Fred Thompson spoke this morning at the National Right to Life Convention. Townhall.com has posted his remarks as they were prepared.
I haven't had a chance to read his remarks in full because I have a workshop tomorrow at NRLC '08 that I am still preparing. I'll try to comment more fully later today.
Today, the Romney campaign announced the addition of nine lawyers to his Romney for President Advisory Committee on the Constitution and the Courts. These lawyers were all members of Lawyers for Thompson and will now join the Romney Presidential campaign as advisors.
According to the press release, the advisory committee is, "chaired by Professor Douglas W. Kmiec, former constitutional legal counsel to President Ronald Reagan, [Kmiec] has been advising Governor Romney on the important legal issues confronting the country today."
Thompson supporters aren't running to any particular candidate but this move is significant and may be indicative of a bigger wave that will move to Romney.
As reported by CNN, Fred Thompson announced today that he is leaving the race for the presidency. In an e-mailed statement, Thompson said, "Today I have withdrawn my candidacy for President of the United States. I hope that my country and my party have benefited from our having made this effort. Jeri and I will always be grateful for the encouragement and friendship of so many wonderful people."
My biggest complaint about the Thompson campaign is that when they finally entered the race, the splash they made upon entering didn't create a ripple-effect big enough to sustain the campaign. The campaign needed more energy and more visibility to keep it going.
That said, it is reported that Thompson's mother is ill and that can be hard on anyone. It's possible that, behind the scenes, her illness was taking a toll on the campaigner and the campaign-- and that's understandable. Running for the presidency is an 80 hour a week job-- and that's just to run. If your mother is ill too? That's more than enough for anyone's plate.
Speculation is that Thompson may endorse McCain but, according to CNN, Thompson has not contacted any of the other campaigns about an endorsement. So, for now, we guess and wonder where his endorsement will go-- and if it will help.
My last post explained how National Right to Life would have gone about finalizing the endorsement of Thompson from an internal perspective.
Personally, I am holding off on endorsing anyone. I think it's still too early to make any kind of judgments regarding who the most viable candidate will be. I do understand why others have made endorsements but as a writer I feel I need to hold back.
In the interest of full disclosure, I did make a $25 donation to Mike Huckabee and plan on donating to a couple of other pro-life candidates as well. We have a long haul in front of us and it makes better sense for us to focus on the Democratic candidates than who among the Republican frontrunners is more pro-life.
The Democrats have a strong chance of winning with one of their candidates and we have to make sure the American people know that each candidate vehemently supports abortion on demand.
Yes, there are varying degrees of pro-life among the Republican candidates. Some have come to the issue late in the game, others are more politically correct in their approach. Still others have been trusted friends of the movement for their entire political careers. But the enemy is in the other camp. Let's use our ink to expose the lies and misstatements of the pro-abortion left.
Earlier this week, my former employer, National Right to Life, endorsed Fred Thompson for president.
And the fur has begun to fly.
Yesterday, Paul Weyrich, the president of the Free Congress Foundation, claimed that the Thompson, in essence, bought off the National Right to Life Committee.
Weyrich told The Washington Times, "I think in all probability the Thompson people were engaged with the National Right to Life people in financial dealing."
Weyrich then went on to say that the Republican Party has funded National Right to Life in the past-- which is true, in part. The Republican Party made a sizable donation several years ago but the organization has received larger donations from private individuals before so that doesn't amount to any kind of smoking gun.
Relative to the organization's budget, the donation was a small percentage. Appreciated? Yes. The promise of future donations a bribe to the organization's leaders or board members? No, never.
I may not work for National Right to Life anymore but I believe in the group and the leaders. I know these people. They are like family.
They would not take a bribe for an endorsement.
National Right to Life is not some fly-by-the-seat-of-the-pants organization. It's board is comprised of representatives of all 50 states and let me tell you that if board members disagree with an idea another board member or staffer proposes, they will politely, but firmly, say so and then a discussion follows. A decision is made only with a majority of the board in agreement. The endorsement of Thompson was made after very careful and methodical consideration. And it received acceptance from the board representatives of all 50 states.
Does this mean that NRLC doesn't like the other candidates or doesn't think them pro-life enough? No. It means that the group sees Thompson as the best possible winnable candidate in a field of several very good ones.
Oh, did I mention that Weyrich is a Romney supporter?
It is being widely reported that Fred Thompson will file the paperwork necessary to form an exploratory committee in a precursor to a presidential run. One story quoted an unnamed source saying that the former Senator will make an announcement on or before July 4th .
Personally, I hope he runs. He's one of the few people who could meet the requirements conservatives are looking for and still give Hillary or Obama a run for their money.
Thompson's albatross is campaign finance reform but conservatives may be willing to overlook this because of his record on issues like abortion.
For now, we wait.
