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.
Actually, Ford was the incumbent president.
Actually, your memory is fuzzy. The repubs took the major hit in the congressional elections in 1974. Carter was not that strong of a candidate in ‘76. The electoral vote was Carter 297, Ford 240.
What I’m most concerned about is the damn liberal media network we have running our cable stations. Even Fox is poisoned, and they used to be one of the better ones. There isn’t anything positive about Fred anywhere. Either they don’t talk about him to limit the amount of TVNEWSAMERICANS hearing about him or rip him for not being energetic and being down in the polls.
I can't speak for others, but my criteria for a conservative involve their positions and actions on issues, not who their friends are. I oppose Huckabee because his positions are liberal on everything but abortion and family issues and the second amendment.
Big suprise there, you made my point.
Carter was not that strong of a candidate in ‘76. The electoral vote was Carter 297, Ford 240."
Actually my memory is fine, the only reason it was close as it was is because Carter was such a weak candidate, as you stated.
On the other hand, can you believe anything either one of them says, aside from, "Tuesday is the day after Monday"? Same with Romney, same with McCain. You can make up a chart of their positions and decide the relative weighting, based on your personal values, but can you believe them? I don't.
I believe Thompson, Hunter, and Ron Paul are what they say they are. I believe Hillary Clinton and Hussein Obama are what they say they are, too: Marxists.
says a lot
The whole 5th grade at my elementary school liked Carter, iirc. He was “in favor of the environment.” Cracks me up now, of course :-).
I agree - and send 'em off to foreign prisons where they'll learn what being an enemy combatant is about - NO WAY bring them here where, on tax payers dollars, they get the best lawyers, have all the privileges of citizens, and like as not, the majority go free - to bomb another day.
the Huckster signed over a 1,000 pardons for criminals, and many more innocent people were raped and killed.
He wants to bring the Gitmo gang to the states - how many would he pardon?
When Fred got into the race, McCain was an afterthought of a candidate. There is no strategy to give McCain the nomination by Thompson (or Huckabee). It's ridiculous to assert that.
If you had been paying attention and had read the entire thread, you’d understand that I was referring to Huckabee. Nuff said.
Oh jeez. I was referring to Huckabee. He’s a liberal. Read the entire thread for cry’in out loud, lol. I have posted an entire story about how Huckabee wants to close down Guantanamo.
I was 18 and a Junior in HS. We were going to do “Presidential Debates” in our American History class. I was seriously disallusioned by the entire Nixon/Watergate fiasco and really, really wanted to be the one to be Carter. Nope, the teacher decided I would be Ford.
“Ford” won the debate, and the “election” we held. I voted for Ronald Reagan in 1980 :-)
I was talking about Huckabee. A goof, gaffe, whatever. Read the entire thread.
That's a given. I think Fred's support of CFR is a bit troubling. I think he hasn't run the best of campaigns. I wonder if he would be able to capture anyone's vote under 35 in our American Idol culture.
However, the straining at gnats of many of the Huckabites makes it hard to take them seriously. If you didn't think that closing Gitmo was a good idea before Huckabee, why defend him on that? If you don't like his nationwide ban on smoking then don't defend him on it. I'm not going to defend an idea of Fred's that I don't agree with.
I worked on the Reagan reelection campaign with the College Republicans in 1984. First time I voted! We were quite libertarian, of course, but it was Reagan vs. Dukakis!
Vice President Old Mr. Bush visited our campus. “Wow, it’s nice to meet you, Mr. Vice President!”
“On the other hand, can you believe anything either one of them says”
“I believe Thompson, Hunter, and Ron Paul are what they say they are. I believe Hillary Clinton and Hussein Obama are what they say they are, too: Marxists.”
I believe ALL the candidates have revealed who they are in their campaign promises, even those (like Huckabee) who have governed at odds with their current promises or have been caught lying about their record (Huckabee dissembled both on his tax record and on his pardon spree).
... I don’t quite get the “can you believe” cynicism. Some of that is in order, since the pandering politicians might conveniently forget their panders, but they are all going to govern along the lines they are proposing and espousing in some form or fashion.
Huckabee spouts populist rhetoric? He will govern populistly.
McCain spouts about global warming? Expect CO2 cap regulations.
Rudy has a tax plan, a lot like Thompsons? Expect it to be the plan they try to sell in year 1.
Romney has illegal immigration and energy independence plans? Expect both to be part of his early domestic agenda.
And then there is McCain ...
- He sponsored the TWO WORST BILLS in the last decade, McCain-Feingold CFR and McCain-Kennedy amnesty for illegal immigrants... Now, we dont need to ask if he’s pulling our leg on these because HE STILL STANDS BY THEM.
“You can make up a chart of their positions and decide the relative weighting, based on your personal values, but can you believe them? I don’t.”
You can also look at their records to calibrate their rhetoric with reality.
True. Good content all through your post.
By the time my primary rolls around in April, there may be nobody on my ballot but Yankee dinglebobs. Or we may still have Huckabee, the redneck dinglebob. That's okay - our Governor primary is important!
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