Attacking Fred Thompson

I've not decided whom to support for the GOP presidential nomination, but the candidates' views on abortion is an important consideration for me.

That said, as attack ads go, this is pretty thin gruel:



By combining a few snippets from Thompson -- which seem to show his consistent opposition to penalizing a woman who seeks an abortion -- they seek to show... what? That he's consistently held a view consistent with the majority of pro-life Republicans?

Or am I supposed to be swayed by the use of !!!exclamation points!!! and ???question marks??? Perhaps I'm supposed to be frightened by the low rating by the 'National Rights to Life' for the period of 2001-2002?

Well, I'm not familiar with the group mentioned in the commercial, but if I consult the National Right to Life Scorecard for the 107th Congress, I note that he twice voted for campaign finance reform, and once voted to ban abortion at military medical facilities. That's a 33% score, on just 3 votes that session. I don't care for his vote on McCain-Feingold, but I can forgive. Plus, his vote on abortions at military facilities outweighs the other two.

In the 106th Congress he scored 78 percent -- missing only 2 votes on campaign finance reform, and in the 105th Congress he scored 87 percent -- missing 2 votes on campaign finance reform. So he gets marks for consistency.

And if you don't see through the silliness in this ad, you're supposed to vote for the genuine pro-life candidate in the race -- who is... who exactly?

Hat Tip: RedState