Defending Fred Thompson
By Doug Hagin (07/12/07)
Anyone who knows me knows I am strongly supporting Fred Thompson for president of the United States. I have laid out my reasons in previous columns. In short, I believe Thompson is a true Conservative, His record shows that, his recent speeches and columns prove it as well. I have nothing but confidence in this man to be not only a great pick for the GOP, but, I also believe he can defeat Hillary next November, and let us be very honest here, Hillary Clinton WILL BE the Democratic nominee. Thompson, is, in my view a man that can both excite the conservative base and reach middle of the road voters as well. That is a recipe for success my friends.
There is little doubt this nation is in desperate need of real conservative leadership, frankly, we all know no Democrat running can provide that leadership. All they seem to have is defeatism, despair, and their same old neo-Marxist ideals that have never worked and can never work. Frankly speaking, a Democrat in the White House would be a disaster for America in every way. We, as Conservatives know this.
Last night, while updating my website, I came across a column by a man named Richard Viguerie. In that column, Mr. Viguerie expressed little faith that Thompson is even a Conservative at all. Willing to listen to any challenges to Thompson’s credentials, and with an open mind, I read the column, and frankly, it looked far more like a Michael Moore hit piece than anything written by a reasonable man with genuine concerns. In short, it was pathetic.
Let us look at some of the objections raised by Mr. Viguerie to Fred Thompson’s conservatism shall we?
First off, Viguerie plays the “Fred is lazy” card. “Rumors circulated that Thompson was lazy, uninterested in the daily grind that comes with being a Senator—and one can understand that Capitol Hill is a lot more tedious and less glamorous than a Hollywood movie lot. More important were Thompson’s failures of will and his lack of leadership on any legislation that would promote the conservative cause. Instead what little leadership we got from Thompson advanced the liberal Establishment agenda.”
Hmmm, well I fail to see any Liberal agenda items Thompson advanced. Viguerie certainly fails to list any, except to express his dissatisfaction with the results of Thompson’s investigation into Bill Clinton’s fundraising scandal. Yes, I wish Clinton had been brought to account for this too. However, blaming Thompson for this is flat wrong.
Another problem Viguerie has with Thompson is his failure to be critical enough of the expansion of the federal government by President Bush. Apparently, Mr. Viguerie has been too busy trying to sell his new book to watch or listen to the numerous clips of Thompson talking repeatedly about fixing Washington. Hearing the disapproval Fred Thompson holds for the big spending ways of Washington is pretty easy to do. One can listen to many examples on my site at the Fred Thompson 2008 page. Now, Thompson has not gone around pounding lecterns and ranting like a lunatic about how the government is spending far too much. He has, though, expressed his views on lowering taxes, reforming the tax code, and of course reducing the size and spending of the government, in a very thoughtful and eloquent fashion. Mr. Viguerie should pay closer attention.
Yet another complaint about Thompson according to Viguerie is that he does not have enough “long-time conservative activists” surrounding him. Hmmm, I know there are hundreds of bloggers who are championing Fred Thompson as the man for 2008. I know of many columnists, like JB Williams, Edward Daley, many others, and myself who are solidly behind Thompson. I know many Conservatives who will be very happy when Fred enters the race. Do we not count? Are we not Conservatives? Is our lack of name recognition enough for Mr. Viguerie? Well Mr. Viguerie allow me to introduce us, we are the Conservatives of the United States of America. You might try listening to us.
Next up, let us look at the most asinine criticism Mr. Viguerie offers up. Apparently, we should reject Fred Thompson because he knows Howard Baker! Moreover, it turns out, Thompson also knows Lamar Alexander! Well, hell, get out the tar and feathers! Come on, what is this an 8th grade class? We cannot support Thompson because he is friends with Howard Baker. Thompson knows many people; he ought to be judged on HIS ideals, not theirs. What dastardly secrets will Mr. Viguerie reveal about Thompson next? Perhaps he shook hands with a Democrat or two while he served in the Senate? Or maybe he actually spoke with Democrats! Oh, the horror!
Finally, Mr. Viguerie attempts to deceive us on Senator Thompson’s voting record. In his column, Viguerie claims Thompson voted against impeachment proceedings against Bill Clinton. Well, no, sorry, Mr. Viguerie, but, while Thompson did vote against one article he voted FOR the others. A fact Mr. Viguerie conveniently forgot to include it seems.
Throughout his column/please buy my book/I hate Fred Thompson piece Mr. Viguerie references the American Conservative Union’s ratings of US Senators as proof that Fred Thompson is no Conservative. Well I looked at his ratings, and they were overwhelmingly positive.
You can check them out as well www.acuratings.org . You can also read the entire column by Mr. Viguerie here http://www.conservativesbetrayed.com/gw3/articles-latestnews/articles.php?CMSArticleID=1827&CMSCategoryID=19 and please stop by my Fred Thompson page at http://www.gatorsense.com/id15.html See or yourself my friends.
I do not know exactly why the Richard Viguerie dislikes Thompson, perhaps it is some personal issue, and perhaps he is genuine in his concern. All I know is that he offers very little reason not to support Fred Thompson in 2008.
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