for other candidates, and he will continue to work with ALL of the grassroots activists involved in the pro-life movement throughout this campaign," Madden told Jennifer Rubin.
Excellent point!
snort snort
Weyrich should apologize to all grassroots pro-life folks. He is a disgrace. So is Robertson.
That image reminds of a Freeper but I can’t seem to place his name.
In any case, as Bob Marley says....”excuse my while I light my Spliff”
“Non event. It will be off the radar screen as soon as the next Democratic debate occurs”
The wonderful thing about this bitter attack, is that it doesn’t matter when it goes off the mainstream media’s coverage.
Like a gun question to the gun crowd this matters to the primary voters that are dedicated prolifers.
This will have legs longer than a normal short campaign story, this action by Romney’s big “prolife git” has contiuing (for a short period)ramifications among the very audience that he was desperate to win. It magnifies and extends the effect of the endorsement for one thing.
This will be in all the little free Christian newspapers etc. and it gives them a way to write the story in a manner that supports the prolife candidate while showing a shrug to the Romney without violating neutrality.
This reinforces the slowly emerging picture of a Romney campaign that hides a lot of ugliness among its supporters, as the list of little ugly incidences grows.
Excuse me... Weyrich endorsing Mitt makes him Mitt Romney?
Oh my! I just signed on to see this. That was an extrememly nasty attack by Weyrich.
Has the Romney team distanced themselves from this?
I love how Team Fred didn’t just defend Fred, but also the NRLC, while swatting down Team Romney like little flies.
Very nicely done.
Gee, I said the other day exactly what Weyrich said. Money talks, agendas walk.
Looks like Romney can't throw Weyrich under the bus because he's all he has left. He has no pro life credentials of his own to run on so he must have someone connected with his campaign who has ties to pro life conservatives or he's doomed.
Does Fred have a platform on disabled Americans? They are lives too.
Then you're just as shameful.
Duncan Hunter. You left him out. That’s cuz he’s too much of a gentlemen to attack his opponents. Duncan’s the most conservative and genuine pro-lifer running.
I like Fred, but he had Hillary DEAD TO RIGHTS and he let her SLIP thru!! He was really WEAK on that committee....REALLY weak.
Weyrich should apologize to Right-to-Life folks first. He’s an elitist knucklehead that I find impossible to read anymore.
Money quote:
“ They know he stood with them yesterday, he stands with them today, and he will stand with them tomorrow”
“Does Fred have a platform on disabled Americans? They are lives too.”
From interview with St.Martin of NRLC endorsement of Fred:
Lopez: Does Fred Thompson have a Terri Schiavo problem? He’s said he opposed congressional invention to save her life.
St. Martin: Fred Thompson has stated that he believes decisions about a patient’s life saving care should be made by the patient or their family. But he has also made clear that when the patient wants treatment, or in cases where the patient’s wishes are unknown, their families want life-sustaining treatment, that it should be provided. In cases where the family is divided, he believes the benefit of the doubt should be given to life. It should be noted that Terri would be alive today if the division in the family had been decided in favor of life as Fred Thompson favors.
“Gee, I said the other day exactly what Weyrich said. Money talks, agendas walk.”
It does seem awfully strange that a so-called pro-LIFE group doesn’t endorse the strongest conservatives, like Hunter and Tancredo.
The least they could do is sit this one out, because when they ignore the strongest pro-lifers they lose credibility.
So, if they don’t go for your preferred candidate(s), they should support no one and let the primaries slip past them and perhaps be stuck with with Rudy McRomney as the Republican candidate?
“I like Fred, but he had Hillary DEAD TO RIGHTS and he let her SLIP thru!! He was really WEAK on that committee....REALLY weak.”
Whoa. I’d like to hear more about that. We need a Commander-in-Chief who will be TOUGH, especially when we have terrorism to fight, as well as evil dictators working on getting nukes, and Red China building it’s military with American dollars.
Fred voted for MFT with Red China, and so did McCain. Duncan Hunter voted AGAINST MFT with Red China.
This is the primary time. Let’s see what the various candidates stand for before it’s too late.
I took the liberty of posting the interview with NRLC concerning why they endorsed Fred. Sure sounds like they carefully reviewed the voting records of each candidate and also interviewed each before they decided to endorse Fred.
Posted on 11/13/2007 2:20:37 PM PST by JRochelle
On Monday evening, officials at the National Right to Life Committee agreed to take some written questions from National Review Online regarding their pending endorsement of Fred Thompson for president. I just received the answers from Darla St. Martin, NRLC’s co-executive director. They are posted below in their entirety.
Kathryn Jean Lopez: Why Fred?
Darla St. Martin: National Right to Life endorsed Fred Thompson based on three factors: his commitments on life issues, his record on life issues and his ability to win.
Lopez: Did you hear what he had to say on Meet the Press the other day? He sounds like someone who buys into the conventional wisdom criticisms of pro-lifers: We want to “criminalize” women – throw them in jail. As Bob Novak put it, Senator Thompson “revealed astounding lack of sensitivity about the abortion issue.” Are you schooling him or are you confessing we really do want to throw desperate women behind bars?
St. Martin: Neither National Right to Life nor Fred Thompson supports criminal penalties for women who have had abortions.
Lopez: Are you upset that Jim Bopp, your general counsel, is with Romney?
St. Martin: Our General Counsel James Bopp has a number of clients who may endorse various candidates for President. His endorsement of Romney is a personal endorsement and does not represent that of National Right to Life or his other clients.
Lopez: Why is it O.K. with you’all that Thompson co-sponsored McCain-Feingold campaign-finance-reform legislation that you’ve been fighting for years?
St. Martin: Our endorsement was based on the life issues themselves: the killing of unborn children by abortion or stem cell research and euthanasia. Further, several of the Republican candidates disagreed with us on various aspects of “campaign reform”. However, Fred Thompson has revised his opinion on the principal problem National Right to Life had with “campaign reform.”
Lopez: If you forgave Thompson on some things, why not forgive McCain, who has the longest pro-life record (stem cells excepted) of any of the viable candidates?
St. Martin: We gave every candidate who had a significant number of pro-life votes on their record or took pro-life positions on life issues serious consideration for endorsement. It is simply not true that anyone was ruled out of consideration because of his position on “campaign reform”. Meetings took place with all the leading Republican candidates except Giuliani.
Lopez: Does Fred Thompson have a Terri Schiavo problem? He’s said he opposed congressional invention to save her life.
St. Martin: Fred Thompson has stated that he believes decisions about a patient’s life saving care should be made by the patient or their family. But he has also made clear that when the patient wants treatment, or in cases where the patient’s wishes are unknown, their families want life-sustaining treatment, that it should be provided. In cases where the family is divided, he believes the benefit of the doubt should be given to life. It should be noted that Terri would be alive today if the division in the family had been decided in favor of life as Fred Thompson favors.
Lopez: Is the Thompson endorsement an indication that the National Right to Life Committee is abandoning its support for a Human Life Amendment?
St. Martin: National Right to Life continues to support a Human Life Amendment (HLA) as a goal. However, National Right to Life also knows that it will take a change of 25-30 Senate seats to even pass a Human Life Amendment out of the U.S Senate where a two thirds vote is required —not to mention, the required two-thirds vote in the U.S. House and three fourths of the states to ratify. It is very, very unlikely to happen in the next presidential term, and the President does not have a vote in the amendment process anyway. The only way Roe v. Wade will be reversed in the foreseeable future will be through the Supreme Court and Fred Thompson has stated that he will appoint judges who will interpret the Constitution according to its actual text (the kind of judges who will know that abortion is not in the U.S. Constitution).
Lopez: Does Fred Thompson have to do some things differently now that he has your endorsement? Did it come with conditions and/or assurances?
St. Martin: We discussed their positions on life issues extensively with each of the major pro-life candidates, including Fred Thompson. We did not interview or consider Giuliani for endorsement.
Lopez: How important is it that the Republican candidate for president be opposed to legal abortion? Was there a political calculation here? Does the National Right to Life Committee think Fred Thompson is the most viable pro-life candidate?
St. Martin: We think that it is very important that the Republican candidate for President be pro-life. Yes, viability is an important criteria for our endorsement, but all three factors, commitments, record and viability are all important and were considered.
Lopez: Is your endorsement of Thompson an explicit rejection of Romney? Do you not believe he is pro-life?
St. Martin: The endorsement of Thompson was done based on the three factors mentioned above: record on life issues, commitments on life issues and ability to win.
LOPEZ: Does this mean that you believe that: a) Romney’s record as governor is weak on life? b) Romney is not fully committed to defending life? c) Romney cannot win the Republican nomination? d) Romney cannot win the general election?
ST. MARTIN: Our emphasis today is on our endorsement of Fred Thompson. That endorsement reflects his strong pro-life commitment and record. Fred Thompson has been pro-life his entire political career.
Lopez: Why not go safe and endorse Huckabee? Or heck, Ron Paul, a pro-life doctor?
St. Martin: If you look at our website www.nrlc.org, you can examine for yourself the pro-life records of several of the candidates who have served in Congress. An objective comparison of the statements of all candidates is also available on our web site. Huckabee has an excellent pro-life record, but as you can see on our web site, Thompson also has an excellent pro-life record. However, Thompson has been the candidate consistently running second to pro-abortion Giuliani in the national polls. You may also wish to check out Ron Paul’s voting record on our web site.
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