Thompson not only supported campaign finance “reform,” he was one of just four Senators who supported John McCain in 2000, when McCain made violating First Amendment rights the centerpiece of his presidential campaign. Thompson’s recent backtracking hardly makes up for the horrible judgement he showed back then, and the grief he gets from Will is richly deserved.

No one is trying to pretend that Giuliani is a down-the-line traditional conservative. The same can’t be said about Thompson. Given the effort to recast Thompson as a true-blue conservative hero ready to swoop in and save the GOP, it’s worth reminding people that parts of his record reflect his background as a moderate in the mold of his mentor Howard Baker (“The Great Conciliator”).