All but written off for politically dead by the chattering class, Fred Thompson bounced back with critics say was a winning performance in the Fox debate in South Carolina on Thursday night, and now he’s picked up the endorsement of one of the nation’s most influential conservative journals.
In a lengthy editorial Human Events spelled out their reasons for throwing their considerable weight behind the former Tennessee senator and "Law & Order" TV star.
Explaining that since the end of World War II America has not had a presidential election at a time when the stakes were higher, Human Events wrote that “Conservatives have to win this election, and to do so, we have to identify a candidate around whom we all can rally.”
Quoting Ronald Reagan’s words at the Conservative Political Action Conference Feb. 15, 1975, that “A political party cannot be all things to all people. It must represent certain fundamental beliefs which must not be compromised to political expediency or simply to swell its numbers, the editorial commented “We believed that then, and we believe it now. The issue for us -- and for the conservative community -- boils down to which of the candidates is most representative of the fundamental conservative principles we believe in. The answer is Fred Thompson.”
After discussing the merits and demerits of the other GOP candidates, the editorial concluded “We make this endorsement on the basis of much research, having interviewed Sen. Thompson and some of his opponents, as well as examining what they have all said and done. We conclude that Thompson is a solid conservative whose judgment is grounded in our principles.”
According to Human Events:
Thompson in his senate years compiled an American Conservative Union lifetime rating of 86.1, which is higher than both Sen. John McCain (82.3) and Rep. Ron Paul (82.3). Thompson “is solidly pro-life,” favoring overturning Roe v. Wade because it was “bad law and bad medical science.” His record is solid on voting to preserve gun owners’ rights, cut taxes, reduce government spending and drill for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. He has voted consistently against gay marriage. Thompson unhesitatingly attacks the liberal ideologues and their activists such as MoveOn.org and the ACLU, and he reaches out to those we knew as the Reagan Democrats.Admitting that Thompson is by no means perfect, the editorial recalled that he strongly supported the McCain-Feingold bill, failed to support the impeachment of Bill Clinton on perjury “and more than once voted with the trial lawyers against limitations on liability in defective product and medical malpractice cases.”
Noting his failure to aggressively pursue the nomination the editorial advised Thompson “In the next week, you have the opportunity to connect with the conservatives in South Carolina who will be eager to hear your message. We were encouraged when you told Iowans, ‘I think I know how to talk to the American people about the [Democrats] and the danger their victory would pose to the principles we hold dear.’ Now is the time you have to do it…
“Tell us how you -- rather than your opponents -- would be better able to beat either New York Sen. Hillary Clinton or Illinois Sen. Barack Obama in the fall. You told the Iowans you were, but you need to tell us all now. Why you, and not Mitt or Mike or Rudy or John? Preview your fall campaign by attacking the centers of liberalism as you did in Iowa, and connect each one of them to the liberals you’ll be running against.
“As you said, the Democrats are all liberals. It may not matter which candidate you run against, because they’re all a bunch of MoveOn.org-CodePink-ACLU clones.
“We believe that politicians, like the rest of us, can make their own luck. In that regard, we wish you a productive and successful primary season.”
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