AP Interview: Fred Thompson Defends Lobbying

It should be dismaying to any potential voter. Two of the top candidates are proud of ties to lobbying:

On the verge of joining the presidential race, Republican Fred Thompson on Friday unapologetically defended his career as a Washington lobbyist paid to influence the government on behalf of an abortion-rights group, a leftist Haitian leader and other special interests.

It shows who's in charge in America. And it ain't us; money rules:

In the AP interview, Thompson said he had no regrets over any of the lobbying jobs he took before entering the Senate in 1994, including his representation of the National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association and deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

"I have no apologies to make about it," he said of a 20-year lobbying career that earned him at least a $1 million.

The abortion-rights work complicates Thompson's efforts to court social conservatives, most of whom strongly oppose abortion.