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April 26, 2007
Fred Thompson on Federalism
This is a few days late, but I thought worth posting. Fred Thompson, still waiting in the wings as a conservative savior in 2008, debated the National Review's Ramesh Ponnuru earlier this week on the topic of federalism. Their debate is reminiscent of the one "process" conservatives (loosely: federalists) had with social conservatives over the Terri Schiavo fiasco. And I think Thompson is right -- as he explains, there is no reason the federal government should be regulating areas of state law. But few elected Republicans entered that debate on Schiavo, or elsewhere. And this is it's significant that Thompson is doing so. Thompson points out this is
"not an idle exercise":
Republicans have struggled in recent years, because they have strayed from basic principles. Federalism is one of those principles. It is something we all give lip service to and then proceed to ignore when it serves our purposes. During my eight years in the Senate, I tried to adhere to this principle. For me it was a lodestar. Not only was it what our Founding Fathers created — a federal government with limited, enumerated powers with respect for other levels of government, it also provided a basis for a proper analysis of most issues: "Is this something government should be doing? If so, at what level of government?"
Run, Fred, run!
Posted by bill at April 26, 2007 09:07 AM
Comments
I agree. I think Thompson has the proper perspective on the role of the federal government over social issues. I think he is the antithesis of Giuliani in this regard. Guiliani seems to have few guiding principles regarding some of the more pressing social questions of our time and seems to rely more on his own personal feelings rather than an objective guidline. Thompson, on the other hand, can not only articulate what he believes, but exactly why he believes it. He is definitely the Crypto-Candidate as the Wall Street Journal has termed him (http://dcraine.blogspot.com/2007/05/fred-thompsonis-he-going-to-run-or-not.html)
Posted by: dcraine ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.citizen-journal.net/nav-commenters.gif)
at May 17, 2007 03:48 PM
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