Saturday, October 13, 2007

An easy call

This should be a no-brainer for religious conservatives:
Social conservative leader Gary L. Bauer has issued an appeal to supporters to consider former Sen. Fred Thompson's bid for the Republican presidential nomination.

"I hope pro-family, pro-life Christians will continue to keep an open mind about Senator Thompson's candidacy, even as we work with him to strengthen his stand on some key issues," Mr. Bauer wrote in an e-mail addressed to supporters. "A Thompson vs. Hillary [Clinton] race would be an easy call for me to make."
If, in fact, Giuliani is unacceptable because of his positions on abortion and gay rights, then social conservatives must coalesce behind a candidate who is more acceptable. Huckabee has no chance. McCain's record on these issues is good, but his candidacy seems to be fading and he has previously alienated religious conservatives. Romney is saying the right things, but seems altogether too flexible at the level of principle. By process of elimination, if nothing else, who is left but Thompson?

Moreover, it should be easy to support Thompson on positive grounds. His record is good on pro-life issues. He is in favor of protecting the right of states to determine family law. From a conservative point of view, he is solid on economic and national security issues, and he seems willing to speak straightforwardly on the difficult issues regarding our future.

There are those who seem reluctant to support Thompson because they question whether he is a Christian. I hope he is, for his own sake, but it should not be an important consideration politically. Martin Luther supposedly said that he would “rather be ruled by a wise Turk than by a foolish Christian.” I would much rather be ruled by a non-believer who will promote those policies that are right than by a sincere believer who will not.

A failure to unite in Senator Thompson's support would appear to be allowing the best [which doesn't seem to exist as a candidate] to be the enemy of the good.

Bauer urges 'open mind' - The Washington Times, America's Newspaper

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