The Politico addresses Fred!
Anyone who's been watching the unfolding soap opera surrounding a Thompson candidacy are aware of two things that are most apparent:
#1 -- Democrats are afraid of him as they continue to try and dredge up things from his past.
#2 -- Based on more than one media report, the MSM is certainly trying to sink his ship before it even leaves the dock. Needless to say, they're failing miserably.
Johnathon Martin from the Politico emphasizes the second point today:
The sound of silence tells an interesting tale when it comes to Fred Thompson. A week after reports emerged suggesting that the former Tennessee senator once lobbied for an abortion rights group, few leaders of the GOP’s conservative wing have expressed concern.
In fact, the fallout in conservative circles has largely been confined to defending Thompson and attacking the Los Angeles Times, which broke the story. And this comes, as reported by Politico.com’s Mike Allen, as Thompson has dropped his flat denial of the charge and now instead says he can’t remember.
The muted reaction illuminates a larger point: just how hungry many on the right are for a Thompson candidacy and their inclination to overlook evidence that the soon-to-be candidate may be something less than a true believer.
“I think it’s a nonissue for two reasons” observed Gary Bauer of the allegation that in 1991, Thompson represented the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association in their effort to ease the rule barring federal funds to clinics that offered abortion counseling.
“First, the facts are in question,” said Bauer, a social conservative leader, “and second, this took place before he was in the United States Senate.”
In an evolving response to the story, Thompson has tried to shrug it off as, if true, an inconsequential incident in a 30-year career in public service that by definition sometimes involved complicated alliances. He told conservative talk show host Sean Hannity last week that “you need to separate a lawyer who is advocating a position from the position itself.”
“I’m not going to get down into the weeds with everything they dredge up over the next six months,” Thompson said.
If he continues to get a pass from conservatives, he may not have to.
“If you add up everything Thompson has done in past, I don’t know that this sufficient to hurt him,” said Oran Smith, head of South Carolina’s Palmetto Family Council and an influential social conservative in the state.
Asked if he was concerned about the Times report, Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council and somebody who has extolled Thompson, said, “No, I’m really not.”
“This is becoming so old,” Perkins scoffed. “They find somebody who has staked out a pro-life position, and the first thing they say is that he’s supported a pro-abortion group.”
What’s more, Perkins said, there has been no “indication that it’s getting traction.”
“People are considering the source.”
Bauer said much the same thing, pointing out that he had received no phone calls or e-mails of concern. “The leak came from a pro-abortion group,” Bauer noted. “The intention is to torpedo his campaign.”
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has offered perhaps the most effusive praise on Thompson of any conservative leader, deeming him “Southern-fried Reagan.” He said much by saying nothing at all. Asked repeatedly for an interview on the revelations that Thompson may have once worked on behalf of an abortion-rights group, Land declined to talk.
Welcome to Campaign '08, and the ultimate inside track where the rubber is meeting the road. The 'Net will be the battleground for the presidency. When the Times story broke, it was the blogosphere that reacted to it immediately, and dug up the information regarding the pro-abortion group making the allegations. When that happened, the bottom fell out of the story. Allah not only noticed the holes int he story, but then noticed how the Times "conveniently" started losing pieces of their bombshell report making the story extremely suspect.
If the media continues on it's present course towards the other side of McCain's iceberg, they're going to continue blowing up their own nearly-non-existent credibility before this election is done.
Publius II
#1 -- Democrats are afraid of him as they continue to try and dredge up things from his past.
#2 -- Based on more than one media report, the MSM is certainly trying to sink his ship before it even leaves the dock. Needless to say, they're failing miserably.
Johnathon Martin from the Politico emphasizes the second point today:
The sound of silence tells an interesting tale when it comes to Fred Thompson. A week after reports emerged suggesting that the former Tennessee senator once lobbied for an abortion rights group, few leaders of the GOP’s conservative wing have expressed concern.
In fact, the fallout in conservative circles has largely been confined to defending Thompson and attacking the Los Angeles Times, which broke the story. And this comes, as reported by Politico.com’s Mike Allen, as Thompson has dropped his flat denial of the charge and now instead says he can’t remember.
The muted reaction illuminates a larger point: just how hungry many on the right are for a Thompson candidacy and their inclination to overlook evidence that the soon-to-be candidate may be something less than a true believer.
“I think it’s a nonissue for two reasons” observed Gary Bauer of the allegation that in 1991, Thompson represented the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association in their effort to ease the rule barring federal funds to clinics that offered abortion counseling.
“First, the facts are in question,” said Bauer, a social conservative leader, “and second, this took place before he was in the United States Senate.”
In an evolving response to the story, Thompson has tried to shrug it off as, if true, an inconsequential incident in a 30-year career in public service that by definition sometimes involved complicated alliances. He told conservative talk show host Sean Hannity last week that “you need to separate a lawyer who is advocating a position from the position itself.”
“I’m not going to get down into the weeds with everything they dredge up over the next six months,” Thompson said.
If he continues to get a pass from conservatives, he may not have to.
“If you add up everything Thompson has done in past, I don’t know that this sufficient to hurt him,” said Oran Smith, head of South Carolina’s Palmetto Family Council and an influential social conservative in the state.
Asked if he was concerned about the Times report, Tony Perkins, head of the Family Research Council and somebody who has extolled Thompson, said, “No, I’m really not.”
“This is becoming so old,” Perkins scoffed. “They find somebody who has staked out a pro-life position, and the first thing they say is that he’s supported a pro-abortion group.”
What’s more, Perkins said, there has been no “indication that it’s getting traction.”
“People are considering the source.”
Bauer said much the same thing, pointing out that he had received no phone calls or e-mails of concern. “The leak came from a pro-abortion group,” Bauer noted. “The intention is to torpedo his campaign.”
Richard Land, president of the Southern Baptist Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission, has offered perhaps the most effusive praise on Thompson of any conservative leader, deeming him “Southern-fried Reagan.” He said much by saying nothing at all. Asked repeatedly for an interview on the revelations that Thompson may have once worked on behalf of an abortion-rights group, Land declined to talk.
Welcome to Campaign '08, and the ultimate inside track where the rubber is meeting the road. The 'Net will be the battleground for the presidency. When the Times story broke, it was the blogosphere that reacted to it immediately, and dug up the information regarding the pro-abortion group making the allegations. When that happened, the bottom fell out of the story. Allah not only noticed the holes int he story, but then noticed how the Times "conveniently" started losing pieces of their bombshell report making the story extremely suspect.
If the media continues on it's present course towards the other side of McCain's iceberg, they're going to continue blowing up their own nearly-non-existent credibility before this election is done.
Publius II
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 7:12 PM
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