From ABC News:
Standing inside the Mississippi State Capitol Rotunda, a cluster of conservative Christian leaders voiced their support for Republican candidate Fred Thompson, praising his “fortitude” of character.
“[Former] Senator Thompson’s pursuit of the presidency is not ego-driven … and [he] does not attempt to re-invent himself or change his language depending on his audience,” Reverend Phillip Knight said, adding, “It appears to me, the only candidate that can act, isn’t.”
Knight and Dr. Benny Tate, founders of the Wesleyan Center for Strategic Studies, promise the endorsements of 100 conservative Methodist pastors in the coming days.
…
“We don’t need a leader in the White House with a sporadic splash but we need a man with a steel spine,” Tate said.
After meeting with Thompson, the two men said they were impressed with the former Senator based on his stances on issues like abortion, same-sex marriage and U.S support for Israel. Tate says Thompson’s record as a “tax-cutter” also elevates his appeal as a presidential contender, one of the reasons why he’s supporting him over Huckabee.
“We believe Americans can manage their money better than their government can,” Tate said.
Knight, who says he has prayed with Thompson and his wife, Jeri, believes Thompson has been “mischaracterized” by Christian conservative leader, Dr. James Dobson, who questioned Thompson’s faith and candidacy in an email a couple months ago.
Christian conservative leader Gary Bauer, who was not present for the endorsement and is not endorsing a candidate at this time, says it’s not too late for Thompson. When reached by ABC News, Bauer said Thompson could “end up beating expectations.”
“Fred Thompson would make a really strong president based on issues of concern to Christian conservatives,” Bauer said, explaining that Thompson’s support for appointing conservative judges has impressed him.
The Weslyan Center For Strategic Studies is an umbrella organization/association of (often related, industry-specific) institutions, who work together formally to coordinate activities or pool resources, consisting of four million conservative Methodists across the United States.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:10 pm
There aren’t 40 million Methodists in this country. If you add all the Methodist denomination together, the most you could come up with would be a third of that. It is a shrinking segment of the population. Who came up with this number?
December 17th, 2007 at 5:11 pm
Time Magazine. Probably four million…
December 17th, 2007 at 5:12 pm
I’ll change that because 40 million doesn’t sound right, even though that’s the number I got from Time Magazine.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:20 pm
So how many endorsements today is that for Fred? 4?? Did he sandbag the endorsements for this week, and how many more are there? Gotta give him credit for taking the headlines headed into the Christmas break.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:21 pm
With all due respect to the R2008 editors, is this really “news?” I don’t think we need to read about every endorsements of every candidate… clutters up the site.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:22 pm
Good point, Jared. It is almost like Fred is doing “Shock and Awe”. Wasn’t that supposed to be Rudy’s gig?
December 17th, 2007 at 5:23 pm
Regarding endorsements, do Fred’s muliple announcements of endorsements today mute the Lieberman for McCain endorsement a bit? and regarding the Lieberman deal, do you think McCain would try and make him a running mate for Veep if he got that far? Would that help or hurt him in your opinions? Just curious as I heard the thought on the radio today.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:25 pm
With all of these endorsements for Fred, it’s a shame he can’t get more votes. He’s really a good guy, just not the best we have running. We have a lot of quality candidates on the Republican side.
December 17th, 2007 at 5:48 pm
One thing we’re seeing is that Fred has finally gotten into the swing of things. Too late.
December 17th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
Woo hoo — I’m a conservative Methodist and I support Thompson. I may have to look into this organization.