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Posted: September 14, 2007 5:02 PM
Thompson Defines Stance on Abortion
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In a number of campaign speeches, former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., has stressed his conservatism, saying in Iowa he is “100 percent” opposed to abortion and believes the United States should continuing to combat Islamic fundamentalism: “It is extremely important that we not show weakness.”

As for his stance on abortion, he said he opposes having women face criminal sanctions. “I’ve always said that I did not believe that young girls and their families should be criminalized. They can do whatever they want to abortion doctors, as far as I’m concerned,” he said, according to the Washington Post. “If it comes down to giving criminal sanctions to 18-, 19-year-old girls and their mama, I’m against that.”
When talking about Osama bin Laden, Thompson said, “Bin Laden being in the mountains of Pakistan or Afghanistan is not as important as there are probably al-Qaida operatives inside the United States of America,” quoted the Associated Press.
During his visit to South Carolina, Thompson said bin Laden “ought to be caught and killed.” He clarified that there would be a due process, and later, his spokesman explained the due process would be through a special military court or commission.
Thompson also made a stop in New Hampshire after skipping the debates in Durham on the day he announced his candidacy. And his campaign announced Christopher Wood, who has worked on other GOP campaigns, would become political director for Thompson’s New Hampshire primary bid.
During his visit, he rejected the comparison to former President Reagan, according to the AP, saying, The only comparison I like with regard to Ronald Reagan, which nobody can live up to, is that he was so believable. He was such a good communicator because he believed so intensely in his principles and he stuck with them. The camera doesn’t lie.
The New York Times wrote about the differences between Thompson’s and Reagan’s conservatism and pointed out Thompson has in the past voted for affirmative action as well as against imposing federal caps on lawyers’ fees.
Thompson scored an endorsement from Mississippi Republican Sen. Thad Cochran, according to a campaign press release, which quoted Cochran as saying, “Senator Thompson is the candidate best able to win the general election in 2008 and carry our conservative values all the way to the White House.”
Since Thompson made his presidential run official, the candidate has climbed in a CNN poll, closing in on former New York Mayor and one of the GOP front-runners Rudy Giuliani within 1 percentage point and in a CBS/New York Times poll, coming in within 5 percentage points of Giuliani, according to Reuters.
During Thompson’s three-day bus tour of Florida, he said decisions about education should be made on the state and local levels rather than the federal as he criticized the No Child Left Behind program as not working.
According to the Politico, while in the Senate, Thompson voted for the education measure.
A New York Times story took a look at Thompson’s past work as a lawyer and lobbyist, revealing he billed 3.3 hours to Arent Fox firm, which was then advising the Libyan counsel for two suspects in the Pan Am Flight 103 1988 bombing.