The Daily Background

When the LA Times first reported that staunch conservative Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson once lobbied for an family planning group specifically to ease laws concerning abortion (effectively pro-choice lobbying), one of the strangest things about the story was how the Thompson we’re-not-a-campaign-yet-campaign reacted.

One of Karl Rove’s close buddies, Mark Corallo, is acting as a spokesman for Thompson, and had a shifty way of denying the story was true: he told the LAT not that it didn’t happen, but that there was no proof that it happened: “There’s no documents to prove it, there’s no billing records, and Thompson says he has no recollection of it, says it didn’t happen.” Of course, there are multiple witnesses who say that Thompson did indeed do the lobbying, but it’s strange how the Thompson camp is pushing back on this story.

I originally wrote, when this story surfaced:

It seems to me, if they could say unequivocally that it didn’t happen, then they would say unequivocally that it didn’t happen. Instead, his we-aren’t-a-campaign-yet campaign is pushing back sort of lopsidedly saying that he has no recollection of it, and therefore it couldn’t have happened. We’ll see how this story develops… I’m sure we’ll see some more reporters digging into it and Thompson will get asked about it before much longer. A pretty clear picture is now developing that Thompson used to be pro-choice at least to some extent, as evidenced by surveys he took while running for office in the 1990s.

The Thompson people know very well it could be extremely dammaging, but it feels like they know there could be at least some truth behind it. Here’s Thompson’s own latest varriation of their non-denial denial:

Thompson’s speech came on the heels of reports that a pro-abortion rights group hired him to lobby President George H.W. Bush’s administration 16 years ago. At issue were attempts to ease a regulation that prevented clinics that received federal money from offering abortion counseling.

Thompson gave an oblique response when asked about the matter, first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

“I’d just say the flies get bigger in the summertime. I guess the flies are buzzing,” said Thompson, who is considering running for president as a social conservative. He refused comment on whether he recalled doing the work.

First his spokesman says he doesn’t remember and there’s no proof, now Thompson himself is refusing to say whether or not he remembers having done pro-choice lobbying? Anddddd cue about two dozen more reporters digging into the story…

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