Posted on 11/25/2007 12:23:47 PM PST by dano1
Fred Thompson attacked Fox News on Sunday for what he called a "constant mantra" that his floundering campaign for president is troubled, and he accused the network of skewing things against him.
Thompson certainly isn't the first politician to make that accusation, but he's the first high-profile Republican to do so.
The assertion was arresting because Fox News was frequently Thompson's forum of choice when he was contemplating a campaign and as he tried to find his footing after he announced.
Where did Thompson do it? On "Fox News Sunday," in a heated exchange with host Chris Wallace, who played clips of Fox commentators saying his campaign had been a disappointment.
"It's a lot of the same kind of stuff that I heard when I first ran for office, when I was 20 points down. And fortunately, I wound up 20 points ahead on election night," Thompson said.
"This has been a constant mantra of Fox, to tell you the truth. And I saw the promo ... for this show, and it was kind of featuring the New Hampshire poll. Let's put things in context a little bit, to start with."
Thompson was referring to a CNN/WMUR poll that showed his support in the Granite State had collapsed to 4 percent, putting him in sixth place among the Republican presidential hopefuls.
Referring to Fox commentators, Thompson said: "From Day One, they said I got in too late, I couldn't do it ... wouldn't raise enough money, and that sort of thing. And that's their opinion. They're entitled to their opinion. But that doesn't seem to be shared by the cross section of American people. If you look at the national polls, you'll see that I'm running second and have been running second for a long time."
The latest Real Clear Politics average of national polls does have the former Tennessee senator in second place, far behind former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and slightly ahead of former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney.
"They're entitled to their opinion," Thompson continued. "But for you to highlight nothing but the negative in terms of these polls, and then put on your own guys, who have been predicting for four months, really, that I couldn't do it, you know, kind of skews things a little bit."
In April, when Thompson wanted to reveal that he had battled lymphoma, now in remission, he chose Fox anchor Neil Cavuto. Last month, when his wife, Jeri, was being criticized in the press, the two of them went on Fox's "Hannity & Colmes" for a respectful joint interview.
Now, though, he's none too happy with Fox. Here's a bit more of the exchange between host and candidate:
WALLACE: Do you know anybody who thinks you've run a great campaign, sir?
THOMPSON: It's not for me to come here and try to convince you that somebody else thinks that I've run a great campaign.
WALLACE: Well, but that's why I ...
THOMPSON: I'm talking about — no, let me ask you ...
WALLACE: ... I'm just asking you the question.
THOMPSON: When you get past New Hampshire and look at some of these other states — states that I'm leading in in the South, for example — and straw polls that I've won, endorsements that I've got — I've got more endorsements in the state of Georgia than all the other candidates put together. So I understand the game of buildup and I understand the game of takedown. And we all go through it. And I'm perfectly willing for you to do that with regard to me as you do the other candidates.
WALLACE: I was going to say, senator...
THOMPSON: But you have the right to put in your one side, and put in the Fox side, and I have the right to respond to it. And thankfully, you've given me that opportunity.
WALLACE: I was going to say, senator, I'm glad I asked the question, because I got a heck of an answer.
“Fred needs to raise hell with Fox as they have already anointed Rudy as the Republican representative”
B T T T !!!!
“Beware of Hucksters, Pilgrim. They’re always trying to sell you something that’s not as good as they make it out to be.”
I think poor Dano is the last holdout for the Huckster.
Come on folks, you can do it. Don’t give in, don’t quit, don’t let them wear you down.
Yes indeed, as long as we keeping tearing down our Republican candidates, we can soon live Hilary’s dream for America.
Heck, I am so excited...you all must be too. It’s going to feel so good to know that we helped the democrats do what they couldn’t have done on their own! /sarc as hell.
Ok, that was fun, so can we go back to bashing Bush, you know, the guy in charge of the war wherein our lives and the lives of our children rest in the balance.
Come on..wont we all look simply fabulous with those stylish rags on our heads, if we have heads to put them on....?
It is so very comforting to see all of us Republicans and Conservative come together in our country’s darkest hour.....well I can only dream.
You won't find me "bashing Bush" EVER, but it is healthy (essential, actually) for members of the party to do all that they can do to make sure that Rudy Giuliani is not nominated and, if nominated, is not elected.
Period.
Me too, my friend. Me too.
The only huck I’d be holding out for is a Huckleberry Pie
“The only huck I’d be holding out for is a Huckleberry Pie”
Bump that!
dano1 is a one man Huckabee caucaus, I’ve got to respect that much determination and stick to itness.
Huckabee would be #4 on my list maybe a #3.
I only watch Fox now for Brit.
Ditto.
Geraldo, Greta, Juan, and Colmes all make me puke.
Conservatives will never vote for the dynamic trio.
The only one leaving the house worth voting for is Duncan Hunter! If he ain’t the choice then don’t bother calling me.
Huck would be 99 on my list of 4!
I watched it and the longer and more drawn out Fred’s response the more I thought of Ronald Reagan. Reagan would of given answers in one sentence and would of hit the ball out of the ballpark.
Don’t forget that Fox’s chief correcpondent on campaign matters is a Democratic Party infiltrator—Carl Cameron. He is extremely biased in favor of his wife’s candidate, Hillary. Cameron’s wife is a Dem operative.
Time for FOX to cut “Campaign Carl” loose, in the interests of “Fair and Balanced” campaign coverage.
Hi Cobra! Fox has really degenerated in the last few years..............so has Hannity(open borders) Barnes....et al.
“Fred didn’t attack FNC. He was attacked by FNC and when he defends himself he’s called the attacker.”
That was my take on it, too. I watched the entire interview this morning. I couldn’t believe how RUDE Wallace was being to Senator Thompson. Yeesh!
Of course, the man is MORE than capable of defending himself...even though Wallace “talked over him” the entire time. :)
And wait for a second coming of this:
From here:
Yup. That's the ticket. We're all Bush-Bashers here because some of us disagree with President Bush.
Yikes! I must hate my wife's guts because I've had three disagreements with her over the last forty years.
I always liked Brit Hume, but on his recent show the theme was Fred is Dead. No pretence, straight out slam FRED’s campaign!
Noticed on today’s Sunday show after FRED fought back and left Chris stammering, the “panel” never even brought up the subject. Certainly looked obvious in its absence.
If we first though FNC was here to save the day, we should reconsider they have started bending over backwards to prove they ain’t conservative. Wonder what happened?
That’s exactly right. Wallace could have asked any substantive questions in this morning’s interview. He chose to end it with clips of the hatchet job from last week and Thompson stood up and fought back. This is one of the things I like about Fred. He does not go looking for trouble, but he is not afraid to address bias and misrepresentation of facts as they arise. We need this in a candidate and in a President.
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