Reagan and Fred Thompson

Long time Reagan foreign policy advisor Richard Allen compares Reagan and Fred Thompson at NRO - and believes the similarities outweigh the differences. In fact, he believes Thompson to have more foreign policy experience than did Reagan when he ran in the 1980 election, given Fred's role on the International Security Advisory Board and his work with the American Enterprise Institute.

"Reagan clearly set the gold standard for modern conservatives; one only needs to watch the Republican candidates lay claim to positions “identical to Ronald Reagan’s,” appeal to his presidency as a model and strive to appear as friendly and outgoing, able to work effectively with everyone to understand this Republican “fact of life.” I have known Thompson for many years, have met and spent time with him since, and conclude that he’s the genuine article. He also has in his wife, Jeri, as did Reagan in Nancy, a well-informed and capable partner. There will likely never be another Reagan in our times, but in my own experience, lawyer-senator-actor Fred Thompson may well be providing the closest approximation for 2008, and that’s not an unworthy or invidious comparison."

With every Republican in the race trying to adopt the Reaganesque mantle, it's interesting to see what someone who worked for Reagan and knew him well thinks. Of course, Fred's acting career evokes the comparison, but Allen also notes both men's communication skills and also notes the parallels in their evolving positions on the abortion issue, positions that evolved through their own personal convictions, not changed for electoral purposes at the 11th hour to gain votes.