Posted on 01/11/2008 10:34:38 AM PST by Maelstorm
| Friday, January 11, 2008 1:05 PM By: Newsmax Staff |
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Fred Thompson went on the attack against Mike Huckabee at Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, sharply criticizing the candidate he clearly sees as a rival for the evangelical vote in South Carolina.
In the debate sponsored by Fox News and the South Carolina Republican Party, the heated exchange went like this:
THOMPSON: “This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and its future. On the one hand, you have the Reagan revolution. You have the Reagan coalition of limited government and strong national security.
“On the other hand, you have the direction that Governor Huckabee would take us in. He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies.
“He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy and the tradition of, blame America first.
“He believes that Guantanamo should be closed down and those enemy combatants brought here to the United States to find their way into the court system eventually.
“He believes in taxpayer-funded programs for illegals, as he did in Arkansas.
“He has the endorsement of the National Education Association, and the NEA said it was because of his opposition to vouchers.
“He said he would sign a bill that would ban smoking nationwide. So much for federalism. So much for states' rights. So much for individual rights.
“That's not the model of the Reagan coalition, that's the model of the Democratic Party.”
HUCKABEE: “The Air Force has a saying that says that if you're not catching flak, you're not over the target. I'm catching the flak, I must be over the target.
“Fred, I want to say, I appreciate the analysis of my record, but let me try to give you some of the facts of my record.
“I came into Arkansas as a governor. Put in that position as a lieutenant governor when my predecessor, a Democrat, was forced out of office on a felony conviction.
“I did something that had not been done in my state in 160 years. I cut taxes, with the legislature working with me, and we continued to do that 94 times.
“We cut spending. I'll tell you, the most painful time of my being a governor in 10 1/2 years was looking at a budget 91 percent of which was pretty well fixed on education, Medicaid, and prisons -- and cutting 11 percent out of that budget…
“Everywhere I went, I had people protesting me and screaming and yelling and doing demonstrations because I cut government. But I stayed faithful to the things that Ronald Reagan stayed faithful to.
“You know, if Ronald Reagan were running tonight, there would be ads by the Club for Growth running against him because he raised taxes a billion dollars in his first year as governor of California. It would be $10 billion today.”
Thompson and Huckabee did agree later in the debate that the commander of a U.S. Navy ship did the right thing by choosing not to fire on Iranian boats that were harassing American vessels in the Strait of Hormuz earlier in the week.
Thompson quipped about the Iranians: “I think one more step and they would have been introduced to those virgins that they’re looking forward to seeing.”
© 2008 Newsmax. All rights reserved.
Conservative, reality kool-aid is better than RINO s_it flavored kool-aid any day.
Huckabee raps Thompson on Reagan comment
Associated Press - January 11, 2008 3:34 PM ET
DETROIT (AP) - Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee is criticizing rival Fred Thompson, saying he wasn’t always supportive of Ronald Reagan.
Thompson had questioned Huckabee’s commitment to the Reagan Revolution during yesterday’s debate, calling his opponent a liberal on economic issues and foreign policies.
Huckabee said during a news conference today in Detroit that Thompson had supported Gerald Ford in 1976 and Howard Baker in 1980, not Reagan.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
http://www.wlns.com/Global/story.asp?S=7612002&nav=0RbQ
A change of heart after 20 years is okay, but a flip flop during the primary isn’t.
I supported DH before FDT so?
Fred gets my Virginia primary vote, PERIOD.
Fred is the only conservative in the field! The rest are a waste of time, and each one takes Th United States further into a socialist state. Not much diference from a democrat.
Who am I? Why am I here?
Precisely.
Fred demanded 90 seconds when Carl wanted to only give Fred 30 seconds of rebuttal time. WTH is Fox doing!!!!!
Fred does not mess with the media. He has the balls of Reagan, that’s for sure.
Go Fred!
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh gosh, you're killing me, FP!
Huckabee supports a federal anti-smoking bill. When asked about taxes, replied, “What I raised in Arkansas was hope”. He wants to close Gitmo to make the euro-weenies happy. He promotes energy independence in 8 years, which would require massive government intervention. His record on illegal immigration would qualify him for President - of Mexico.
And he is absolutely clueless about foreign affairs.
http://www.weeklystandard.com/weblogs/CampaignStandard/2008/01/barnett_a_big_night_for_huckab_1.asp
Dean Barnett:
For the first time in this campaign, Huckabee looked like a credible commander in chief when the conversation turned to those Iranian speedboats. His normal joviality vanished, replaced by an appropriate gravity.
Then he got even better. He seized on a characteristic piece of Ron Paul idiocy to give a spirited speech defending America’s commitment to Israel. Again, he looked credible as a commander in chief.
For the first time, it was not only possible but easy to imagine Huckabee as the leader of 300 million people. He combined this newfound authority with his old standbys of off-the-charts likability and a deft way of tapping into aspirational politics.
OK - I’ll give Dean Barnett credit for making me laugh my butt off.
RE: the memorized and deer in headlights...
I think so also, and wouldn’t it have been ‘funny’ if he had flubbed like McCain did on one of his little prepared comebacks.
“—Huck slammed him for being to old—”
Now that is what I call being a real Christian.... oh well
There’s nothing particularly un-Christian about suggesting Thompson is too old to be President. Its nonsense ... but not un-Christian.
“I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience.”
Thompson’s pretty quick witted ... he can sidestep such things pretty easily.
H
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