Fred Thompson- A Lazy Dilettante; Arthur Branch- A Seasoned Pro

A TNR Online Debate.

Can Fred Thompson Win in 2008?

by Jonathan Chait & Jason Zengerle
Only at TNR Online
Post date: 06.25.07

Editor's Note: Today, we begin a four-part debate between TNR senior editors Jason Zengerle and Jonathan Chait about whether Fred Thompson has what it takes to be elected president in the 2008. If and when Thomspon enters the race, will he steamroll the competition or fail to live up to the hype?

ear Jonathan,

Last week every Republican presidential candidate with hopes of emerging as "The True Conservative" in the race--Mitt Romney, Sam Brownback, Duncan Hunter, and Ron Paul--traveled to Kansas City to speak to the National Right to Life Convention (NRLC). And then there was Fred Thompson. Although he's not yet an official candidate, Thompson clearly plans to run--and he plans to run as the Truest of True Conservatives. So it seemed that a sojourn to Kansas City to stoke an important segment of the conservative base would be in order. But Thompson skipped the trip, choosing instead to address the NRLC by a pre-recorded two-and-a-half-minute video. His reason? He had a scheduling conflict.

When I first read about this, I was dumbstruck. What sort of scheduling conflict could Thompson have that would prevent him from going to the NRLC? Since he's not even an official candidate yet, it's not like his schedule could be that busy. But then, a few days later, I learned what the conflict was: Thompson was going to London to kiss the ring of Margaret Thatcher and give a speech to Policy Exchange .

Now, there were obvious political benefits from such a trip: He got to associate himself with the last living conservative icon (since Ronald Reagan is dead and President Bush is in disrepute) and give a hawkish speech on foreign soil. But I think this episode reveals something about Thompson that makes me doubt he'll do much in the presidential campaign once he does officially enter it. At a basic level, he's a lazy dilettante--someone who would much rather go to London than Kansas City. Which is a perfectly understandable preference for you and me, but not for someone who wants to be president.

I understand the flaws of the other Republican candidates--particularly the big three of Giuliani, McCain, and Romney--and the reasons each one of them will have trouble capturing the nomination. And I realize that there's an opening for another candidate to enter the field late in the game--relatively speaking, of course, since it's only June--and win the nomination. But I doubt Thompson is that candidate, mainly because there's nothing in Thompson's background that suggests he has the stamina and desire to actually mount a serious presidential campaign. If Richard Ben-Cramer were writing What It Takes about the '08 presidential crop, I don't know how he'd be able to eke out more than just a few pages on good old Fred.

hompson's Senate career, of course, was completely undistinguished. His highest-profile moment came on the opening day of the 1997 campaign-finance hearings he chaired when he asserted that the Chinese government was pouring illegal money into American campaigns. But then, when it came to the hard work of actually backing up that assertion, he completely whiffed. Even his acting career, I'd argue, reflects a certain lack of follow-through. On one level, maybe it's not Thompson's fault that he's been pigeonholed as a character actor; but most character actors, at some point, get tired of being character actors and at least take a stab at playing a leading role. Thompson's never done that--contenting himself to play the same straight-talking, tough-minded rear admiral (The Hunt for Red October), NASCAR commissioner (Days of Thunder) or district attorney (Law & Order) in role after role. Indeed, in the last feature film Thompson appeared in, Looking for Comedy in the Muslim World, he played "Senator Fred Dalton Thompson." Talk about stretching himself.

Of course, Thompson has done a masterful job, to this point, of positioning himself as the GOP's great conservative hope. But his pre-campaign--which has consisted primarily of Internet videos and radio commentaries--doesn't require much heavy-lifting. It's the real campaign itself that will be Thompson's true test. And, right now, I don't see anything in his past that suggests he's up to the challenge.

Best,
Jason

Jonathan Chait is a senior editor at The New Republic. Jason Zengerle is a senior editor at The New Republic.

Thirty Years of Dirt. Could be a little bit more Bull$&*# in there.

Some of Fred Thompson's pre-Arthur Branch acting roles haven't been publicly scrutinized.

He's purportedly been at the center of the Savings & Loan crisis, rising cable and utility rates.

He's lobbied on behalf of deposed Haitian leader Jean-Bertrand Aristide. He's lobbied on behalf of Westinghouse electric and Stone & Webster.

The funny thing is: He's lived in Washington D.C., Virginia, and Hollywood for some thirty years, but he claims to be a son of the south and an outsider.

With all of this planning, media hype, and insider activity, one could assume that by electing Fred Thompson President we would be electing another professional media whore much like the one we've got now.

He's already confessed that he never craved the job of President. Perhaps that's because it would be too much work.

The Fred Files can be found here for your own jaunt through his insider activity.

It's time to send all of the actor's back home. It's time Arthur Branch went back to Gotham City, because K Street has had enough of him.

http://www.nashvillepost.com/news/2007/6/15/the_fred_files_tennessee_savings__loan_league

Rivals try to deflate Thompson campaign

Rivals try to deflate F. Thompson campaign
By: Kenneth P. Vogel
June 13, 2007 07:08 AM EST

Fred Thompson has had a relatively easy ride as he has flirted with a bid for the Republican presidential nomination. His strategists have found traction promoting him as the heir to Ronald Reagan -- and a conservative alternative to the top tier of the GOP field.

But the ride is starting to get a bit bumpy.

Opponents and their researchers have begun working -- mostly behind the scenes -- to highlight perceived soft spots in his conservative bona fides.

And Thompson will have to neutralize questions on the campaign trail and in the media about his centrist votes in the Senate, his stances on litmus test conservative issues including abortion and -- perhaps most significantly -- his work as a lawyer and lobbyist.

Thompson's biggest challenge will likely be cementing his image as a conservative country lawyer fixin' to shake up Washington -- before his opponents brand him as an influence peddler and trial lawyer.

Here are the roles into which opponents will likely try to cast Thompson and the ways in which he may seek to inoculate himself:

Tricky clientele

-- Lobbyist: Thompson made nearly $1.3 million over about two decades of lobbying both before and after his eight-year Senate stint, according to government documents and media accounts from his successful run for the Senate in 1994.

Though Thompson won in a landslide, that was in a watershed Republican year and before the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal helped Democrats effectively wield the culture-of-corruption theme against Republicans.

Some of Thompson's clients could prove tricky to explain, from a British reinsurance company facing billions of dollars in asbestos claims to deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

If Thompson formally enters the race next month, as his aides have signaled, his campaign will likely try to minimize his lobbying.

Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo called the list "incredibly old news and incredibly stale news" and stressed that lobbying was but a small part of Thompson's legal practice.

"He had a law practice for over 30 years and he had about half a dozen lobbying clients," Corallo said.

Trial lawyers are bogeymen?

-- Trial lawyer: Before Thompson won his Senate seat, published reports said his private law practice handled personal injury cases and defended people accused of white-collar crimes. And in the Senate, he opposed some legislation intended to rein in escalating jury verdicts and attorneys' fees.

Trial lawyers are bogeymen for some conservative groups, which consider them Exhibit A for a legal system that rewards greed over industriousness.

But Thompson appears likely to tout the public service aspects of his legal career, including stints as an assistant U.S. attorney and Watergate congressional counsel, as well as a case in which he uncovered a payoff scheme that landed a Tennessee governor in prison.

"This is a guy who was an incredibly accomplished attorney," Corallo said.

As for the Senate record, Corallo pointed out that Thompson supported some tort reform measures.

He voted against others because he felt they infringed on states' rights, Corallo said, asserting, "He was consistent in voting against measures that provided the federal government powers that the federal government shouldn't have. … People understand that."

Backed McCain-Feingold

-- Campaign finance reformer: Thompson was among the leading Republican backers of the sweeping package of campaign finance reforms commonly known as McCain-Feingold.

Since it passed into law in 2002, conservative activists have derided it as an infringement on their free speech and have held a grudge against its GOP sponsor, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), whose presidential campaign has struggled to win over conservatives.

Expect conservative groups and rivals to emphasize Thompson's support for the bill, even calling it "McCain-Feingold-Thompson."

In recent months, Thompson has worked to give himself cover on the issue, asserting that the law didn't work as intended and suggesting the fairly drastic step of removing contribution limits entirely.

"The conservatives who have spoken with Fred have been satisfied with his position as it stands," Corallo said, though he added campaign finance should not "be at the top of the priority list when you're talking about challenges America is facing."

Centrist or conservative?

-- Centrist senator: Though the influential American Conservative Union scored Thompson's Senate career voting record at 86 percent, some of the votes on which he strayed from the GOP fold could prove problematic for ardent partisans.

For instance, he backed a 1998 bill that would have established a temporary farm worker program and a 1996 bill to increase the minimum wage. And he voted against one of the two impeachment charges brought against President Clinton in 1999.

Thompson will defend each vote individually, Corallo said, but will argue he approached all decisions from a conservative, federalist position.

As for immigration, Thompson has come out strongly against the pending overhaul legislation, which McCain is spearheading.

On impeachment, Corallo said Thompson carefully studied the evidence before splitting his votes, "and he stands by it."

Pro-choice?

-- Abortion-rights supporter: Every time Thompson got the chance in the Senate, he voted with those who oppose abortion rights. But the social conservatives for whom abortion is a litmus test scrutinize every bit of a politician's record -- and Thompson's provides some fodder for opponents to question the depth of his opposition to abortion rights.

On candidate surveys in 1994 and 1996, he answered that he favored abortion always being legal in the first trimester of pregnancy and opposed an amendment to the U.S. Constitution "protecting the sanctity of human life."

According to the Nashville Tennessean, Thompson included a handwritten clarification with the latter response, reading, "I do not believe abortion should be criminalized. This battle will be won in the hearts and souls of the American people."

After Thompson again intimated, during a Fox News appearance this month, that he'd oppose criminalizing abortion, conservative columnist Robert Novak wrote that Thompson "came close to alarming his pro-life constituency."

Thompson will point to support from leading anti-abortion groups to neutralize this line of attack. He was endorsed by National Right to Life in both of his Senate campaigns and has a 100 percent voting record from the group, Corallo pointed out, asserting: "That's what counts. How did he act?"

David Mark contributed to this report.

FRED D. THOMPSON PAC Fined by FEC

Fred Thompson PAC Pays Penalty

6/12/2007

The Federal Election Commission today released a list of forty-seven political committees that were recently fined for late filing of campaign finance disclosure reports. One of the committees, the Fred D. Thompson PAC, paid a civil penalty of $450 for late filing of their 2006 12 Day Pre-General Election report.

A full list of the PAC's $170,000 in disbursements can be found here.

Is Fred Thompson All Charm, No Substance?

MSNBC.com

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Will: Is Fred Thompson All Charm, No Substance?

By George F. Will

Newsweek

June 18, 2007 issue - Tulip mania gripped Holland in the 1630s. Prices soared, speculation raged, bulbs promising especially exotic or intense colors became the objects of such frenzied bidding that some changed hands 10 times in a day. Then, suddenly, the spell was broken, the market crashed—prices plummeted in some cases to one one-hundredth of what they had been just days before. And when Reason was restored to her throne, no one could explain what the excitement had been about. Speaking of Fred Thompson ...

Some say he is the Republicans' Rorschach test: They all see in him what they crave. Or he might be the Republicans' dot-com bubble, the result of restless political investors seeking value that the untutored eye might not discern and that might be difficult to quantify but which the investors are sure must be there, somewhere, somehow.

One does not want to be unfair to Thompson, who may have hidden depths. But ask yourself this: If he did not look like a basset hound who had just read a sad story—say, "Old Yeller"—and if he did not talk like central casting's idea of the god Sincerity, would anyone think he ought to be entrusted with the nation's nuclear arsenal? He is an actor, and, as a Hollywood axiom says, the key to acting is sincerity—if you can fake that, you've got it made.

This is, of course, all about another actor. Republicans have scrutinized the current crop of presidential candidates and succumbed to the psychosomatic disease Reagan Deprivation. It is, however, odd that many Republicans who advertise their admiration for Reagan are so ready to describe Thompson as Reaganesque because he ... what?

Because he, too, is a Great Communicator? Reagan greatly communicated ideas and agendas. What Thompson enthusiasts are smitten by, so far, is his manner. His deep-fried Southernness bears a strong resemblance to the Southwesternness of, say, Midland, Texas, and the country may have had its fill of that flavor. Thompson, a longtime lawyer-lobbyist who will run as a Washington "outsider," lives inside the Beltway, but outside Washington, in McLean, Va.

In their haste to anoint Thompson as another Reagan, the anointers are on the verge of endorsing what Reagan's disdainers have long argued—that Reagan was 99 percent charm and 1 percent substance. In 1968, when Reagan was 57, one of his disparagers, Norman Mailer, wrote that Reagan radiated a "very young, boyish, maybe thirteen or fourteen, freckles, cowlick, I-tripped-on-my-sneaker-lace aw shucks variety of confusion." This style of dismissal was common then, before Reagan spent another 14 successful years in demanding executive offices and before the publication of his letters and pre-presidential broadcasts. Since then, Reagan has undergone what Alistair Cooke, speaking of someone else, called "the four stages of the highbrow treatment: first, he was derided, then ignored, then accepted, then discovered." So far, Thompson is 99 percent charm.

When the resolutely uncharming John McCain ran in 2000, only four of his Senate colleagues supported him. Thompson was one. Today Thompson is John McCain without McCain's heroism, Vesuvian temper and support for the current immigration legislation. Although Thompson presents himself as a strict constitutionalist and an advocate of limited government, he voted for, and still supports, the McCain-Feingold law, which empowers the government to regulate the quantity, content and timing of speech about government.

Because this campaign started so early, it may be shrewd for Thompson to bide his time until his rivals seem stale, and then stride onstage. But once there, the latecomer should have some distinctive ideas he thinks will elevate the debate. In a recent speech, Thompson expressed a truly distinctive idea about immigration. Referring to the 1986 amnesty measure that Reagan signed into law, he said: "Twelve million illegal immigrants later, we are now living in a nation that is beset by people who are suicidal maniacs and want to kill countless innocent men, women and children around the world."

Kids, do not try to deconstruct that thought at home; this is a task for professionals. Thompson seemed to be saying that the suicidal maniacs besetting us are among us—are among the 12 million. And that although the maniacs are here, they want to kill innocents elsewhere ("around the world"), too.

Well, Reagan, too, had his rhetorical pratfalls, and Thompson, a former prosecutor, must know how to sift evidence and formulate arguments. But as Thompson ambles toward running, he is burdened by a reputation for a less-than-strenuous approach to public life, and that opaque thought he voiced about immigration looks suspiciously symptomatic of a mind undisciplined by steady engagement with complexities. If so, a sound you may soon hear from the Thompson campaign may be the soft "pop" of a bursting bubble.

URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19140623/site/newsweek/page/0/

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Don't lay bets on Fred's red pickup of victory just yet

By DWIGHT LEWIS

Will former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson be the savior of the Republican Party? Well, if I were you, I wouldn't bet the farm on it.

"Republicans are desperate to find a candidate that fits the traditional mold of the party,'' David A. Bositis, senior political analyst with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, told me by phone recently. "I find it kind of questionable that he's (Thompson) going to be the Republican Party's savior.

"Somehow he's going to get in and make a difference? He has not raised a lot of money and, except for his movie career, he's best known for his support of the McCain-Feingold campaign finance reform legislation while in the Senate. And, as chairman of the Senate Government Affairs Committee, he oversaw the hearings on Bill Clinton's campaign contributions.

"But he was not a mover or shaker while in the Senate. In fact, he was pretty forgettable as a member of the Senate.''

I had called Bositis to get his thoughts about Thompson's expectant soon-to-be candidacy for the Republican nomination for the 2008 presidential election. After all, Bositis has been at the Joint Center, a black think tank, for the past 17 years and usually has a pretty good take on what's going on in politics at the national level.

"It's the conservative base of the party that's looking for another candidate that would rival the top three Republicans now (former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani, Sen. John McCain and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney)," Bositis said. "But I don't think that's Thompson's background.

"He is sort of a Howard Baker protege. Baker comes from that old-style Republican background that wasn't so much for social conservatism as they were for balancing budgets. Not that fire-and-brimstone type.''

As for Thompson possibly campaigning for the presidency while driving around some in a red pickup truck as he did while running for the U.S. Senate in Tennessee in 1994, Bositis is not sure that will fly.

"The year 1994 was a great Republican year, but this year and 2008 is not going to be a good Republican year where you can come up with some gimmick with the war going on,'' Bositis told me. "Plus, any Republican candidate will have George Bush wrapped around their neck. That candidate is going to have to distinguish himself from the others and I don't think Thompson can do that.''

Sounds kind of bad for the ol' homeboy, Thompson, doesn't it?

Coincidentally, the day Bositis and I talked there was a USA Today story that talked about the 64-year-old Thompson spending two decades in Washington as a lawyer-lobbyist, representing "such entities as Westinghouse, the deposed government of Haiti, the Teamsters Union pension fund and the Tennessee Savings and Loan Association.''

The article went on to say that some analysts believe Thompson may find his lobbying role more of a burden under the microscope in a presidential election.

"He's never been in the national spotlight before,'' Bositis said. "If he decides to run, that national spotlight will be on him like it's never been on him before. And, because the other candidates have been in the race longer, they've already had some of that spotlight on them. His life will get picked over a lot.''

What it really boils down to is that the conservative base of the Republican Party is looking for a candidate without any flaws, Bositis said. He said Giuliani, who leads most polls when it comes to the Republicans, is pro-choice and conservatives don't like that about him. In addition, he's also in favor of gun control.

"McCain is as old as Methuselah and how many Southern Baptists will vote for a Mormon (Romney)?"

I wonder how many of you think David Bositis is wrong about Fred Thompson, or can he rise to the top and become the Republican Party's savior?

Only time will tell, but be careful when you come to betting the farm on it.

Thompson survey said: "I do not believe abortion should be criminalized"

Former senator has voting record opposed to federal funding and partial-birth, but 1990s answers addressed life issues more directly

By BILL THEOBALD
Tennessean Washington Bureau
and BRAD SCHRADE
Staff Writer

KNOXVILLE — Imminent 2008 presidential candidate Fred Thompson is positioning himself as a new hope for social conservatives who are unhappy with the current field of 10 Republicans.

But his answers on past surveys indicate he has previously taken positions that could be viewed as tolerating abortion.

Documents The Tennessean located last week in Thompson's Senate archive at the University of Tennessee show:

• On a 1996 Christian Coalition survey, he checked "opposed" to an amendment to the U.S. Constitution "protecting the sanctity of human life."

• He included a handwritten clarification: "I do not believe abortion should be criminalized. This battle will be won in the hearts and souls of the American people."

• In 1996, asked by the Memphis group FLARE (Family, Life, America, Responsible Education Under God Inc.) if human life begins at conception, Thompson circled "N/A."

Those answers could complicate Thompson's standing with the Republican Party right wing, which has been bolstered by his seemingly reliable pro-life voting record.

Thompson and his small campaign staff say he has never supported abortion rights.

Roe, amendment opposed

"Senator Thompson is pro-life. He has been consistently pro-life throughout his career, having been endorsed by National Right to Life and having a 100 percent pro-life voting record while in the Senate," Thompson spokesman Mark Corallo said in a written response to questions.

"As the senator has said publicly, he does not support a constitutional amendment banning abortion for the same reasons he believes Roe v. Wade (the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion) should be overturned — though in that case he believes it is both bad law and bad science."

In his eight years in the Senate, Thompson's abortion votes were mostly on issues such as federal funding and research and did not directly address the kinds of questions the surveys asked.

He did vote in four separate years to ban so-called "partial birth abortion" procedures.

Roe was 'wrong decision'

Thompson most recently discussed his abortion views on Fox News after Tuesday's New Hampshire Republican presidential candidate debate.

"I've always thought that Roe v. Wade was a wrong decision," Thompson said, "that they usurped what had been the law in this country for 200 years, that it was a matter that should go back to the states. When you get back to the states, I think the states should have some leeway."

Corallo said Thompson's position on abortion stems from a fundamental belief that the power to decide such matters should lie with individual states. "He has been consistent in that position throughout his career."

'Record trumps rhetoric'

Thompson himself appears befuddled over how views expressed in the early 1990s came to be characterized as advocating abortion rights.

"Although I don't remember it, I must have said something to someone as I was getting
my campaign started that led to a story," Thompson was quoted as saying in an April article in the conservative political magazine Weekly Standard. "Apparently, another story was based upon that story, and another was based upon that, concluding I was pro-choice."

In a 1996 Tennessean article Thompson acknowledged his role as "an abortion-rights defender in a party with a pro-life tilt" as he headed to the Republican National Convention.

"We need to concentrate on what brings us together and not what divides us," Thompson said in an interview at the time, brushing aside his differences with the GOP's official pro-life stance.

Conservatives like him

Still, conservative groups locally and in Washington that are eyeing Thompson's likely candidacy seem to be giving him an approving nod.

"We look for a demonstrated record of supporting human life, and Fred Thompson certainly has that record," said Brian Harris, president of Tennessee Right to Life.

Evelyn Rodgers, a West Meade Realtor who said she considers the right to life "a basic civil right," said she would be excited to see Thompson enter the race.

"I think there's quite a bit of unease with Rudy Giuliani, who on all other fronts is an appealing candidate, but the fact that he has even supported late-term abortions recently, I would have a difficult time supporting him," she said.

Darla St. Martin, co-executive director of National Right to Life Committee, said she came to Tennessee in 1994 to meet with Thompson. "I eyeballed him and listened" and came away satisfied he was anti-abortion, St. Martin said. "The key is how he voted."

Tony Perkins, president of the influential Family Research Council, said he is confident of Thompson's anti-abortion credentials.

"Record trumps rhetoric," Perkins said.

Past as lobbyist may play into future as candidate

By Ken Dilanian, USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — When Fred Thompson was investigating alleged campaign-finance abuses as chairman of the Senate Governmental Affairs committee in 1997, one of his targets was Harold Ickes — a top aide and fundraiser for President Clinton.

Over the past three years, though, the former Republican senator and the Democratic powerbroker were on the same side of a big legislative battle. Both were part of a team of lobbyists for Equitas Ltd., a British reinsurance company set up to handle billions of dollars in claims by asbestos victims, lobbying records show.

That unlikely pairing offers an insight into Thompson, 64, who declared his interest last week in running for president. Although the folksy-sounding Tennessean recently told USA TODAY that he would run an outsider, just as he did while campaigning as a "country lawyer" in a red pickup during his 1994 U.S. Senate race, his résumé is that of a longtime Washington operative who has crossed ideological lines to represent corporate and foreign clients.

Before he was elected to the Senate, Thompson spent nearly two decades in Washington as a lawyer-lobbyist, representing such entities as Westinghouse, the deposed government of Haiti, the Teamsters Union pension fund and the Tennessee Savings and Loan Association, according to Senate records and published accounts.

After he left the Senate in 2003, Thompson resumed his acting career with a role as the district attorney on TV's Law & Order. Less visibly, he registered in 2004 as a lobbyist for Equitas, a company created to manage the asbestos liability for Lloyd's of London.

Equitas hired a bevy of lobbyists to protect its interests in the proposal to set up a federal trust fund, paid for by insurers, asbestos-makers and others, to compensate asbestos victims. The bill failed to pass, but before that happened, Equitas got what it wanted: a change in a provision the company said singled out foreign insurers for unfavorable treatment. Jon Nash, a firm spokesman, on Wednesday credited Thompson as having "contributed to the successful outcome."

The company paid Thompson $760,000 from 2004 to 2006, according to Senate records.

After a review of lobbying records and Thompson's tax returns, The (Memphis) Commercial Appeal reported in 1994 that he earned $507,000 from lobbying in 1975-93. That figure, a fraction of his total legal income, reflects a narrower definition of lobbying than the one in the current law. Thompson reported $3.7 million in income from lawyering and acting from 1983 to 1993, according to The Commercial Appeal and other Tennessee newspapers that cited his tax returns.

Thompson declined to be interviewed for this article. His spokesman, Mark Corallo, said, "Many of the candidates from both parties have been lobbyists or have been lobbied at one point or another in their careers. It is an honorable endeavor that goes back to the beginnings of this republic." Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, a Republican, reported that he earned $1.2 million last year from Bracewell & Giuliani, a Houston law and lobbying firm.

Thompson's opponent in his 1994 Senate race, Democrat Jim Cooper, sought to make an issue of the advocacy. He labeled Thompson a "Gucci-wearing, Lincoln-driving, Perrier-drinking, Grey Poupon-spreading millionaire Washington special-interest lobbyist." It didn't work. Speaking of Congress, Thompson told one crowd he could not wait "to go up there and grab that place by the scruff of the neck and give it a good shake." He beat Cooper by 20 percentage points.

Some analysts say Thompson may find his lobbying role more of a burden under the microscope of a presidential campaign, in an era when the Jack Abramoff scandal has cast lobbying in a harsh light.

"I suspect that when you run for president those sorts of activities receive a greater level of scrutiny," said Bruce Oppenheimer, political science professor at Vanderbuilt University in Nashville. "It's not just, 'who are you?' but 'who are your friends?' "

Political analyst Stuart Rothenberg said it could be a plus that Thompson "can wear the plaid shirt and drive the pickup and sound like a good ol' boy, and 20 minutes later, in a beautiful suit with polished shoes, sound like a guy who is an insider who knows about policy. But there is always the potential that voters will see that contradiction and wonder which one is the real one."

On occasion, Thompson lobbied for causes he would later criticize as a senator. For example, Thompson led a Senate effort against "corporate welfare." As a lobbyist in 1980s, he represented Westinghouse in its failed bid to win billions in subsidies for a nuclear reactor project in Tennessee, which the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think tank, called "a multibillion-dollar folly." Corallo said the project was "aimed at helping to alleviate the energy crunch the country was suffering through."

In addition to lobbying, Thompson also has served on corporate boards. From May 2004 to November 2005, he sat on the board of the NASDAQ stock market, according to Securities and Exchange Commission records.

In the 1990s, Thompson served on the board of directors of — and did legal work for — engineering firm Stone & Webster. Shareholder activists unsuccessfully sued the firm in 1994, though, saying it was mismanaged. The lawsuit was filed after Thompson left the board, but it covered activities during the time he served. One plaintiff, investor Nell Minow — who made a business of buying shares in underperforming companies and pushing for changes — accused Thompson of a conflict of interest because he did legal work while on the board.

The company lost money throughout the 1990s, including the time Thompson served on the board, and went bankrupt in 2000, six years after Thompson left. Corallo declined to comment.

Martin Baach, a lawyer who coordinated Equitas' Capitol Hill advocacy, offered a different opinion of Thompson's business skills. "He's a great problem solver," Baach said.