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.
Fred opposes Ronald Reagan’s Republican abortion platform and he always has. That’s why he is losing this election spectacularly. Nobody is fooled by the abortion lobbyist Thompson’s campaign lies. We Christian Conservatives aren’t as stupid as Fred thinks we are.
Huckster is a sure loser on a national level, even to Hitlery. And, pls don't waste time with MSM-driven polls that purport to indicate the contrary.
When the Drive-Bys say anything remotely nice about a Republican, that's a dead-on indicator of what that alleged Republican's politics are. McLame has been disqualified on this ground for years; and now Gomer is (or should be) also.
You are a supreme jack-ass and a disgustin liar.
You make me sick. But on the bright side, you seem to share character traits with your boy Huck.
In 2002, he supported 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.
Thanks for the information.
I sure did. I found nothing inconsistent with what Fred said. If you do, then let's have it.
Huckabee is trying to run from his record like it's a burning building. Mike gives great answers to the religious questions, such as the one he got about marriage; however, his record as governor (money for illegals, taxes, criminals, campaigning for demos) is horrific.
Huckabee is supposed to be "THE" Christian in this race, while Thompson's Christianity was being questioned; however, Fred has a better grasp of what roles government and individual responsibility play for the Christian.
Huck is beating your liar Fred and will beat him in the south. Why? Because of abortion. You will still be shaking your head wondering why nobody supported your lying candidate.
These vile creatures bathe themselves in the words of Christ...and idiots across the nation fall for it. It is just maddening.
Fred has a 100% pro-life voting record and that is why he has the endorsment of several major pro-life groups including the biggest, the NRTL. Fred is a federalist and believes roe v wade should be overturned. That is the quickest way to get the anti-abortion snowball rolling. Waiting on the HLA will ensure that millions more of the unborn will be murdered.
Fred did not lobby for abortionists. He was employed with a law firm that gave them advice. They assigned Fred to it. It is disingenous to call that lobbying, but then disengenousness is the hallmark of Clusterhuck and his fans.
That is all you have against Fred and its very weak. Fred's voting record, on the other hand is very strong, and that is why he is favored by nearly all the major pro-life groups.
I have a lot of respect for Baker. But like many (including Fred) Reagan grew on them — To the point where even many democrats esteem Reagan. However, that gives no right for Fred to rewrite his own history and question Huckabee.
I'll note you did not address with any substance the refutation and correction of your earlier claims. You simply made a different claim. This is the mark of a propagandist.
Mike's son killed a dog. That's the mark of a sociopath. Did Rev. Mike raise a sociopath? What goes on in their home that his boy's a sociopath?
See how fun propaganda is?
You go ahead and vote for the guy who supports partitioning Israel to give land to terrorists. You go ahead and support a guy who worked for abortionists and terrorists. I won’t.
Why is he ahead in national polls? He gets more votes than Fred Hunter Paul combined.
What 184 said.
Huckabee doesn’t run from his answers. You just don’t like them. That’s your prerogative.
It does not surprise me that you know so little of history that you do not know that Reagan "converted" to an anti-abortion position in his campaign in 1979 against George Bush. Now wrap your head around that.
Sad isn’t it...
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