Those looking for a smash performance will likely be
disappointed but neither was there a wipe out. He still has a whole
lot of ahhhs and errrrs but he had a nice conversational tone and
does seem thoughtful. I do suspect that the after the fact reviews
will focus on: 1) his statement that it would be his "intent" to
stop Iran from acquiring nuclear weapons sounding a bit
Hillary-ish; 2) he sounded less keen on allowing students to carry
concealed weapons than in the past and 3) his abortion answers.
On the latter, operating from a rough transcript:
"I'm not willing to support laws that prohibit early term
abortions. I'm not suddenly going to know when life begins and
where that place ought to be exactly. it comes down to whether you
believe life begins at conception. I don't know if my own mind if
that is the case, so I don't feel law ought to impose that standard
on other people."
Later on: "I would take those same positions. no federal funding
for abortions, no nothing that would in any way encourage abortion.
when I saw -- again, all consistent with what I've said. people ask
me hypothetically, okay, you know, it goes back to the states.
somebody comes up with a bill and they say we're going to outlaw
this or the other. and my response is I do not think it is a wise
thing to criminalize young girls and perhaps their parents as
aiders and bettors and perhaps their family position. and that's
what you're talking about. potential criminal law. I said those
things are going to be in the hearts and minds of people. I'm
probably a pretty good example of that. although my head and my
legislative record's always been the same, when I saw that sonogram
of my little now 4-year-old, it's changed my heart. it's changed
the way I look at things. I was looking at my child when I saw
that. and I knew, and I felt that, and that's the way I feel today.
and I think life begins at conception. I always -- it was abstract
to me before. I was a father earlier when I was very young. I was
busy. I went about my way. one of the maybe few advantages you have
of getting a little bit older."
And then this:
"RUSSERT: You would allow abortion to be performed in state if
chosen by states for people who think otherwise.
THOMPSON: I do not think that you can have a law that would be
effective and that would be the right thing to do, as I say, in
terms of potentially -- you can't have a law that cuts off an age
group or something like that which potentially would take young
girls in extreme situations and say, basically, we're going to put
them in jail to do that. I just don't think that that's the right
thing to do. it cannot change the way I feel about it morally, but
legally and practically, I've got to recognize that fact. It is a
dilemma that I'm not totally comfortable with, but that's the best
I can do in resolving it in my own mind."
I'm hard pressed to see how this differs substantially from what
Rudy has been saying recently.
topics:
Abortion, Law, Iran, Nuclear Weapons
