Fred Thompson picks up National Right to Life endorsement

Via the AP:

INDIANOLA, Iowa – Fred Thompson, the candidate billing himself as the most consistent conservative in the crowded Republican field, has won the presidential endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee, GOP officials said Monday.

The nod by the prominent anti-abortion group could boost the lackluster campaign of the former Tennessee senator. He has seen his poll numbers drop in recent weeks in Iowa and elsewhere as he has failed to become the consensus candidate of restive social conservatives still searching for someone to embrace.

“It speaks for itself,” an upbeat Thompson told reporters while campaigning here — even as he spoke in hypothetical terms and declined to confirm the endorsement. “These are people who supported me in times past. I think it would be a perfectly natural thing to happen. I’ve had a 100 percent pro-life voting record in the United States Senate. And I think they know that, and that’s the way I would govern if I was president.”

Fred was due, as other candidates in the race have received endorsements from noteable conservatives in the last week as well:

The support comes after a week in which Thompson watched GOP competitors wrap up endorsements from prominent conservatives: Rudy Giuliani from Pat Robertson, Mitt Romney from Paul Weyrich, John McCain from Sen. Sam Brownback and Mike Huckabee from Donald Wildmon.

Bryan Preston has the best analysis. He notes that while Thompson and the NRLC have had some disagreements, they agreed on more:

On the other hand, Thompson does have a 100% pro-life voting record as a senator. While his language about not wanting to criminalize young girls and mothers could be mistaken for NARAL rhetoric, Thompson’s voting record is solid. Picking up the NRLC endorsement probably turns the Robertson endorsement of Giuliani into a wash, which in turn means that we’re looking at a very divided social con base in the GOP.

Yep. In other words, nothing has changed, and it’s still anybody’s guess as to who the the top guy is going to be going into the primaries.

Cross-posted to Liberty Pundit, where I am helping out Brian today and tomorrow.