Posted on 01/13/2008 1:01:49 PM PST by TornadoAlley3
Six days before South Carolina Republicans go to the polls, the spat between the Southerners who need to win that crucial primary -- former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee -- continues to get uglier and uglier, even as both men tread more lightly on the candidate who leads the most recent poll in that state, Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz.
"Fred Thompson talks about putting America first, and yet he's the one who is a registered foreign agent, lobbied for foreign countries, was in a law firm that did lobbying work for Libya," Huckabee charged Sunday morning on CNN.
Thompson, who had launched an aggressive attack against Huckabee's record during Thursday night's GOP debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C., responded by insinuating that Huckabee is in truth nastier than his sunny demeanor, is unprepared for the presidency, and is making personal attacks while Thompson is "talking about issues concerning this country."
Huckabee has "raised enough money now to get some hit pieces and dredge up personal stuff and personal accusations against me," Thompson told CNN. "And now you're seeing the real Mike Huckabee come out. So, I think we've done a favor to the American people. Because these are serious times, and they require somebody that knows what they're doing and doesn't walk into a situation with foreign representatives and heads of foreign nations with training wheels on."
Since 1980, no Republican has won the presidency without first winning the South Carolina primary. But in this year's unpredictable GOP contest, with any number of possible nominees and no clear frontrunner, the South Carolina primary has taken on extra importance -- for Huckabee and Thompson in particular.
Huckabee needs to demonstrate that his Iowa caucus victory Jan. 3 wasn't a fluke, and that his scotch-tape-and-rubber-bands campaign is capable of going national. For his part, Thompson needs to win somewhere. Anywhere.
Addressing the substance of Huckabee's charges, Thompson Sunday acknowledged he was "in a law firm that did some lobbying work for Libya," but his involvement was minimal. He said he'd registered with the government because of "five minutes' worth of contribution" to discussions about another client, Haiti.
"It was totally consistent with the policies of this country, where a dictatorship had taken over that country and we were opposing that," Thompson said.
During the Republican debate Thursday night, Thompson -- about whom even his supporters complain of less-than-energetic campaigning -- showed remarkable pep and vigor, attacking Huckabee for having overseen a net tax increase as Arkansas governor, for having pushed merit scholarships for the children of illegal immigrants, and for having suggested he would sign a nation-wide ban on smoking in public places. He took issue with comments Huckabee made that the Bush administration had demonstrated an "arrogant bunker mentality" in its foreign policy.
"On the one hand, you have the Reagan revolution," Thompson said during the debate. "You have the Reagan coalition of limited government and strong national security. On the other hand, you have the direction that Gov. Huckabee would take us in. He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies. .. That's not the model of the Reagan coalition. That's the model of the Democratic Party."
Huckabee didn't respond much during the debate, but appearing on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" Friday morning, he took his well-known wit literally below the belt, joking, "I think Fred needs some Metamucil. I think it would help a lot. He was in a bad mood last night."
Campaigning Friday in Michigan, Huckabee went on the attack more substantively.
"It was real interesting hearing Fred Thompson talk about Ronald Reagan last night," Huckabee said. "Because Fred Thompson supported [then-President] Gerald Ford in 1976 and not Ronald Reagan. He supported [then-Sen.] Howard Baker in 1980 and not Ronald Reagan. I appreciate his recent conversion, but some of us were for Ronald Reagan back in the early days; our legacy goes back a little further."
Huckabee also tried to paint Thompson as having been an undistinguished senator.
"Eight years is a pretty long time to get a check from the federal government and not be able to say" he was responsible for any major legislation, Huckabee said.
On Saturday, Thompson called the criticism of his previous support of Ford and Baker as "kind of silly. Howard Baker was my mentor and personal friend in Tennessee for years and years. If you check the record, Gov. Huckabee supported Democrats on a fairly consistent basis in his days in Arkansas politics. I don't think he wants to get into that discussion. We'll see."
Of Huckabee's Metamucil's joke, on Sunday morning Thompson said "his response was to return fire with some potty humor. That's the best he could come up with for the last three days."
He added that he was happy to compare his record to Huckabee's, whom he described as "having raised taxes $500 million more than he cut." He described Huckabee's criticisms of the Bush administration as "blame-America-first comments," and pointed out, correctly, the Huckabee campaign chairman Ed Rollins had called the Reagan coalition dead.
Huckabee, Thompson charged, "talked around the subject and smiled and giggled and told a couple of jokes. When I came back, I said, 'You know, this is about the heart and mind of the Republican Party, because I don't believe it [the Reagan coalition] is [dead].'"
Said Huckabee, "The Writers Guild strike needs to end soon. Fred's got to get some better lines. Calling me a liberal would be laughable in Arkansas, where people recognized -- if anything, they called me this ultra-conservative guy. ... It's always interesting to me, when people get desperate, they start grabbing for anything."
Thompson responded that he had been asking questions about Huckabee's support for closing down the prison at Guantanamo Bay, his support for public programs for the children of illegal immigrants, and the fact that he was endorsed by a teachers' union.
"These are substantive issues," Thompson said. "These are not personal attacks. If the governor wants to get into personal attacks and things that happened some years ago and things that they've done and allegations, there's enough on the record in Arkansas that will keep us busy for the rest of this campaign."
Or at least until Saturday.
Sorry...no thanks.
Incorrect.
Democrats supported by Huckabee:
In 2002, Rep. Bobby Glover, D, over Rep. Randy Minton, R, in a state senate race.
In 2000, He campaigned for Barbara Horn, D, in a Dem. primary against Dennis Young, D, and Spencer Plumlee, R, dropped out because Huck didn’t support him.
In Fort Smith, AR (a conservative area still) Huckabee helped Democrat Benny Magness in his race against Republican Shawn Womack. Womack won.
Before you guys go off full-bore supporting Huckabee's lies, you should at least fact check them. He's habitual.
Fred Thompson Defends Lobbying Record
He also was a lobbyist for deposed Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide, who was widely criticized for endorsing ``necklacing,'' the gruesome practice of execution where gasoline-soaked tires are thrown over a person's neck and set ablaze. In September 1991, Aristide said: ``The burning tire, what a beautiful tool! ... It smells good. And wherever you go, you want to smell it.''
Fred supported this communist murderer.
I’d say Huckabee is more conservative than Giuliani (which just goes to show how many different meanings “conservative” has in general use :-). And I’m not sure about McCain vs. Romney. They’re both pretty slippery. McCain’s a bat, though, and Romney doesn’t seem to be.
Care to source quotes of Fred's support for Aristide. Dates will be crucial as Aristide was elected once by the people of Haiti. I won't hold my breath.
Do you all depend on people not knowing these issues or do you not know them?
No. FRed supported the Constitution and wanted to protect the US.
I agree with your defence of Fred, but actually, Ford was the President at the time and that is whom you generally support.
So am I. The media promotes this by always calling ads that compare and contrast two candidates as "attack" ads.
How in the world is a candidate supposed to bring attention to differences between themselves and their opponents, if they are unable to point out those differences without being called "negative"?
I also am troubled by this in terms of Republicans taking this stance; as, this has always been a Democratic ploy when a Republican opponent points out their record on something.
I will vote for no one before huck-a-bee. You huck-a-bee supporters are wasting your time supporting him. He will get killed by osama obama, or the beast.
Why wouldn’t Fred support fellow Tennessean Howard Baker? They were from the same state and had become friends. Mike Huckabee has become the spoiler. He’ll not get the nomination but he is trying to spoil it for a true conservative, Fred Thompson. Get out, Mike. Go back to Hope and leave the rest of America to select a true leader, not a divider.
As opposed to which candidate? The others NEVER arrived.
Is this really the best you can do?
Well, if the folks in Arkansas considered Huckabee an “ultra-conservative”(per his words) then they don’t have a clue what a conservative is. Or, Huckabee is a liar.
Soli, you are confused, John Dean was Nixon’s counsel. Fred Thompson was counsel for the minority members of the Watergate Committee. His job was not to defend the president, but to defend the Constitution.
You better ask your handlers for new talking points. The ones you use offend thinking Americans.
In ‘76, I thought Reagan to be too conservative.
In ‘80, I got out of a sickbed to go vote for him!
Who knows what would have happened had he been nominated in ‘76?
But, one thing is for sure...the Republican Party was gravely damaged by the Nixon administration.
Reagan may not have been able to win the election in ‘76.
This conservative, if the choice were between Huck & Fred, would choose Fred in a heartbeat.
No matter how many times you keep repeating this doesn't make it true! He was the minority counsel to the Watergate committee NOT Nixon's defense counsel.
Fred made money supporting communist and Islamist terrorists from Haiti and Libya. Fred is a damned traitor to this country.
Reagan was a dem for many years, so there goes that one out the window. Fred has a strong consistent conservative record, Huck has a consistent liberal record, including supporting democrats over republicans. Nuff said.
Yes, the cusp, but not quite there yet.
I have made the same statement multiple times on FR, but once again.
I do not believe we have an exceptable candidate running this election cycle. They are all entry-level. I believe you have to have executive experience to apply for a CEO position and POTUS is the biggest CEO position on Earth. Rudy, Mitt and Huck are the only three with executive experience. Rudy and Mitt are social liberals. Rudy is pro-abortion and Mitt was for abortion before he was against it. Huck is right on the issues as stated in his position statements on his web site, but like you I am concerned that his record is different than his current positions. I also think being Governor of Arkansas is too small a CEO job to qualify for POTUS.
I am not voting in the primary for this reason. I will vote for the nominee of the party, however.
I defend Huck on FR because most of the comments by Fred Hunter Paul cultists are devoid of fact , reason, and civility. You all have underqualified candidates who want to be president without building the prerequisite resume, so why namecall Huckabee and his supporters?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.