Posted on 09/23/2007 8:58:57 AM PDT by Spiff
Mackinac Island, Michigan Fred Thompson finally made clear his position on the statist campaign finance restrictions embodied in the McCain-Feingold bill. And conservatives are clearly not going to be pleased.
When the former star of TV's "Law and Order" series and newly-minted presidential candidate spoke to reporters on the porch of the Grand Hotel here, I asked Thompson whether he was proud of his role in enacting the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation in '01.
"Yes," replied the former Tennessee senator without hesitation. "You will recall that the central part of the legislation was getting rid of soft money [from the political process]." He then went on to remind me that he came from a background in the private sector and, in that sector, it would have been thought unseemly for "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to be poured in to influence someone's decision. In the public arena, "it got to be the norm" because of the soft money, upon which there were no limits for donations to the two major political parties." The contributors, he said, would then, "harass legislators before they vote on anything. This was not a good idea."
Thompson went on to remind me that it was his amendment to McCain-Feingold that, "raised the hard money index" and he was also proud of that.
If there is anything in McCain-Feingold that "has not worked out," he went to say, it is "placing limitations on ads [by independent groups] in the [political] process. Thompson hinted that he would support legislation to change this, since "the Supreme Court has better things to do with its time than hear cases on unfair limitation." (Earlier this year, by a decision of 5-to-4, the Supreme Court struck down parts of McCain-Feingold that dealt with limiting ads by independent groups.) He also said that the landmark campaign finance legislation he held shepherd to passage (and which President Bush signed in '01) has created a larger bureaucracy to enforce regulations and "that part hasn't worked out."
When he began considering a White House bid earlier this year, the 65-year-old Thompson stunned longtime friends when, in an interview published in The American Spectator, he was quoted as suggesting he might have erred in backing campaign finance restrictions, that the law could now lift the limits on campaign contributions and have instant reporting, a position most conservatives support on campaign finance. More recently, Thompson, defended McCain-Feingold passionately in interviews with syndicated columnist George Will and radio talk show host Laura Ingrahm.
Now Fred Thompson has made his position clear--and did so with passion. In a few hours, the Tennessean will join John McCain (whom he supported in 2000) as one of the main dinner speakers at the Michigan Republican Leadership Conference here. Fred Thompson Defends McCain-Feingold
by John Gizzi
Human Events
Posted: 09/22/2007
Now you done did it, Spiff. :-)
If this is true I cannot support Thompson.
Here come the excuses.
I thought he said he regreted the decision to support it ?
What’s this, Flip-flopping a la John Kerry ?
“Now Fred Thompson has made his position clear—and did so with passion.”
I didn’t read anything “passionate” from him about his support in that article.
It's one of the major reasons that I stopped supporting him.
There's more info in this thread.
I agree. And, it wouldn’t surprise me if he made McCrazy his VP.
Who do you think is better than Fred and can win in November 2008?
Huckabee? Not likely. Tancredo? What percentage does he poll now? 1%? Mitt? Not better. Newt? Not running, and not clear he can beat Her Thighness. McCain or Rudy? Definitely not better. Ronald Reagan? Better: yep, unfortunately he’s dead.
Perfection doesn’t exit in this life.
| “Plain-Speaking” About McCain-Feingold-Thompson |
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| Posted by pissant On News/Activism 09/21/2007 1:33:22 PM CDT · 146 replies Townhall.com ^ | 9/21/07 | James Bopp Jr. Fred Thompson, running for President as the "plain-speaking consistent conservative," was asked about campaign finance reform by Laura Ingraham on her radio show the day after his Presidential announcement. She said, "One of the things that also happened in the Senate was McCain-Feingold and it was initially called McCain-Feingold-Thompson. Of course that's campaign finance reform. As you know, Senator Thompson, the Supreme Court has struck down part of that as unconstitutional on First Amendment grounds, you know, issue ads that you can't run before a general election or a primary contest, which for conservatives like me are just anathema to... |
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Either one are still more "viable" candidates against Hitlery/Osama-bama than Rudy McRomney ever could be...
Thompson is only defending the soft money limits portion of McCain-Feingold, not the repulsive anti-free speech portion concern ads. Nice spin though.
Why shouldn’t Fred be proud of “his role?” It was a good proposal in theory. He just isn’t proud of how MF turned out in it’s final form. And has said as much in the past.
If this is all Fred has to worry about, then the RINOs should be worried.
I'll bet any money Thompson will select Jeb Bush or Huckabee as VP though. If he's nominated, he's going to go with a Governor.
Just a hunch. I think that will change very soon.
Looks like I might be voting “none of the above” next year.
Money talks. It say ‘Goodbye Conservatives’. Conservatives can’t raise enough ‘free speech’ to compete against those who are PAC funded. Current campaign finance laws insure that those with money will continue to pick the nominees of both parties. When money talks, voters listen.
The entrenched East Coast old Republican guard media really has it out for Fred Thompson now. He’s threatening the golden boy Rudy a bit too much.
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