Pro-Choice Fred Thompson

Andrew Sullivan directs me to Fred Thompson's pro-choice past. Of course, such flip-flops are hardly unheard of in either party or in either direction.

Still, this one's odd. Oftentimes, you'll see a politician (Mitt Romney, Al Gore) start out in line with local sentiment and then change his position to line up with the national party's position. Thompson, however, was running as a Republican in Tennessee, where I have a hard time believing he needed to be pro-choice in order to stay politically viable.

Comments

But, but, but.............Fred Thompson is authentic. That is what all the Washington pundits keep telling us.

http://donkeyod.wordpress.com/2007/06/10/authentic-never-mind/

On the other hand, consider the case of Fred Thompson. He spent 18 years working as a highly paid lobbyist, wore well-tailored suits and drove a black Lincoln Continental. When he ran for the Senate, however, his campaign reinvented him as a good old boy: it leased a used red pickup truck for him to drive, dressed up in jeans and a work shirt, with a can of Red Man chewing tobacco on the front seat.

But Mr. Thompson’s strength, says Lanny Davis in The Hill, is that he’s “authentic.”

Posted by DonB | June 11, 2007 11:51 AM

Get real. Fred Thompson is a "Federalist." He believes states should individually address their stance on abortion NOT have it mandated by the federal government. He has stated more than once that Roe vs. Wade was bad law and bad medicine. Nothing in the video states his personal position. Other videos make it very clear he is pro life. His authenticity is in NOT allowing his personal opinions to conflict with LAW.

Posted by Rebecca | June 11, 2007 2:24 PM

During his eight years in the Senate, Thompson won his free trade credentials with his votes to extend the president's fast-track trade promotion authority and to approve permanent trading relations with China. One right-wing critic in a widely circulated internet column called Thompson a "neocon globalist" for his immigration, free trade, and foreign policy positions.
Social conservatives are also likely to question Thompson's "liberal" voting record on immigration. Although Thompson has recently written and spoken out about the need for strong border control, while in the Senate he voted to increase visas for skilled foreign workers and to increase permits for unskilled foreign farm workers. Overall, Americans for Better Immigration, an anti-immigration lobbying group, gives Thompson a career grade of C for his mixed voting record. Thompson will likely come under withering criticism from anti-immigrant candidate Rep. Tom Tancredo (R-CO), who mixes his social conservatism with a heavy dose of nationalism and anti-corporate populism.

Posted by Thompson Truth File | June 11, 2007 4:26 PM

The bloom comes off

Posted by lidy | June 11, 2007 4:27 PM

Did anyone actually watch the video? That isn't any kind of pro-choice position I've ever heard of. Just because the guy says he doesn't want to put doctors in jail doesn't make him pro-choice.

Posted by Steve | June 11, 2007 6:56 PM