April 19 (Bloomberg) -- Former U.S. Senator Fred Thompson, moving closer to a White House run, is getting support from the party's social conservatives even though he wasn't previously a standard-bearer for their agenda.

The actor and former Tennessee lawmaker met with House Republicans in Washington yesterday to discuss a possible candidacy. The 53 lawmakers gave him a standing ovation and Thompson later said: ``We had a good talk. I enjoyed it and we'll be seeing more of each other, I'm sure.'' The discussion covered abortion, immigration, his first marriage and the war in Iraq.

``People are thirsting for a leadership, for a candidate that checks all the boxes and Fred Thompson is that person,'' said Representative Jeff Miller, a Florida Republican who describes himself on his Web site as ``one of the staunchest conservatives in the House.''

In a poll taken this month, Thompson, 64, made a strong showing among social conservatives, who oppose abortion, gay rights and gun control. These self-described religious voters, a powerful voting bloc in Republican primaries, gave more support to Thompson than to any of the Republican candidates, according to a Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll conducted April 5-9.

Sonograms

The support from conservatives is surprising because Thompson wasn't a champion of their causes during his eight years in the Senate. While he usually voted with conservatives on abortion, he wasn't outspoken on the issue and has since said that he opposes any federal role in regulating the procedure. Still, he said the issue ``means more'' to him now because he has had two children in recent years. ``I have seen the sonograms of my babies,'' he said in an e-mail on April 17.

``He voted the right way, but I wouldn't say he was an activist,'' Richard Land, a leader of the 16-million-member Southern Baptist Convention, said of Thompson's Senate record on abortion.

As chairman of the Governmental Affairs Committee, Thompson was a leading advocate of campaign-finance legislation that social-conservative groups opposed because it would diminish their influence in politics. He also called last month for ``a tolerant nation'' on gay rights.

With a regular role on the NBC television program ``Law and Order,'' Thompson is at home in Hollywood, which many evangelical leaders say promotes a culture that undermines the nation's moral fiber.

Voting Record

Still, Bob Davis, chairman of the Tennessee Republican Party and state coordinator for Thompson while he was in the Senate, said he has proven his conservative bona fides. ``Actions speak louder than words, and he's certainly got a voting record to prove that fact,'' Davis said.

Thompson's record is solid on the defining issues for most conservatives, from banning ``partial-birth'' abortions and human cloning to opposing background checks at gun shows.

For 2002, the year before he left the Senate, Thompson got an 86 percent lifetime rating from the American Conservative Union. He did better than Senator John McCain of Arizona, a declared Republican candidate, who received an 82 percent lifetime rating in 2006. Senator Sam Brownback of Kansas, who is running for the Republican nomination as a conservative, received a 94 percent rating that year.

Economic Issues

Thompson's ratings from other interest groups suggest he is more focused on economic issues than on social questions. In 2000, his rating from the pro-business U.S. Chamber of Commerce was 93 percent. In the 2001-2002 year, his rating from the National Right to Life Committee, which opposes abortion, dropped to 33 percent. The lower rating -- compared with 78 percent in the previous year -- was due to his support of campaign-finance overhaul, according to the NRLC.

His position on abortion hasn't always been clear. In 1993, when he first ran for the Senate, his campaign manager said Thompson would like government to be ``completely out of'' the abortion issue, which should be a matter of ``personal and individual responsibility.''

The comments by the campaign manager, Chuck Spurlock, to the Commercial Appeal of Memphis were widely interpreted as an indication that Thompson was adopting a pro-abortion-rights stance.

Thompson said yesterday that his views had been misinterpreted. ``The proof is in the pudding,'' he wrote in an e-mail. ``I was interviewed and rated pro-life by the National Right to Life folks in 1994.''

Evolving View

Still, he acknowledged that his views may have evolved since he first entered office. ``I must say that the issue means more to me now than it did back then,'' he said. Thanks to sonograms, ``We now know just how developed the fetus is after just a few weeks,'' he said.

Mark Corallo, his current spokesman, said Thompson is critical of both a constitutional amendment banning it and the 1973 Roe v. Wade Supreme Court decision that establishes a woman's right to the procedure and believes the question should be left to the states to decide.

He has diverged from social conservatives on gay rights and said in a March 11 interview on Fox News that the U.S. should be ``a tolerant nation.'' While Thompson said he opposes same-sex marriage, he favors leaving the issue of civil unions to the states, a position that could put him at odds with President George W. Bush and other Republicans who favor a constitutional ban.

Divorce

Thompson's profile isn't that of a typical Christian conservative. He has worked as a television and film actor since 1985, and has appeared in at least 18 movies, including ``The Hunt for Red October.'' Thompson has also been divorced. A bachelor for much of his Senate career, Thompson had numerous girlfriends. He is now remarried with two young children.

James Dobson, head of Focus on the Family, a family values- focused ministry, recently questioned whether Thompson is even a Christian, though he later softened those comments.

Republicans have been concerned for months that none of the top three candidates, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, McCain and former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, is uniting the party, and in particular religious conservatives.

In the Bloomberg/Los Angeles Times poll, Thompson bumped McCain from second place and had a slight advantage with self- described religious Republicans. Twenty-one percent of those voters favored Thompson, compared with 17 percent for Giuliani, and 10 percent for McCain.

Bob Taylor, a dean at Bob Jones University, a Christian college in Greenville, South Carolina, said many social conservatives aren't likely to be troubled that Thompson hasn't been more closely identified with the social issues they care about.

``The religious right is hunting for a home,'' Taylor said. If Thompson runs, ``I have a feeling there could be a groundswell among religious conservatives in his direction.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Heidi Przybyla in Washington at hprzybyla@bloomberg.net; Catherine Dodge in Washington at Cdodge1@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: April 19, 2007 00:16 EDT