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Thompson Lacks Zeal, Charge Conservatives

Senate record reflects possible lack of passion for politics

By Wesley Oliver, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 30, 2007 7:25 PM CDT

(Newser) – Fred Thompson was supposed to be the conservative movement’s savior in the presidential campaign. But now, less than a month after entering the race, many on the right question his devotion to their causes and passion for politics, the New York Times reports.
His record in the Senate reflects a tendency to break with the Republican pack and a lawyer's detachment from ideology.

“He has no passion, no zeal and no apparent ‘want to,’” says James Dobson, the influential Christian leader. Thompson, confronted with accusations of laziness, says his Senate record reflects disinterest in the self-aggrandizing Washington culture. Asked this month by the National Review to name his top accomplishments, he said, "You mean, besides leaving the Senate?"

[Images (3)]

[Videos (1)]

Republican presidential hopeful former Sen. Fred Thompson sits at his dinner table at the Iowa Christian Alliance Conference in Clive, Iowa, Saturday, Sept. 29, 2007. (AP Photo/Kevin Sanders) (Associated Press)

Republican presidential hopeful, former U.S. Sen. Fred D. Thompson, holds a round table meeting with members of the media in Franklin, Tenn., Thursday, Sept. 27, 2007. (AP Photo/John Russell) (Associated Press)

Republican presidential hopeful, former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., delivers remarks to the National Rifle Association in Washington, Friday, Sept. 21, 2007. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (Associated Press)

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Thompson Lacks Zeal, Charge Conservatives