In his own words, Fred Thompson is “against gun control, generally.” How “generally” opposed to gun control is he? SethA sends this interesting piece of research on “Mr. Complete Conservative”, Fred D. Thompson

-Taggants in gunpowder

On September 12, 1996, the Senate voted (57-42) to keep an anti-gun amendment off of the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill (H.R. 3756). The Kerry amendment — which Thompson voted for– would have made funds available for a study of tagging explosive materials, including black and smokeless powders (thus setting the stage for registering ammunition). The amendment also sought to further demonize firearms by selectively examining the misuse of firearms by criminals. The study would not examine the number of times firearms are used to save the lives of decent citizens.

-Lautenberg Domestic Confiscation gun ban

On September 12, 1996, the Senate passed the Lautenberg gun ban as an amendment to the Treasury-Postal appropriations bill (H.R. 3756). The Lautenberg Domestic Confiscation Gun Ban disarms gun owners for small (misdemeanor) offenses in the home — “offenses” as slight as spanking a child or grabbing a spouse. This lifetime ban, in certain cases, can even be imposed without a trial by jury. It is also retroactive, so it does not matter if the offense occurred 20 years ago. Thompson voted in favor of the amendment.

-Smith “Anti-Brady” Amendment

On July 21, 1998, pro-gun Senator Bob Smith (R-NH) introduced an “Anti-Brady” amendment that passed by a vote of 69-31. The Smith amendment would prohibit the FBI from using Brady background checks to tax or register gun owners. Further, the amendment requires the “immediate destruction of all [gun buyer] information, in any form whatsoever.” Finally, if the FBI disregards this latter provision, the Smith language will allow private citizens to sue the agency and collect monetary damages, including attorney’s fees. Thompson, in keeping with his tendency to usually vote for expanded federal police power, voted against this limitation of FBI registration of gun owners

-Anti-gun Clinton judge appointment

On February 11, 1998, the Senate voted 67-28 to confirm Margaret Morrow to the Federal bench. GOA vigorously opposed this Clinton-appointed judge, as she has not only taken strident anti-gun positions, she has showed herself to be a gun control activist.

-Anti-gun Surgeon General

Having nominated anti-gun David Satcher for Surgeon General, President Bill Clinton was forced to wait several months as debate raged over his controversial pick. But on February 10, 1998, the President finally realized victory. By a vote of 75-23, anti-gun Republicans teamed up with the Democrats to kill the filibuster over the Satcher nomination. Mr. Satcher was later confirmed by a vote of 63-35. Since the key vote was to end the filibuster, that is the one that was rated by GOA.

-Ending the filibuster of a major anti-gun crime bill

On July 28, 1999, the Senate ended a filibuster led by Senator Bob Smith (I-NH) — a filibuster intended to keep anti-gun crime legislation from progressing any further. After the 77-22 vote, the Senate moved to send the language of the anti-gun Senate crime bill (S. 254) to a House-Senate conference committee. Thompson voted to break the pro-gun filibuster.

Fred supported immigration and guest workers when he was in the Senate:

Thompson Voted For a Temporary Guest Worker Program For Agricultural Workers. In 1998, Thompson supported legislation to help illegal immigrant farm workers temporarily stay in the U.S. The bill is “similar to the guest worker program supported by Bush.” The bill stipulated that if there are insufficient US workers to fill the number of positions offered by a specific employer, the attorney general shall admit enough foreign workers to fill these positions. It would also require the attorney general to conduct a study on whether the workers should depart the country upon the completion of their stay. [Newsmax.com, 6/6/07; CNS News, 6/5/07; Senate Vote #233, 7/23/98, S2260]

But Opposed Dealing With the Problems of Illegal Immigration:

Thompson Voted Against Creating An Agency To Deal With Employers Who Hire Illegal Workers. Thompson voted against authorizing $100 million to establish with the Immigration and Naturalization Service an Office for the Enforcement of Employer Sanctions to levy fines for employing illegal aliens and to educate employers about the law and ways to prevent employment discrimination. [Senate Vote #99, 5/1/96, S1664]

Thompson Voted Against Establishing Programs to Verify That Employees Are Legal.

Thompson voted against killing an amendment that would have taken out sections of the 1996 Immigration bill that establishes pilot programs to verify that newly hired employees are eligible to work in the United States and the sections that prescribe national standards for birth certificates and drivers’ licenses. [Senate Vote #101, 5/1/96, S1664]

Fred gets “C” grade from Americans for Better Immigration.

According to the New York Post, “Americans for Better Immigration- a group that advocates deportation of illegals and a stronger border- rates Thompson an overall “C.” [New York Post, 6/13/07] link

His actions don’t match the rhetoric:

Thompson: Illegal Immigrants Already in the US “Aren’t as Much as a Concern.” Fred Thompson identified the major problem of immigration to be future illegal immigrants by saying “The 12 million [illegal immigrants] here aren’t as much as a concern as the next 12 million after that” at a Lincoln Club of Orange County speech. [Politico, 5/5/07]
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Fred Dalton Thompson, Mr. Federalism, champion of the 10th Amendment ……….from his website, 7/27/07

“Perhaps the clearest example of federal over-involvement in state and local responsibilities is public education. It’s the classic case of how the federal government buys authority over state and local matters with tax-payer money and ends up squandering both the authority and the money while imposing additional burdens on states.” …

“The No Child Left Behind law itself increased federal funding by some 26 percent, while creating 50 new educational programs nationally, imposing almost 7 million hours and more than 140 million dollars in compliance time and costs.”

Ummm, only one small problem here. Fred Thompson voted for “No Child Left Behind.”

I guess you can say, Fred Thompson voted for “No Child Left Behind”, before he campaigned against it.

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Stage prop. Phoney baloney. Fool the rubes.

“Has any pol ever offered a funnier narrative than Mr. Populist himself, Fred Thompson, who actually rented a red pick-up truck to ride around in when he ran for the Senate? ….

The idea was that Thompson would dress up in blue jeans and shabby boots and drive himself to campaign events around the state. Upon arriving, he’d mount the bed of the truck and launch into a homespun riff on the virtues of citizen-legislators and the perils of Washington insider-ism. For good measure, he’d refer to himself in the third person as “Ol’ Fred” and the Chevy as “this ol’ baby.” link

But, the schtick is not the funniest part. Thompson’s whole routine is an act.

True story: it is a warm evening in the summer of 1995. A crowd has gathered in the auditorium of a suburban high school in Knoxville, Tennessee. Seated in the audience is a childhood friend of mine who now teaches at the school. On stage is Republican Sen. Fred Dalton Thompson, the lawyer/actor elected in 1994 to serve out the remainder of Vice President Al Gore’s Senate term (when Gore’s appointed successor retired after just two years). The local TV stations are on hand as Thompson wraps up his presentation on tax reform, in the plain-spoken, down-to-earth style so familiar to those who have seen him in any of his numerous film and television performances.

Finishing his talk, Thompson shakes a few hands, then walks out with the rest of the crowd to the red pickup truck he made famous during his 1994 Senate campaign. My friend stands talking with her colleagues as the senator is driven away by a blond, all-American staffer. A few minutes later, my friend gets into her car to head home. As she pulls up to the stop sign at the parking lot exit, rolling up to the intersection is Senator Thompson, now behind the wheel of a sweet silver luxury sedan. He gives my friend a slight nod as he drives past. Turning onto the main road, my friend passes the school’s small, side parking area. Lo and behold: There sits the abandoned red pickup, along with the all-American staffer. link

Thompson is as phoney as a three dollar bill.

Glug, glug, glug. Drink that Koolaid, Fredheads.

Fred Thompson is the quintessential Washington insider, more at home at the Monocle restaurant on Capitol Hill than at a Tennessee diner. Today, more than ever, Thompson is sure it is image rather than substance that counts in this presidential election.

In his lucrative career as a lobbyist, Thompson’s clients have included Westinghouse, the Teamsters and the lovable Jean-Bertrand Aristide of Haiti. From 2004-2006 he worked for the British insurance firm Equitas, lobbying Congress on behalf of Lloyd’s of London to lessen compensation to asbestos victims; Equitas paid $5.3m to Washington lobbyists to this end, and $760,000 to Thompson alone. Jon Nash, a spokesman for Equitas, is unabashed about why the company wanted Thompson’s services: “He had a good relationship with the then [Senate] majority leader, Senator Frist.” The amount paid out was reduced hugely.

Thompson still has significant negatives to overcome, however, and once formally in the race his record will come under intense scrutiny. He has been consistently inconsistent on abortion, the issue threatening to sink Giuliani, and he supports the Iraq war. In his bachelor days in Washington in the 1990s, Thompson was a notorious playboy - making a married woman pregnant, according to DC gossip - before settling with his second wife, Jeri Kehn, five years ago. That hellraising phase alone will not go down well in the Bible Belt … He also has a mild form of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, but says it is not life-threatening. link

Image rather than substance. Red pickup truck anyone?