Thompson: Strong values

By Morgan Hunter

For months, I have been searching for a Republican candidate that I can support for president.

I want a candidate who will uphold conservative principles and also win the general election. After watching the coverage of the Iowa Primary, I found my answer: Fred Thompson. His address to the people of Iowa clearly shows his almost Reaganesque oratory and his firm commitment to conservative ideals.

What are these ideals? Personal freedom paired with personal responsibility; limited, low-tax government; confidence in Judeo-Christian values; an embrace of the free market; and a willingness to defend these same ideals by force when necessary.

In Thompson's address, he encouraged the people of Iowa to remember the "fundamental, conservative principles that have unified us for over two centuries." He continued, stating: "The role of the federal government is limited ... A dollar belongs in the pocket of the person who earns it ... And the best way to avoid war is to be stronger than our enemies."

True, several other Republican candidates claim those sentiments now, when they must appeal to their base in the primaries. What makes Thompson unique is the consistency with which he has advocated them throughout his career. The only other candidate to rival Thompson in his principles is Ron Paul, whom I considered endorsing before my recent epiphany.

My only reservation concerning Paul is his foreign policy, particularly his call for immediate withdrawal from Iraq. I believe that a withdrawal would embolden America's enemies, as it did with Vietnam.

Rudy Giuliani and Mitt Romney, by contrast, are currently attempting to rationalize their previous liberal positions on Second Amendment rights, abortion, taxation and illegal immigration. John McCain and Mike Huckabee still unabashedly maintain their even more egregious positions on these issues.

Thompson is different. "I entered public life as a conservative," he said. "I served in the Senate as a strong, consistent conservative with a 100 percent pro-life voting record. And I have the same philosophy today that I had back then ... No one has ever accused me of changing my position on anything for the sake of political expediency ... And in the battle of ideas, we can't afford a Republican leader who doesn't have a core philosophy that grounds him."

The question remains: Will a strong, principled conservative be electable?

Many have said that a shift toward the political center is occurring, and that a more moderate candidate would appease voters' presumed desire for bi-partisanship. According to New York Times columnist David Brooks, "the last gasp of the Reagan coalition" is occurring as we speak. That is, supporters of Reagan's former policies are losing support both internally and externally. Such is the conventional wisdom.

Yet, I believe that now more than ever, both Democrats and Republicans want a president like Reagan, who can unify the country and bring it back to its roots. Americans have grown tired of the current big-spending, amnesty-for-undocumented-immigrants administration and the liberal extremism of the current crop of Democratic candidates.

As Thompson has said, "In this campaign, I will be seeking the support of millions of Democrats who no longer believe that they can trust their own party's leadership on the issue of national security," or their "party leadership's taste for high taxes," for that matter.

I agree, and that's why I'm for Fred.

Morgan Hunter is a freshman classics major.