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Christian Living

DavidB 08/16/07

Brody File Exclusive:1994 Memo Shows "Serious Concerns" About Fred Thompson from Tennessee Christian Coalition

The Brody File has obtained a memo from Fred Thompson’s 1994 Senate campaign that shows concern by an influential political group. This is a public document but has not been reported on by the national media. Let me do the honors.
 
The memo is written by Randle Richardson, Tennessee’s State Republican Chairman at the time. It is addressed to Fred Thompson and Bill Lacy (yes, the same Bill Lacy just named today as Thompson’s main guy in the 2008 race). Back then, he was a key advisor for Thompson.
 
Basically, Richardson is telling them that he met with John Hanna, the President of the Tennessee Christian Coalition and that the Christian Coalition chapter has some “serious concerns about his candidacy.” Here’s more from the memo:
 
Fred scored 92 on their questionnaire but the talk is NOT GOOD. Hanna said that the line used in their leadership circles and beginning to get down into the rank is “Between Thompson and Cooper (running against Thompson for the Senate) where is the choice?” Hanna said that he will personally vote for Fred only because his “conservative peers in Congress will get him to do the right thing, not because of Fred’s own principles.”
 
He (Hanna) said that most people perceive that Fred was no different than Cooper, regardless of the rating on the Christian Coalition’s scorecard.
 
I used the Ronald Reagan line that someone who is with you 80% of the time is your friend and ally, not a 20% traitor. Mr. Hanna agreed with that assessment, but that BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS is what overcomes that 20% disagreement. He said there is not a relationship between Fred Thompson and the Christian Coalition.
 
You can read the memo for yourself here.
 
The memo provides some interesting insight into how Thompson was viewed back then. That’s not to say he’s the same now. His Senate record has shown him to be a reliable conservative.
 
What will be interesting here is to watch where Christian conservatives go with their vote. There is not one top tier candidate in the field that doesn’t have lingering questions that may give conservative Christians some pause. Romney has had some past flip flops but he’s talking up values big time now. There were questions about how Thompson was viewed in the 1990’s but his Senate record may erase that. And Giuliani is moderate in his views but his national security and war on terror pitch resonates with some Christian conservatives as well. The vote is up for grabs.
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