Nothing About Iowa

I know the news tonight is about Iowa, but I don't pretend to know what it portends, and I can't be heartened by the fact the two winners are the guys who are really nice but manifestly (they've revealed it in their gaffes) know nothing whatsoever about foreign policy. We aren't in nice-guy times.

Instead I draw your attention to an interesting interview with tonight's at-this-writing Republican third place winner. Deacon Keith Fournier of Catholic On-Line did a series of interviews with the candidates. A couple of items in the one with Fred Thompson. First, some good reporting. This, pro-lifers, is what you have to ask your candidates. Not just this one:

What is your position on the dignity of every human life from conception to natural death and the fundamental right to life?

Which is a softball, and usually the candidate is allowed to assert he's pro-life and move on. But then a tough series:

How have you lived that commitment personally, as well as in your years of public service as an elected official?

And...

What have you done to build a new culture of life and defend the right to life against the encroachment of what the late Pope John Paul II rightly called a culture of death?

Note...not just what is your position, but what have you done? How, politically, will you move the culture of life forward?

Then, two little comments that illustrate what I like about FT. On gay marriage:

I believe marriage is the union of one man and one woman.

This institution is the foundation of any civilized society. I supported the Defense of Marriage Act when I served in the Senate. I support a constitutional amendment that will prevent judges from imposing same-sex marriage on the states and also ensure that each state can protect itself from same-sex marriages and civil unions recognized in other states.

Because amending the Constitution is very difficult, I also intend to focus on those things that can be achieved in the next four years, including using the bully pulpit of the Presidency to defend the institution of marriage and appointing judges who will not misinterpret the Constitution to force same-sex marriage on any state and on our society. "

I've written previously about my differences with Thompson on his version of the marriage amendment, but it's the last paragraph that's important --using the power of the presidency to do what he can do in four years, not simply giving lip-service to some future Conservative nirvana in which the whole country ratifies an amendment to the Constitution.

And then there's this in a question about fiscal policy:

My plan for Tax Relief and Economic Growth promotes fairness and simplicity in the tax code and will create greater growth in the economy.

It is based on a fundamental assumption that keeping tax rates low increases economic growth and enhances American competitiveness in the global economy. Increased economic growth will lead to higher wages and higher levels of employment in America.

Equally important, lower taxes enhance the personal and economic freedom of all Americans by allowing them to keep more of their hard-earned dollars. Allowing Americans to control their own financial future has been integral to our nation's economic success and strength since its founding, and is the key to our future.

Several of the GOP candidates are tax-cutters; what sets Thompson apart is his connecting Conservative fiscal policy to freedom. It is not just the economy, stupid; it's also about the capacity to live your life --but people forget that if we don't remind them.