Fred Thompson and the "Lighting Round"

Interesting summary on the latest flurry surrounding FDT

In a “lightning round,” Thompson answered Chris Wallace’s questions on a litany of hot topics, from abortion to energy independence. Not only did Thompson answer Right — pro-life, for traditional marriage (would leave civil unions up to the states), happy about the lifting of the D.C. gun ban — the candidate answered, and quite efficiently at times, like someone who was grounded in a conservative philosophy (on “gay rights,” he said “we shouldn’t set up special categories for anybody,” and while defending himself on campaign-finance reform he cited Barry Goldwater); he does not sound like he’s just checking the right Right boxes. And even where every conservative wouldn’t agree (he supports limited guestworker-program), he sounded eminently reasonable — a great communicator.

Read More at Katherine Jean Lopez (editor) National Review 20 Mar 07