NEWSWEEK: Thompson's Strategy on Key Issues May Cost Him the Conservative Vote

NEW YORK, June 17  /PRNewswire/ -- Unofficial GOP candidate Fred Thompson, who according to the latest Los Angeles Times/Bloomberg poll, came in a close second behind the current leader, Rudy Giuliani -- and beat everyone, including Giuliani, among self-described "religious right" voters -- may be in danger of losing supporters because of his record.

(Photo:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070616/CLSA011 )

In the June 25 issue of Newsweek (on newsstands Monday, June 18), Correspondent Holly Bailey reports that the charismatic and down to earth potential GOP candidate has avoided the kind of scrutiny his rivals have faced. But as he prepares to become an official candidate, his record in Washington will be given a closer look, and conservative voters disappointed to find that Thompson has been on the other side of some of their most important issues, including abortion and campaign fund-raising.

Combing through Thompson's archive, Newsweek found several files on his campaign strategy on abortion that could roil his 2008 bid. On a 1994 Eagle Forum survey, Thompson said he opposed criminalizing abortion. Two years later, on a Christian Coalition questionnaire, he checked "opposed" to a proposed constitutional amendment protecting the sanctity of human life. In a campaign policy statement filed in the archives, he also said he believes "the decision to have an early term abortion is a moral issue and should not be a legal one subject to the dictates of the government." During an interview with the Conservative Spectator, a Tennessee newspaper, he claimed to be pro-life but also said that, "The ultimate decision on abortion should be left with the woman and not the government."

Thompson drew the ire of his party in 1997 when he was appointed to lead hearings into Democratic fund-raising abuses in the 1996 campaign, and then broadened his investigation to look into alleged abuses by Republicans as well. This probe left him on the outs with GOP heavyweights and it is still unclear whether his public efforts to make amends will be accepted or backfire.

(Read story at http://www.newsweek.com/)

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19263100/site/newsweek/ 


http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070616/CLSA011" mime-type="application/octet-stream"/>
Photo:  NewsCom:  http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20070616/CLSA011
AP Archive:  http://photoarchive.ap.org/
AP PhotoExpress Network: PRN1
PRN Photo Desk, photodesk@prnewswire.com
>
Newsweek


CONTACT:  Brenda Velez of Newsweek, +1-212-445-4078



Web site:  http://www.newsweek.msnbc.com/