The National Right to Life Committee endorsed Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson yesterday, the latest in a scattering of Republican endorsements from social conservative leaders and groups.

"Our endorsement is a testament to Senator Thompson's long-standing pro-life record, his commitment to protecting unborn children, and our belief in his ability to win," said Wanda Franz, the committee president, in a statement at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.

The committee touted Thompson's Senate voting record opposing stem cell research and the use of tax dollars to promote or pay for abortion, and it praised him for supporting parental notice and consent regulations. The former Tennessee senator has also said Roe v. Wade, the 1973 Supreme Court decision legalizing abortion, should be reversed.

While the announcement positions Thompson in the chase for the Republican Party's social conservatives, local Republicans said it is neither surprising nor significant for voters in New Hampshire.

Televangelist Pat Robertson endorsed former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani last week. Kansas Sen. Sam Brownback, a social conservative who dropped out of the race for president, endorsed John McCain last week, as well. And former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney earned the endorsement of Bob Jones III, chancellor of the Christian fundamentalist Bob Jones University.

The National Right to Life Committee's endorsement is another sign that social conservatives have not rallied around one candidate, said Fergus Cullen, the chairman of the New Hampshire Republican Party. Cullen said the endorsement may not do much to entice New Hampshire voters away from other candidates.

"There are respected pro-lifers in the camps of many leading candidates, so in essence they're all free agents," Cullen said.

While Thompson's endorsement yesterday may be important on a national level and in Southern states, where the Christian conservative voting bloc is strong, several political activists said the announcement won't make a difference to New Hampshire voters.

Karen Testerman, the executive director of Cornerstone Policy Research, a conservative, anti-abortion group, said most conservatives would agree that Thompson has a strong, consistent record on abortion. Because the endorsement is not much of a surprise, Testerman said it might not make waves.

"I think that New Hampshire is so unique as a place for a candidate to come and visit that the endorsement, the national endorsements, don't mean a lot unless it's a disappointment," she said. "I think it weighs more in other states where they don't have the opportunity that we have here to meet these candidates and touch them and talk to them, not once, but many times over in order to solidify our opinions."

Testerman said social conservatives in New Hampshire are not aligned with one particular Republican candidate, because nearly all of them - except Giuliani - are pro-life.

Fran Wendleboe, a Republican legislator from New Hampton who introduced the state's parental notification law, agreed. She said national social conservative leaders have sent a mixed message to their voting bloc by endorsing several different candidates. It's doubtful that the latest endorsement will do much to sway them, Wendleboe said.

"I know some people who are very pro-life who are with Tancredo, some who are with Ron Paul, some who are with Romney and McCain," Wendleboe said, "so I don't think anybody's going to say, 'Well, I'm going to dump him because National Right to Life says Fred's the one.' "

Thompson's opponents downplayed the endorsement's significance yesterday as well.

Crystal Benton, a spokeswoman for John McCain, said the Arizona senator is the only candidate with a consistent pro-life record who can beat Hillary Clinton in the general election. And Romney spokesman Craig Stevens said the campaign is pleased with the support it has received from anti-abortion groups.

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