Posted on 07/20/2007 8:33:56 PM PDT by Josh Painter
The 2 1/2 -minute video of Fred D. Thompson that played at the National Right to Life Committee's annual meeting last month dazzled the group...
In the three weeks that followed, Thompson and his not-yet-official presidential campaign did their best to undo that goodwill...
But instead of viewing him with suspicion, leading social conservatives are rallying around Thompson, citing his eight-year Senate record as proof of his commitment to fight abortion. They dismiss the lobbying report as an effort to drive a wedge between leaders of their cause and a politician who could be their best hope for putting a kindred soul in the White House...
Campaign aides concede that their responses to the abortion question have been poor. Thompson spokeswoman Burson Snyder said her candidate still "does not recall" doing work for the abortion rights group but concedes the records show he did some "pretty insignificant" consulting.
"These organizations get what's going on here," Snyder said. "They've seen his voting record. They've seen he was endorsed by the National Right to Life group. When the rubber met the road, they know where he was."
The fact that the revelations -- and the campaign's sometimes sloppy response to them -- have not caused more long-term problems underscores the conservative community's desperation for a Republican candidate who is both true to its cause and positioned to win the presidency...
One Republican observer... said the delay in the campaign's announcement is intended to allow Thompson time to work the kinks out before officially declaring his candidacy.
"This was a loosely affiliated group of supporters and friends of Senator Thompson for a long time," the adviser said. "[He] is laying the groundwork for what, should he decide to get in, will be an organized and well-oiled machine."
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
*************
That's for sure. They're just warming up at this point.
Hear hear. Being a conservative smack-dab in the middle of Tennessee, I can offer up two things:
1. Conservative Tennesseans know what FDT brings to the table. We like to think we know who is conservative around here especially after Gore’s unmended fences.
2. So, we and FDT will have to convince the other 49 that he’s the real deal.
But for a conservative from another camp to get in that flea-infested bed with “the others” on this non-story is just plain sad. It offers nothing to our side.
Oh, please. Five months to prepare for a presidential campaign is NOT “an inordinate amount” of time.
"I'd just say the flies get bigger in the summertime. I guess the flies are buzzing," quipped Thompson about the allegations, which have been used to call into question the truth of Thompson's repeated statements about his pro-life stance. "There's no documents to prove it, there's no billing records, and Thompson says he has no recollection of it, says it didn't happen,"said Corallo
This was from a story dated 7-9 and if Corallo lied about what Fred said then he should be fired. He could have corrected Corallo the next day and anytime thereafter. Colloquialisms about "summer flies" and Corallo's unchallenged statement sounds like anything but straight talk to me. http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1863395/posts
One would think it would be prudent to see how a candidate actually performed in debates and on the campaign trail before jumping in to full support.
I want Thompson to answer up to why he supported the lobbying of Aristide. #46
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1869517/posts?page=46#46
Im going to wait until he gets out on the open road and judge him by his performance.
Until then maybe you should take your own advice:
“Dude, take it easy.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.