We'd get flamed if we pointed out Fred's "Reaganesque true conservative record" in the U.S. Senate was 95% identical to McCain. And even more amazing, Fred's lifetime ACU rating was actually worse than his fellow Tennessee Senator at the time, Bill Frist, and the much hated Lindsey Graham. The only reason Fred couldn't get tied to "treasonous" RINO legislation like the 2007 amnesty bill and the Gang of 14 deal is he was no longer a Senator when those items came up. Had he still been in the Senate, I'm fairly certainly he would have voted with his "good friend John McCain" on those issues.
Thomspon was McCain’s stalking horse in 2008.