Florida Voters are Wondering: Why is Fred Thompson Running for President?, Asks Democratic National Committee

    WASHINGTON, Oct. 22 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following was
 released today by the Democratic National Committee:
 
     Fred Thompson is in the Sunshine State today after gaining a reputation
 for campaign cancellations, no-shows, and policy gaffes, causing Florida
 voters to wonder: why is Fred running for president at all? At the Family
 Research Council's Values Voter Summit Friday, Fred's apathy for the issues
 facing our country was clear when he told the group, "I really don't know
 what I would do in my first 100 days." (Chicago Tribune, "The Swamp,"
 10/19/07) Then, at the Florida Republican Party's convention Saturday, Fred
 spoke for only four minutes. (New York Times, 10/21/07) Finally, Fred's
 flip-flops and lackluster performance during last night's Fox News debate
 led the Wall Street Journal to report Thompson "didn't stand out." (Wall
 Street Journal, 10/22/07)
 
     Fumbles and bumbles have plagued Fred Thompson's campaign since the
 very beginning. But his campaign missteps have not just been about style,
 but also about substance. From inaccurately claiming Saddam Hussein had
 WMDs to covering up his true record on abortion to saying he didn't know
 enough to comment on the Terri Schiavo case to not doing his homework on
 the issue of drilling for oil in the Florida Everglades to suggesting
 Cubans fleeing the Castro regime would bring suitcase bombs into the
 country, it's clear that Thompson isn't ready to lead. Thompson's failure
 to articulate why he's even running has clearly hurt him with voters as he
 went from tied for first at 27 percent last month to just 19%. (CNN Poll,
 Released 10/16/07)
 
     "Fred Thompson isn't going to win any awards for his performance on the
 campaign trail. With no plan to get our troops out of Iraq or provide
 health care for America's children and no vision for his first 100 days in
 office, why is Fred Thompson running for president? After years of
 incompetent leadership by the Bush Administration, Americans want a
 president who will tackle the important issues facing our country, not four
 more years of the same," said Democratic National Committee Press Secretary
 Stacie Paxton.
 
     Thompson: Not So Good on Public Policy, Even His Own
 
     Thompson Continues To Push an Argument Even Abandoned By Bush: Fred's
 Time Machine: Thompson Asserts Iraq Had WMD. While on the campaign trail in
 Iowa, Fred Thompson said "he was certain Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein had
 weapons of mass destruction prior to the 2003 U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, a
 point of contention in the 4.5 years since the war began. 'We can't forget
 the fact that although at a particular point in time we never found any WMD
 down there, he clearly had had WMD. He clearly had had the beginnings of a
 nuclear program,' the former Tennessee senator told an audience of about 60
 at a Newton cafe." (Des Moines Register, 10/1/07)
 
     Bush Admits Finding Confirmed Earlier Experts. As President Bush
 himself said upon the release of the Iraq Survey Group's final report in
 the fall of 2004 "The chief weapons inspector, Charles Duelfer, has now
 issued a comprehensive report that confirms the earlier conclusion of David
 Kay that Iraq did not have the weapons that our intelligence believed were
 there." (Bush, 10/7/04:
 http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A14897-2004Oct7?language=printer)
 
     Flip-Flopping On Choice. Though he now calls himself pro-life, numerous
 records point to Thompson's pro-choice position during his tenure as a US
 Senator. In a 1996 Tennessean article, "Thompson acknowledged his role as
 'an abortion-rights defender in a party with a pro-life tilt.'" (The
 Tennessean, 6/10/07)
 
     1996: Thompson Supported Public Financing of Abortions. According to a
 1996 Tennesseans For Choice questionnaire, Sen. Thompson indicated that he
 supported using public funds for abortions. When asked, "Under what
 circumstances should public monies be used to pay for an abortion for an
 indigent family?" Thompson indicated "woman's or girl's life threatened by
 pregnancy" and "pregnancy due to rape or incest." (CBNNews.com, Brody File,
 6/14/07)
 
     1994: Thompson Opposed Criminalizing Abortion. "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." (Newsweek,
 6/25/07)
 
     FDT Not 100 Percent with National Right to Life. According to the
 Washington Times, "although the Politico reported June 13 that Mr. [Fred]
 Thompson's spokesman claimed the former senator had a 100 percent voting
 record from the National Right to Life (NRTL) organization, NRTL's Web site
 reports that Mr. Thompson received scores of 87 percent (1997-1998), 78
 percent (1999-2000) and 33 percent (2001-2002)." (Washington Times,
 6/23/07)
 
     Thompson Can't Remember Details of Terri Schiavo Case. Thompson said he
 couldn't remember much about the Terri Schiavo case, saying "That's going
 back in history. I don't remember the details of it," but failed to mention
 he was in a Law & Order episode "ripped from those headlines" and discussed
 the case while sheparding John Roberts through his Supreme Court
 confirmation hearings. (New York Daily News, 9/15/07)
 
     Thompson Doesn't Do His Homework on Drilling for Oil in the Florida
 Everglades. While in Florida, Thompson was caught completely off guard when
 asked about a major local issue, oil drilling in the Everglades, saying,
 "Gosh, no one has told me that there's any major reserves in the
 Everglades, but maybe that's one of the things I need to learn while I'm
 down here." Florida Republican Gov. Charlie Crist had to distance himself
 from Thompson responding "I wasn't completely overjoyed with the positions
 ... but I think he'll take some time to respond to them." (Associated
 Press, 9/18/07)
 
     Thompson Suggests Cubans Fleeing the Castro Regime Would Bring Suitcase
 Bombs Into the US. During a speech, Thompson "decried the flow of illegal
 immigrants from Cuba, saying: 'I don't imagine they're coming here to bring
 greetings from Castro. We're living in the era of the suitcase bomb.'"
 (Associated Press, 6/27/07)
 
     Paid for and authorized by the Democratic National Committee,
 http://www.democrats.org.
     This communication is not authorized by any candidate or candidate's
 committee.
 
 
 

SOURCE Democratic National Committee