It appears that there is a good sized contingent of religious conservatives ready to anoint Fred Thompson with that title – if and when he does announce his candidacy.

Several leading Christian conservatives say they will rally to former Sen. Fred Thompson, who they expect to announce "in a matter of weeks" that he will seek the Republican nomination for president next year.

"It's not 'if' but 'when,' he will announce," one Protestant evangelical leader says of the behind-the-scenes maneuvering for position in the 2008 race.

A prominent Roman Catholic social conservative says the three Republicans who have raised the most money and have led the polls -- former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Arizona Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney -- fall short of social conservatives' expectations, but Mr. Thompson doesn't. "He's right on the issues ... He's better than all of the above."

Both the Protestant and Catholic activist, like other Christian conservatives, spoke to The Times on the condition of anonymity.

They say their support for Mr. Thompson is shared by like-minded conservatives, though the sentiment is not unanimous in their circles. Many born-again Christians are said to be skeptical of Mr. Giuliani's views on abortion and same-sex "marriage," of Mr. Romney's change of position on abortion and of his Mormon religious faith, and of Mr. McCain's advocacy of campaign-finance reforms that restrict speech and issues-advocacy ads.

Mr. Thompson, whose celebrity is based on his television and movie acting roles as well as his tenure as a senator from Tennessee, has consistently opposed abortion rights, but until recently had backed campaign-finance laws unpopular with advocacy groups on both the right and left.

I’ve been quite clear that I am behind Mitt Romney’s candidacy. I am generally supportive of his positions on the issue, find his explanation of his evolution on the abortion issue credible (it reflects my own, a couple of decades ago) and don’t find his religion to be troubling in the least. That said, I also find Thompson to be a credible candidate whose entry into the race could be sufficient to stop the two candidacies I find most troubling – those of Giuliani and McCain, both of whom I believe would lose if they somehow received the GOP presidential nomination.

Posted by: Greg at 11:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
Post contains 388 words, total size 3 kb.