Since you directly accused me of lying here are the links to back up my statements.
First, here is a link to a David Brody Article which quotes several of Fred’s 1996 statements about the Republican Platform. http://www.cbn.com/CBNnews/192754.aspx. Here are two of Fred’s statements about the Republican Platform which are discussed in the article. First, “It’s the most useless device I’ve ever heard of.” Second, “Does Anyone Remember What Was In The Last [platform] , Except Abortion? … If We Get Caught Up In Having A Platform Debate And Stuff Like That, We Deserve To Lose.”
Second, here is what Fred Thompson said on Meet the Press about the Federal Marriage Amendment - basically he supports an amendment which would prevent judges from imposing Gay Marriage but he opposes the federal marriage amendment as drafted which would define marriage as being only between a man and woman. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21623208/page/4/
“MR. RUSSERT: And also with gay marriage, according to the Associated Press: “Thompson favors a constitutional amendment that bars judges from legalizing gay marriage, but also leaves open the door for state legislatures to approve the practice.” So if a state said, “We want to have gay marriages in our state,” you would be OK with that?
MR. THOMPSON: Yes. This, this, this—the—marriage is between a man and a woman. Nobody ever thought that that was contested until recently, and we’ve had a couple judges in a couple states decide to turn all that on its head. So we’ve, we’ve had, again, a judge-created problem. I would support a constitutional amendment that addresses this judge-created problem. But at the end of—and, and say judges can’t do that. But, at the end of the day, if a state legislature and a governor decide that that’s what they want to do, yes, they should have, they, they should have the freedom to do what Fred Thompson thinks is a very bad idea.”
Now, that I have posted links to back up my claims will you apologize for calling me a liar?
Read the full quote from the AP in 1996 and the Brody quote and you will get the whole story. FRED Thompson wanted to get rid of a written platform altogether. There was a floor fight brewing about the platform because Bob Dole and Governor TOMMY Thompson were trying to water down the language. Senator FRED Thompson was trying to defuse the situation by advocating eliminating the platform altogether, THE WHOLE PLATFORM, not just the abortion plank. FRED Thompson was trying to hold the Republican Party together, which was in more danger of coming apart than most people realize. FRED’s goal was to defeat Bill Clinton. Dole and TOMMY Thompson couldn’t get out of their own way long enough to allow that to happen.
From the May 30, 1996 Virginian Pilot, reprinted from the WaPo:
“Wisconsin Gov. Tommy G. Thompson, an influential voice among Republican state officials, said Wednesday that the GOP platform plank on abortion should be ``modified’’ to make supporters of abortion rights more comfortable with the party’s anti-abortion stand.
The chairman of the National Governors Association and one of several governors reportedly under consideration as a possible running mate for Senate Majority Leader Bob Dole, Thompson told reporters that anti-abortion Republicans like himself need to be flexible on platform language to reduce the prospects of a divisive fight at the national convention in San Diego this August.”
Terry Jeffrey and others who don’t like Fred have tried to twist the history of those events to make Fred look bad, but I was a Republican activist during that time. I lived it and I know what happened. Dole and TOMMY Thompson thought that by watering down the abortion plank they’d widen their support. Pro-abortion activists were, rightly, having none of it. They were threatening to split from the party. Fred was trying to keep the peace. You can read more about it at the mclife.org website. TOMMY Thompson had the audacity to try again in 2000, but didn’t get very far, because Bush 43 stopped him.
If you really didn’t know the truth, then I apologize for calling you a liar. Now, you know the whole truth.
As for Defense of Marriage, where in this quote do you see non-support: “I would SUPPORT [emphasis mine] a CONSTITUTIONAL AMENDMENT [emphasis mine] that addresses this judge-created problem.”