Fred Thompson Defends McCain-Feingold - Political Forum

superdude17* · 09-23-2007, 12:34 PM

Source: Fred Thompson Stands Up for McCain-Feingold - HUMAN EVENTS

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Fred Defends McCain-Feingold: Fred Thompson finally made clear his position on the statist campaign finance restrictions embodied in the McCain-Feingold bill. And conservatives are clearly not going to be pleased.

When the former star of TV's "Law and Order" series and newly-minted presidential candidate spoke to reporters on the porch of the Grand Hotel here, I asked Thompson whether he was proud of his role in enacting the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation in '01.

"Yes," replied the former Tennessee senator without hesitation. "You will recall that the central part of the legislation was getting rid of soft money [from the political process]." He then went on to remind me that he came from a background in the private sector and, in that sector, it would have been thought unseemly for "hundreds of thousands of dollars" to be poured in to influence someone's decision. In the public arena, "it got to be the norm" because of the soft money, upon which there were no limits for donations to the two major political parties." The contributors, he said, would then, "harass legislators before they vote on anything. This was not a good idea."

Thompson went on to remind me that it was his amendment to McCain-Feingold that, "raised the hard money index" and he was also proud of that.

If there is anything in McCain-Feingold that "has not worked out," he went to say, it is "placing limitations on ads [by independent groups] in the [political] process. Thompson hinted that he would support legislation to change this, since "the Supreme Court has better things to do with its time than hear cases on unfair limitation." (Earlier this year, by a decision of 5-to-4, the Supreme Court struck down parts of McCain-Feingold that dealt with limiting ads by independent groups.) He also said that the landmark campaign finance legislation he held shepherd to passage (and which President Bush signed in '01) has created a larger bureaucracy to enforce regulations and "that part hasn't worked out."

When he began considering a White House bid earlier this year, the 65-year-old Thompson stunned longtime friends when, in an interview published in The American Spectator, he was quoted as suggesting he might have erred in backing campaign finance restrictions, that the law could now lift the limits on campaign contributions and have instant reporting, a position most conservatives support on campaign finance. More recently, Thompson, defended McCain-Feingold passionately in interviews with syndicated columnist George Will and radio talk show host Laura Ingrahm.

Now Fred Thompson has made his position clear--and did so with passion. In a few hours, the Tennessean will join John McCain (whom he supported in 2000) as one of the main dinner speakers at the Michigan Republican Leadership Conference here.

Oh man, for all the conservatives here, you should see the forums at Free Republic. They are throwing up guns and arms against Thompson right now, saying they can't vote for him anymore b/c of this.

Love it

Big Brother · 09-23-2007, 02:04 PM

Believe it or not, when the infamous Republican Congress of 94 was elected, one of the issues that was strong on their agenda was campaign Finance reform. This shows how nutball the party has become over the last decade. No doubt Thompson has struggled to keep up with Conservative extremism.

Bottom line Dude. Rudy is a whining little old lady. He doesn't come off on the tube and Thompson does. This has you scared and rightly so, hence all the anti Thompson rhetoric of late. He may be far to the right of me on many issues but he is the only one who comes off as a human being, not some shill to the Republican money interest as Rudy is.

Big Bro

superdude17* · 09-23-2007, 05:42 PM

Rudy & Fred. Now that would be a match made in heaven.

RepublicanHater · 09-23-2007, 05:43 PM

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Originally Posted by superdude17*

Rudy & Fred. Now that would be a match made in heaven.

..............Or Hell

superdude17* · 09-23-2007, 05:44 PM

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Originally Posted by RepublicanHater

..............Or Hell

no demo could ever compete with that. all of the republican party would converge with that duo.

RepublicanHater · 09-23-2007, 05:45 PM

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Originally Posted by superdude17*

no demo could ever compete with that. all of the republican party would converge with that duo.

I doubt it, Hillary and Obama I think could match that.

superdude17* · 09-23-2007, 05:46 PM

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Originally Posted by RepublicanHater

I doubt it, Hillary and Obama I think could match that.

why would obama ever run w/ hillary? you need to get some sense straight. he would never do that.

RepublicanHater · 09-23-2007, 05:47 PM

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Originally Posted by superdude17*

why would obama ever run w/ hillary? you need to get some sense straight. he would never do that.

I know he would never run with Hillary but i'm just saying if he did, I think they could probally match Thompson and Gulliani.

superdude17* · 09-23-2007, 05:48 PM

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Originally Posted by RepublicanHater

I know he would never run with Hillary but i'm just saying if he did, I think they could probally match Thompson and Gulliani.

he has too much of a future to settle into the likes of a loser job, such as that of a VP