Thompson Maintains Gay Marriage Stand

(Washington) The presidential hopefuls were busy on the hustings over the pre-Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Republican Fred Thompson was in Florida trying to advance himself as the true conservative,

Thompson told a group pushing to amend the state constitution to ban same-sex marriage that judges have to be told to adhere to the constitution, saying gay marriage is "a totally judicially made problem."

But he also told the Florida Family Policy Council that he is reluctant to amend the US constitution.

Thompson said that the issue should be handled at the state level.

His main rival for support among the far right of the party, Mike Huckabee, supports amending the US constitution and on Sunday told Fox News that abortion laws need to be taken away from the states.

"It's the logic of the Civil War," Huckabee said, comparing abortion rights to slavery.

"If morality is the point here, and if it's right or wrong, not just a political question, then you can't have 50 different versions of what's right and what's wrong."

"For those of us for whom this is a moral question, you can't simply have 50 different versions of what's right," the former Arkansas governor said.

Rudy Giuliani was drumming up support at NASCAR's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Giuliani likened the pursuit of energy independence and the development of alternative energy sources to the race to put a man on the moon several decades ago.

John McCain was in New Hampshire were he told an audience that the U.S. troop increase in Iraq is having an effect on the violence there.

How? Democrats, who generally oppose the war, have stopped linking him to the troop build-up, he said.

On the Democratic side, John Edwards was attacking Hillary Clinton over Iraq.

Following a town hall meeting in Reno, Nevada, Edwards contrasted his Iraq views with Clinton's and said the Democratic front-runner owes it to voters to provide specific plans on how to end the war.

Edwards said his plan calls for the immediate withdrawal of as many as 50,000 troops and the full withdrawal of all troops within 10 months. He also said he would prohibit permanent U.S. military bases in Iraq.

Meanwhile, in Iowa, Barack Obama was criticizing Clinton for her past support of NAFTA, saying the former first lady had changed her mind about the trade agreement only since becoming a presidential candidate.

"I think it's important to note that Senator Clinton was a cheerleader for NAFTA for more than a decade," Obama said.