Who was Thompson’s choice for president in 1980?
Not Reagan.
Fred Thompson = Howard Baker
For that matter, who was Thompson’s choice for president in 2000?
Not Bush.
Fred Thompson = John McCain
So? I voted for McCain in 2000 as well. At the time he appeared to be the best choice. I warmed up to Dubya, but voted for McCain in the primary.
Gonna ban me now or what? ;-)
Reagan supported Nixon in 1960, Goldwater in 1964, Ford in 1976 and GHW Bush in 1992.
So whats your point?
Oh, for heaven’s sake. Thompson is NOT a McCain clone. He’s his own man, as evidenced by his multiple holdout votes (99-1) in the senate on questions of states’ rights.
During the eight years that Thompson and McCain served together, they cast votes on 102 CQ-defined key votes and agreed on 83 of them - or 81.4 percent of the time. They disagreed 18.6% of the time, that’s pretty high considering that both are Republicans and both are considered relatively conservative. Just as an example from one year, among the instances in which Thompson and McCain differed were votes in 2002 to effectively extend a repeal of the estate tax beyond 2010, to authorize oil drilling in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, and to postpone tougher automobile fuel efficiency standards. Thompson voted “aye” and McCain voted “no” in all three cases.
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Ed Morrissey, posting on Captain’s Quarters:
“Thompson also had some significant issues with McCain’s policies. He supported the BCRA, but now says that campaign finance reform has done nothing to solve the problems it intended to address, and that a new approach is needed. Thompson supported the Bush tax cuts from the beginning. He also pushed back against some of McCain’s bipartisan efforts, such as on the “patients bill of rights”, on federalist grounds.
In the end, though, the biggest difference is trust. The base simply does not trust John McCain, not after the BCRA, the McCain-Kennedy immigration reform bill, and especially not after the Gang of 14. No amount of banging on podiums about the war will repair that damage in the primaries. With Thompson, the base gets the best parts of the McCain platform, with a healthy dose of federalism and lower taxes, and some measure of reliability. As much as the [Washington] Post wants to tie them together, Fred and John are quite different — and the GOP base understands that.
http://www.captainsquartersblog.com/mt/archives/009894.php
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Thought Mesh blog puts it more succinctly:
“But even my passing glance is enough to see some very substantial differences [Thompson has] from McCain.”
http://blog.thought-mesh.net/archives/2007/05/its_always_the_beam_in_o.php
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Fred Thomson, in a recent Orange County Register interview:
“A Republican, especially a conservative Republican - you’re going to have a large group of people you line up with on most votes. John and I certainly fit that category. But we have different views on some issues. We’ll have a good discussion about it. But John is my friend and will remain my friend, regardless of what we do.”
http://blogs.ocregister.com/buzz/2007/05/oneonone_with_fred_thomspon.html
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Some key SenateMatch responses for Fred Thompson and John McCain:
“Abortion is a woman’s right”
Fred: Strongly Opposes (voted to ban partial-birth abortion)
McCain: Opposes (voted to allow partial-birth abortion)
“Sexual orientation protected by civil rights laws”
Fred: Strongly Opposes
McCain: Favors
“More federal funding for health coverage”
Fred: Opposes
McCain: Favors
“Replace coal & oil with alternatives”
Fred: Opposes (Voted to preserve budget for ANWR oil drilling)
McCain: Favors (Voted to kill budget for ANWR oil drilling