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In yet another sign of how split social conservatives are over 2008, former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson has picked up the endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee, the country’s most prominent anti-abortion group. The move, formally announced today, is a big win for Thompson, who is not considered a pro-life crusader on the campaign trail. In fact, the bigger news in today’s decision may lie in which candidates the group decided to bypass in tapping Thompson. The NRLC had been heavily courted by many GOP presidential hopefuls, including Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. Some had speculated that Romney might get the nod because of his close ties to the group. Jim Bopp Jr., the group’s general counsel, is a top adviser to Romney, while John Willkie, who founded the group, is also supporting the former Massachusetts governor. But according to one Republican with close ties to the organization, NRLC members were concerned about Romney’s past views on abortion, which were considerably more moderate than the positions he takes today. Huckabee, meanwhile, seems to have suffered from worries among the NLRC’s ranks that he would not be electable next November.
But Thompson has his own problems on the abortion front. As NEWSWEEK has previously reported, Thompson was also very moderate on the matter during his two campaigns for the Senate a decade ago, indicating on various questionnaires that he didn’t believe in criminalizing abortion. Other documents, on file with his Senate records at the University of Tennessee, indicate that Thompson struggled with the question of when life begins. “It comes down to whether life begins at conception. I don’t know in my own mind if that is the case, so I don’t feel the law ought to impose that standard on other people,” he said in a 1994 interview with a Tennessee newspaper. The file also includes a copy of answers provided in 1994 to another newspaper. “The ultimate decision on abortion should be left with the woman and not the government,” he answered. But in the NRLC’s view, actions speak louder than words. During his eight years in the Senate Thompson supported a ban on partial-birth abortions and joined with conservatives to block federal funding of abortions. The NRLC rewarded him with a 100-percent ranking on its annual survey of lawmakers—a stat that was pivotal in the group’s decision to give Thompson the nod.
Will the NLRC help rally other pro-life activists to Thompson’s side? Hard to say. While Thompson has moved to the right on the issue—he says his position was firmed up when he saw the ultrasound image of his now four-year-old daughter—the former senator still hasn’t made his views on abortion a central thrust of his campaign. In fact, he opposes a constitutional amendment banning abortion—an item high on many pro-lifers’ wish lists. Thompson, who is a federalist, believes the issue should be left up to the states—and that could be a deal breaker for some anti-abortion activists. Then again, maybe not. Pat Robertson’s endorsement aside, Rudy Giuliani is still considered by many social conservatives to be too moderate. Thompson has a long way to go in positioning himself as the more conservative alternative, but he takes one big step closer today.
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