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.
How about a dose of reality? There’s not a perfect candidate out there. If we want to be honest, Huck/Fred/Romney/McCain/et.al all have baggage when it comes to our definition of the perfect “conservative.” I think there’s legitimate questions that Huckabee raises about the GOP mainstream. I want to believe that an idealistic RR would have raised many of the same questions. But we’ll never really know.
One thing I’ll bet my life on. What many people around here want’ to espouse as “conservative” is going nowhere with the electorate. I see many of Huck’s ideals following the pattern of Teddy Roosevelt. And I don’t have much doubt TR would be run out of here on a rail.
But then I ask, was TR’s “trust busting” government intervention or conservatism at it’s best? How about a federal land grab of millions upon millions of acres for National Forests and Parks? I don’t know about you, but I’m glad they’re there for my children and grandchildren.
The point is, new times call for new solutions.
After all TR made Mt. Rushmore with Washington, Jefferson, and Lincoln (with as RR always joked, a little space for him)
Am I suggesting Huckabee comes anywhere close? Nope. But I’m perturbed by some of the absolute close-mindedness I see around here these days.
Except I had to personally live with Carter’s 14% interest.
Got the reference I see....
Used to be, now with Huckabee and McCain, I can’t say for sure what I will do in the general if one of them gets the nomination.
So Thompson's going to govern as a liberal because he showed some loyalty to his mentor almost 30 years ago? You guys have some bizarre "logic" going on here.
But then I guess we could conclude that he’ll let personal relationships take precedence over his principles.
Huckabee didn’t respond much during the debate
symptoms of wimpification.
Besides that, Howard Baker was Thompson's MENTOR. How much of an ingrate would Thompson have to be to work against his mentor in a primary?
Where the hell did that come from? Criticize all you want. I was merely pointing out that Fred did nothing surprising in supporting the Pubbies incumbent President in 1976 or in supporting his fellow Tennessean in 1980.
“However, the deification of Fred on FR is laughable”
Tsk tsk...You oughta know FReepers by now...It’s “Guilty until proven Conservative”...
Fred has proven he is a true conservative and that’s why we support him...I haven’t heard anything like Glory to Fred
but i have heard words of a hot place for Huck...
I've long said I could never vote for mclame; I now add the huckabilly to that statement.
It's a real dilemma that I'm not sure past candidates presented to the same degree.
So it was impossible for someone in 1980 to support Howard Baker without compromising their principles? And it's an issue worth discussing 28 years later? Ridiculous.
If it’s not dead, it seems to be having a masochistic fit leading to the amputation of major limbs.
His fellow Tennessean was pro-abortion, pro-affirmative action, and helped to give away the Panama canal.
See #178
Howard Baker stood on conservative principles and was a good man.
Fred in ‘08
Is that why Fred has more endorsements from pro-life groups than the Huckster?
It’s what you do, not who you know, right? Am I missing something in trying to apply the FredHead’s criteria for measuring someone’s conservative credentials?
Actually, I don’t disagree with your statement at all. The arguments being applied to Huck are often just as convoluted.
Don’t believe the Huckster. He’s dishonest! Plus he doesn’t have any common sense! Both good reasons to forget about him. He’s a pro-life, pro-gun lie-beral. To me, it would be more correct to say Huckleberry is a moral lie-beral, if there is such a thing.
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.