Fred Thompson shows some life

The muddled Republican presidential race has been marked by a series of ever-shifting, one-on-one battles. And tonight, during the debate in South Carolina, the latest of those skirmishes emerged: Fred Thompson vs. Mike Huckabee.

During the spring and summer and part of the fall, when for fundraising and organizational purposes candidates were pitching their appeals to a national audience, the two most frequently circling one another were Mitt Romney and Rudy Giuliani. As the Iowa caucuses neared -- and Huckabee's support surged there -- Romney shifted gears and took after Huckabee. In the fight for New Hampshire, the key combatants were Romney and John McCain.

Thompson is notably absent from this list. He needs to enlarge his presence in the GOP race, and South Carolina is where he wants to do it. And it was clear tonight he sees Huckabee as the fellow he needs to take down to do that.

Thompson made a point of using an inside-the-Beltway question about whether the Reagan coalition still exists that had been directed to Huckabee to launch an attack on him. He obviously was waiting for such a moment -- as he criticized Huckabee on a litany of specifics, he was looking at notes.

Thompson summed up his case -- and probably signaled the gist of the argument he will be using against Huckabee leading up to South Carolina's Jan. 19 GOP primary -- by accusing the former Arkansas governor of sounding like a Democrat in foreign policy and on some domestic issues.

Huckabee, as is his wont, responded with a quip: "The Air Force has a saying that says that if you're not catching flak, you're not over the target. I'm catching the flak, I must be over the target."

-- Don Frederick

Comments

[Laurel]

Fred Thompson is awesome.

[Martin]

Fred Thompson hit a home run tonight. The party of Reagan should support Fred Thompson.

[Wanda Niven]

Go Fred Go ! ! ! Show Them What You Are Made Of...........You Are Our Next President Of The U.S.A.

[Chuck DeVore]

Fred Thompson won the debate tonight -- hands-down. He reminded all that the Reagan coalition of economic, national security, and social conservatives is not at all dead and gone as Huckabee’s camp has said. The only way we can win in November is by nominating a candidate that can appeal to all three segments of the Republican coalition. Thompson is the only candidate that can do that.

Chuck DeVore
State Assemblyman, 70th District

[omt]

Old man Thompson doesn't drool and calls it a victory. LOL

[Nothing]

Too bad him 'winning' the debate won't stop the voters from voting for Huckabee.

[Wendy73]

I have said it before if Huckabee or McCain win the nomination we can say good bye the Republicans as Reagan knew them. Fred is a good man and I like Mitt Romney the best. I could see either of these men in the Presidency

[FRedStates]

Fred Thompson responded with substance backed by facts... Huckabee responded with cute one-liners. Who do you want to sit in the big chair in the Oval Office?

Find out more! http://www.Fred08.com

[Sandra Mendoza]

Fred Thompson won tonight. He will win the South Carolina primary and then the national Republican nomination and then he will become Commander in Chief.

At 6.5 I want him to have meetings with the vertically challenged Kim Il Jong, Vladimir Putin and Adminjihad.

Just one frown from Thompson and as happened in 2003 when our warriors stunned the world by winning in Afghanistan (all the experts said we couldn't) and then in Iraq, Ghadaffi gave up his weapons and the Iranians stopped building their nuclear weapons. A strong president is the best guarantor we can have of peace.

[Winghunter]

Fred changes his delivery by half an ounce and everyone finally hears the same constant message from the same stable conservative who knows how to get things done right the first time in providing solutions which actually work. Social Security, Illegal Immigration, a Flat tax, National Security, etc... Fred knows and has known, it is we who are playing catch-up.

There is only one choice here; Fred Dalton Thompson - 44th President of The United States.

GO FRED!!!

[Allen Fuller]

Huckabee is the man than can bring conservativism and the Republican party roaring back in the 21st century, if only the 20th century Republican power-brokers could get beyond the gotchas to see him as he really is.

I too was uncomfortable with him at first, and I know why he freaks out so many conservatives. His rhetoric, in an attempt to avoid stereotypes people have of conservatives, unintentionally makes conservatives feel like he is also stereotyping them. Conservatism IS compassionate; as Rush always says; yet there is truth to the fact that we need to GET THAT MESSAGE OUT. Huckabee is the only one that does so well.

If you clear your mind of all the low attacks, and start looking at his policy positions, you'll find a solidly conservative person who nevertheless has a greater focus on the problems common people face every day. His solutions are NOT big-government, tax-and-spend solutions. His solutions are fairly conservative in philosophy, i.e. not relying overly on government, and in most cases, devolving responsibility to the states rather than the federal government.

What I like most about him is that he is not afraid to champion bold ideas, like abolishing the IRS in favor of the FairTax; achieving energy independence in 10 years; and so on. Pragmatically I don't know if these are achievable but I admire his courage, and from his record in Arkansas I know he can surprise many people with his ability to get things done in the face of political opposition.

[Allen Fuller]

Fred Thompson won all of a sudden? All of a sudden he has new life?

That's just wishful thinking on the part of people (including Fox News as a whole) who are frantically searching about for anybody but Huckabee.

I thought Fred looked petty making all those unsubstantiated (and false) attacks against Huckabee. Liberal? issues2000.org plants Huckabee squarely in the conservative camp on the issues. Soft on illegals? Maybe because the only way he differs from the strictest of them is by talking about how he hopes immigrants will be able to hold their head high with dignity because they have come in LEGALLY. Tax and spend? Perhaps because he was fiscally responsible, couldn't get the Democrats to cut as much as he wanted, and was forced by a balanced-budget requirement. Besides, he was running a state-- which is the ideal place to take care of some essential issues like education and roads, instead of in the federal government. Weak on foreign affairs? Fred, what are your credentials?

[sam]

Allen Fuller- right on! let's get behind mike!
LA times's article's opinions on mike huckabee always have ton's ofl spin. as are many on fox, etc.
man ya i don't get where fred gets his sources for attacks on huck. i wish everyone would just do some honest to goodness research on huckabee- not just listen to fox et al similar media sources with their agendas.
GO MIKE GO!!!!
also it's a joke when people say fred will win the nom. i like the guy. but i want a president that has some passion!
here comes huck!!!!

[Allen Fuller]

> I have said it before if Huckabee or McCain win the nomination we can say good bye the Republicans as Reagan knew them.

Actually, Huckabee is probably the one that can best restore the Republican party to the strength of the Reagan times. Huckabee is no Reagan-- no one is. But he has the great ability to communicate, connect and inspire, and he is not afraid of bold ideas. He is himself and he is comfortable with himself.

I've talked with Democrats who say Huckabee would be their choice over any of the three Democratic frontrunners. Huckabee has the ability to win over the "Blue-Dog" Democrats like no one since Reagan.

I'm as anti-tax, anti-big-government as most of you, yet I'm supporting Huckabee. Am I worried he'll hike taxes through the roof? No. Reagan hiked California taxes far mor, and Romney hiked taxes and fees more, if you adjust for the amount of time he spent in office. I'm confident in Huckabee's no new tax pledge, and in his support for the FairTax. His philosophy favors states, so naturally he will run the federal government different than others.

So calm down, take a deep breath and stop hyperventilating. If Huckabee wins the nomination we'll be just fine. In fact, we may be in the best position to win and reinvigorate our movement that we have been in a long, long time. Since Reagan in fact.

[jack s.]

ok well too bad for you all i have a notion. just as you do. except mine is grounded on fact. mike is a good man with a good record. you may think i'm wacko but you wouldn't if you looked at what he's really all about. look at what he really did not just at what all the newspapers and tv stations say about him (out of context). give him a look.
MIKE HUCKABEE IS GONNA WIN!!!!!!

[Megan]

Allen,
Have you really looked into Huckabee's RECORD or are you only going off what he says that was? I did alot of research on the man when my sister stated she didn't like Fred because he was a "lazy senator/ actor" (she didn't realize that a democratic strategist started that and few have bothered to take a look at HIS record, so hopefully, this info will help put that to rest - (btw, she *WAS* a Huckabee supporter until I finally talked her into looking at all of the candidates records, not just their version of them...she is now voting for FRED THOMPSON!!

Fred Thompson's Qualifications
- Served on the US-China Economic Review Commission
- AEG Scholar specializing in Diplomatic Relations and Foreign Intelligence
- Special Counsel to both the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence and the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations under President Reagan
- Chairman of the International Security Advisory Board currently; a high-level panel charged with evaluating long-term threats to U. S. security
- Member of the powerful Senate Committee on Finance, which has jurisdiction over, among other things, international trade.
- Member of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence
- Member of the National Security Working Group, which observes and monitors executive branch negotiations with foreign governments.
- Member of the Council on Foreign Relations, an organization that promotes improved understanding of international affairs through public and private discussion.
- Member of the American Enterprise Institute for Policy Research, studies national security and intelligence, with a focus on China, North Korea, and Russia.
- Chairman of the Government Affairs Committee 1997-2001
- Ranking Republican Minority Member of the Government Affairs Committee 2001-2003
- Chairman of the Youth Violence Committee 1995-1997
- Chairman of the Senate Government Oversight Committee
- Foreign Relations Committee, 1995-96
- Member, Judiciary Committee, 1995-98
- Member, Constitution, Federalism and Property Rights, 1997-98
- Member, Technology, Terrorism and Gov't. Information, 1995-98
- Member, Finance Committee, 1999-2002
- Finance subcommittees Member, International Trade, 1999-2002 Member, Taxation and Oversight, 1999-2002 Member, Social Security and Family Policy, 1999-2002 Member, Health Care, 1999-2002
- Earned "Restoring the Balance" Award from National Conference of State Legislatures; given annually to national policymakers committed to federalism and its impact on issues involving state legislators
- Recognized by Citizens Against Government Waste for his report documenting the federal government's staggering levels of waste, abuse, and mismanagement. Thompson presented the report, which includes his recommendations for addressing those problems, to Office of Management and Budget (OMB) Director Mitch Daniels at a press conference in Washington. Report includes analysis of the four biggest challenges facing the federal government: workforce management, financial management, information technology management, and overlap and duplication. In addition, the report includes an agency-by-agency appendix citing examples of waste, fraud, and abuse. The report also contains a list of the "Top Ten" worst examples of mismanagement in the government. CAGW is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, and abuse in government.
- Interest Group Ratings:
- National Abortion Reproductive Rights: 0
- US Chamber of Commerce: 100%
- ACLU: 11%
- American Conservative Union: 85%
- AFT: perfect 0
- League of Private Property Owners: 90%
- National Tax Limitation Committee: 97%
- National Taxpayers Union: 88%
- ADA (liberal): perfect score
- Supported Newt’s Contract with America 100% of the time
- Planned Parenthood 0%
- NARAL 0%
Important Proposals and Inclusions Introduced while in the Senate:
- Nuclear Proliferation Act
- Special Counsel Act
- Aviation Security Bill Amendment
- FY 1999 Omnibus Appropriations Bill
- Regulatory Right-To-Know Act
- Homeland Security Workforce Act
- Homeland Security Education Act
- The Thompson amendment in the Treasury-Postal Title (Section 646) of the
Consolidated Appropriations Bill
- Regulatory Improvement Act (S. 981)
- Thompson Amendment to the National Homeland Security and Combating Terrorism Act
- Thompson Amendment to the National Employee Savings and Trust Equity Act
- The Federal Emergency Procurement Flexibility Act
- The Federalism Accountability Act
- The Government Information Security Reform Act (GISRA)
- The Thompson Amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act
- The Truth in Regulation Act [/quote]
http://fredthompsonpresidency.blogspot.com/2007/05/qualifications.html

While the other candidates were out there making promises they won't remember a few days later...he was working behind the scenes with experts hammering out his white papers. http://www.fred08.com/Principles/PrinciplesSummary.aspx?View=WhitePapers

I'm STILL waiting to see what happened to the other candidates detailed plans on what they'll do to implement their own ideas (or ahem...campaign promises that never see the light of day) They've all been running long enough...(much longer than Fred), so shouldn't they be expected to have had SOME substance by now??

Also...it's refreshing when a candidate actually backs up and keeps those campaign promises they go around making...something that Fred Thompson is respected for doing. If you really don't want to stop the corruption going on in our government, then vote for whoever...Fred has shown the true leadership and it's just your normal people that want better for their children/grandchildren that felt compelled to ask Fred to step up and lead our nation. He gave up alot to do a very thankless job and I know it means a great deal to me. People everywhere are giving to his campaign....most of them have never donated to ANYONE before!! He can win and it scares the media to death because he doesn't play by their rules!! (they also say he got in "too late"...too late by exactly WHOSE standards?? No other race has ever started throwing away money as early as this one...he refused to play by their rules, which to me shows his leadership even more clearly.!!)

BTW...in all fairness, here's some info on Huckabee's record that I'd sent to one of hte S.C. daily papers, but it seemed relevant here also:

I know many of us here in the South take the matter of who we elect as President very seriously and it can be hard to cut through some of the lies we're told by candidates and the media on a daily basis. Try factcheck.org and fred08.com for more info.
Of particular interest in regards to:

MIKE HUCKABEE

Spent $60,000/yr in taxpayers funds meant for mansion upkeep on personal items, such as boat repairs, etc

An audit at the end of his term failed to locate over $70k in furniture donated to the state, not to them, as they claimed. Was this ever located and where was it?

Did he actually cover up his son’s violent killing of a stray dog, while he was a Boy Scout Camp counselor? (Details in Newsweek)

Why is he refusing to release his past sermons, especially since he's running on it? (Even Hillary was told to release her papers from time as First Lady, shouldn't he be held to the same standards?)

His degree in Theology is actually a Bachelor of Arts in Religion. Something is wrong when a preacher with a degree in religion would be asking a REPORTER whether Mormons viewed Jesus and Satan as brothers, seems to me that he would've already known the answer to that one.

He stated that he *HAD* to follow the will of the people and increase taxes, because they'd voted for them? The increase wasn't on the ballots and he’d signed off on the increase before that vote even took place.

He SUED the ethics commission TWICE, during the time he was being investigated on several ETHICS violations and found guilty on several of them?? He sued in order to change the rules over gift/money limits and only place limits on things that could be proven to be a bribe! (He gave cushy jobs to his big donors...where I'm from, they used to call that a BRIBE)

He agreed with a caller on Coulter show that the Supreme Court ruling about sodomy was right, when questioned about it; he blamed the caller for bad info. Fred Thompson admitted not knowing enough on drilling in the Everglades and promised to research it, only Fred Thompson then did something few politicians actually do; he kept his word, just as he's always done.

He has no clue on foreign policy, but you should feel comforted that he DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express! He first told same joke last year on Imus, when questioned on his lack of foreign policy knowledge. Still no clue on subject, but it seems he would’ve found a new hotel by now!

He claimed that John Bolton had agreed to advise him, too bad he never told Mr. Bolton!

Brought Mexican Consulate to AR by giving $1/yr lease and lied about restrictions on his “amnesty” programs (scholarship and the in-state tuition bill he supported).

Wrote letter to Dumond in prison, stating he favored his parole. Parole board went from completely against it to 4-1 in favor of release after private meeting with Huckabee. He also rehired several of them!

He couldn't remember having written his “bunker mentality” bit...strange, since he said the EXACT same thing at a speech he'd given earlier at CSIS!

He actually criticizes Fred Thompson's anti-abortion stance, even though he had the same position as Thompson’s just last year before he ran for POTUS.

Spent $30,000 on ad against Romney, then supposedly has a change of heart and shows it to the press, knowing that they would air it for him at no further charge?

Chose advisors Ed Rollins and Dick Morris? His ethics must hold 2nd place to winning the Presidency.

He did manage to make Judicial Watch’s list of TOP 10 corrupt politicians, along with Clinton, Obama and Giuliani! Ever hear that story of a wolf in sheep’s clothing?

[Nothing]

Sorry, but you can throw his voting record at anyone you want but you're not going to stop people from voting for him. It's obvious the 'best man for the job' is rarely voted in by the masses.

Bush won in '04 over Kerry for the same reason Huckabee will probably win the nomination, and may even end up being our President. There isn't anything anyone can do about it.

The majority rules. And rarely do they vote based on a candidates voting records, policies, etc.

People feel that Huckabee is compassionate, friendly and 'moral'. He is likable. People don't feel alienated by him. Unfortunately, a lot of people vote based on likability and personality than they do anything else.

He has the evangelical Christian vote pretty much locked up, and from my observation his support is growing even among those who are not Christian.

Iowa is pretty good indication of what will happen once he gets into those type of states, imo.

[Bubba Cantrell]

The Republican Party will ultimately be facing either a Closet Marxist or a Closet Muslim, and it should trouble all of us that both of the potential Democratic nominees are actually trying to hide their past beliefs and practices. It is amazing how a party of principled conservatism is so willing to compromise it's own standards to be appealing to individuals that will only be happy if we give up, as a political sacrifice, our principles. Any leader that ask us do the same should be viewed with extreme caution and investigated intensely. Put each of the individuals asking for your support and their past records to this simple test, and then decide what your priciples tell you to do. To all Belivers, I ask you to evaluate whether or not you would attend a fellowship where the Pastors taught in a manner that contradicted the scriptures? To Non-Belivers, I ask, would you do business with someone that consistantly misrepresented their intentions just to have " the end justify the means"? This is not, and should not be about sound bites, complete compromise of priciples that have, as evidenced from our recent past under Ronald Reagan, benefited this country in every aspect of its ability to function with the rest of the world, or change when " The Good News" is what got us where we are now, so why change? This is truly sad to witness. We are rapidly becoming a country without convictions or standards and this is evidence of that fact. The truth in a situation will always make the untruth and deception uncomfortable, so watch for the signs of untruth and when you notice it, then you are responsible for the way you respond to it.

Bubba

[Suzanne]

GO FRED GO!!! Because he is the only candidate that is a conservative, I'm supporting Fred Thompson. He did great in this debate. I am hopeful that he will win in South Carolina and propel himself into the spotlight as a candidate to be reckoned with.

[Dan Campbell]

Fred showed some life?

The Austrailian article said it best with their title "Sleeping bear stirs to maul Huckabee"

LOL. I like Fred Thompson in his acting career, and I am looking forward to seeing him play U. S. Grant in the Wounded Knee movie but lets face it, he is not Presidential material in real life.

Fred was in desperation and knew the only way to get attention was to attack the GOP Frontrunner. I took it as a compliment to Governor Huckabee.

Governor Huckabee is the right choice for America!

Dan Campbell

[politicalsanity]

Suzanne-

Fred is the only conservative?

You REALLY need to do some more research. Ron Paul has been THE candidate who has consistently voted along the traditional conservative Republican Party platform-- lower taxes, smaller government.

Look at Ron Paul's voting record, then come back and tell me he's not a conservative.