Abortion Questions Fail to Dim Thompson's Conservative Luster

By Michael D. Shear
Washington Post Staff Writer
Saturday, July 21, 2007

The 2 1/2 -minute video of Fred D. Thompson that played at the National Right to Life Committee's annual meeting last month dazzled the group, as the former senator talked about "the most important thing of all in this world -- and that is life."

Richard Land, an official with the nation's Southern Baptists, called the video "stunning in its strong, pro-life message."

In the three weeks that followed, Thompson and his not-yet-official presidential campaign did their best to undo that goodwill. First it was reported that 16 years ago Thompson worked as a lobbyist on behalf of an abortion rights group. Then he and his staff mishandled their response.

Thompson said he had no recollection of his work for the group, which turned out to involve 22 separate discussions. His chief spokesman, Mark Corallo, said there was no documentation that he had done anything, and then, when billing records emerged, Corallo said it was "not unusual" for a lawyer at a firm to offer his counsel on a viewpoint he disagrees with.

But instead of viewing him with suspicion, leading social conservatives are rallying around Thompson, citing his eight-year Senate record as proof of his commitment to fight abortion. They dismiss the lobbying report as an effort to drive a wedge between leaders of their cause and a politician who could be their best hope for putting a kindred soul in the White House.

"The mating dance is going on," said Tony Perkins, president of the Family Research Council, a conservative group. "There is clearly an interest among social conservative leaders in his candidacy."

Campaign aides concede that their responses to the abortion question have been poor. Thompson spokeswoman Burson Snyder said her candidate still "does not recall" doing work for the abortion rights group but concedes the records show he did some "pretty insignificant" consulting.

"These organizations get what's going on here," Snyder said. "They've seen his voting record. They've seen he was endorsed by the National Right to Life group. When the rubber met the road, they know where he was."

The fact that the revelations -- and the campaign's sometimes sloppy response to them -- have not caused more long-term problems underscores the conservative community's desperation for a Republican candidate who is both true to its cause and positioned to win the presidency.

He is hardly alone in wooing social conservatives. Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas has organized a 144-member "Catholics for Brownback" group to help him in the Iowa straw poll in early August, and former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee talks frequently about religion and faith. But both candidates have struggled to raise money and are barely registering in national surveys.

Former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney is struggling to convince abortion opponents that his 2005 conversion to an antiabortion stance was genuine. Former New York mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani's support of abortion rights makes him anathema to many in the conservative movement.

Thompson, meanwhile, has hired Joe Cella, the head of the Catholic organization Fidelis, and Bill Witcherman, a former liaison to religious groups for another former Tennessee senator, Bill Frist, to coordinate his outreach to religious groups and social conservatives.

"I'm around a lot of Baptists," Land said. "They find Fred Thompson to be a tantalizing combination of charisma, conviction and electability. He's got a Reaganesque ability to connect with ordinary folk that is powerful."

Land added: "He also has the same Teflon coating that Reagan had: Bad stuff just doesn't stick."

In the four months since he began flirting with the idea of running for president, Thompson has been confronted repeatedly with statements he made in the past that fall short of the antiabortion rhetoric that many social conservatives demand.

In 1994, according to news reports, Thompson wrote that the "ultimate decision" about abortion is a woman's and that government should not intervene. On questionnaires he submitted to the Eagle Forum and the Christian Coalition, he said he was opposed to both criminalizing abortion and a constitutional amendment protecting the sanctity of human life.

Reports that Thompson had been hired by the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association to lobby the first Bush administration renewed the questions.

Jessica Echard, executive director of the Eagle Forum, said social conservatives should not rush to endorse Thompson before his campaign explains his earlier statements.

"The conservative movement is looking for a new conservative rock star, to put it bluntly," she said. "Maybe some are too quick to jump on the bandwagon . . . this is the stage when we need to be asking all these questions."

Some are also asking broader questions about whether Thompson is ready for the pressure and scrutiny of a high-profile campaign.

Campaign aides initially signaled that he would raise $5 million in June but later worked to play down expectations. The anticipated announcement date for the campaign has shifted repeatedly, with sources close to Thompson first predicting July 4, then mid-July, late July and now early September.

One Republican observer, who asked not to be named to speak frankly about Thompson, said some of the early moves have reflected "ignorance and sloppiness." Another said the delay in the campaign's announcement is intended to allow Thompson time to work the kinks out before officially declaring his candidacy.

"This was a loosely affiliated group of supporters and friends of Senator Thompson for a long time," the adviser said. "[He] is laying the groundwork for what, should he decide to get in, will be an organized and well-oiled machine."