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Thompson denies alliance with McCain

Posted by Foon Rhee, deputy national political editor January 16, 2008 05:19 PM

Fred Thompson forcefully dismissed suggestions that he is in cahoots with John McCain against Mike Huckabee in South Carolina.

Thompson sparked such talk by aggressively questioning Huckabee during last week's debate in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Thompson endorsed McCain in 2000, and is widely expected to do so again if his bid fizzles. Though he has declared South Carolina's primary on Saturday to be his last stand, he is running fourth in the latest poll in the state, behind McCain, Huckabee, and Mitt Romney.

But on Fox News Network this afternoon, Thompson had this to say: "So I've been busting a gut here, for several months, day and night, away from my family as part of a conspiracy to help John McCain to become president, that's the theory?

"This is an attempt by the Huckabee campaign to get me to attack McCain so that they don't have to," Thompson continued, calling McCain's national campaign manager Ed Rollins "a wily old fox who's been around for a quite a bit and if he can goad me into attacking McCain, they won't have to."

11 comments so far...
  1. Who made these "suggestions"?

    Why are we asking the only honest candidate if he's playing games when it is obvious the game is being played on him.

    Who started this canard!?

    Posted by Chris January 16, 08 06:30 PM
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  1. Who offered these "suggestions"??

    Why are we asking the only honest candidate if he's playing games instead of asking who started this canard who do they think they're kidding??

    Posted by Chris January 16, 08 06:32 PM
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  1. OOps, Typo. Ed Rollins is Huckabee's campaign manager, not McCains!!

    Posted by P K January 16, 08 06:41 PM
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  1. Huckabee is SCARY.

    "I believe it's a lot easier to change the Constitution than it would be to change the word of the living God," Huckabee said Monday night in Warren, Mich. "And that's what we need to do, is to amend the Constitution so it's in God's standards, rather than try to change God's standards.

    He will change the Constitution to suit his believe in the bible and force his way on every one in this country. What happen to separation of church and state? Pretending to preach sermons to congregations for campaign purpose is unethical.

    Posted by Alan Crane January 16, 08 06:52 PM
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  1. Stay clean Thompson and let Huckabee do his own dirty work.....most of it he'll deny after the fact.

    Posted by Wendy January 16, 08 08:02 PM
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  1. MCCAIN: NO MORE MR. STRAIGHT TALK?Wed Jan 16, 6:28 PM ET

    Did Mitt Romney just derail John McCain's Straight Talk Express? Not all the Democrats' and independents' votes in Michigan were enough to canonize John McCain, who barreled through Dearborn and Detroit congratulating himself for nobly ignoring voters' real concerns. In Michigan, Mitt "fight for every job" Romney trounced John "I cannot tell a lie" McCain.

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    Romney's victory in Michigan was surprisingly broad: He beat McCain among both men and women, older and younger voters, Catholics and Protestants, people with incomes above and below $50,000, college graduates and those with just a high school degree. Romney even bested both McCain and Huckabee among white evangelicals.

    What kind of Michigan voters preferred McCain? Voters in the GOP primary who don't like President Bush, who oppose the war in Iraq and who report that they have no religion at all. Oh, and those who say they are not, in fact, Republicans.

    Will the Straight Talk Express power back up and chug through South Carolina? If the Michigan contest was partly a test of the brand's power, the South Carolina campaign may derail its essential credibility.

    The Annenberg Foundation's nonpartisan FactCheck.org just delivered a powerful rebuke to the basic honesty of a McCain mailer used in South Carolina (and defended by Sen. McCain after reporters called it to his attention).

    In particular, FactCheck.org called McCain's assertion that Mitt Romney "provided" taxpayer-funded abortions "simply false."

    "Romney never pushed for taxpayer funding for abortions. The state law he signed provided greatly expanded state-subsidized health insurance for low-income residents," Factcheck.org explained. An independent body -- the Commonwealth Connector -- not Romney, decided that abortions would be covered (a move required by two Massachusetts state supreme court rulings).

    McCain also had the chutzpah to charge Romney with failing to verbally support Bush tax cuts that McCain himself actually voted against .

    FactCheck.org concluded that on the whole John McCain's portrayal of Romney's record as governor of Massachusetts was "so distorted as to discredit McCain's claim to be the candidate of 'straight talk.'"

    St. McCain -- distorting the record and misleading the public? If you listen to former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, that may not be as surprising as the branders want you to believe. In an unprecedentedly frank evaluation of a former GOP colleague. Sen. Santorum, who hasn't endorsed a candidate, said McCain is "very, very dangerous for Republicans" on domestic issues.

    "The bottom line is that I served 12 years with him, six years in the United States Senate," he told WABC radio talk show host Mark Levin. "And almost at every turn on domestic policy, John McCain was not only against us, but leading the charge on the other side."

    Sen. McCain apparently had a nasty habit of leaving one impression in public on social issues like abortion and marriage, and another behind closed Senate doors, according to Santorum:

    "That discussion is held in private, where you're jostling and jockeying to get your legislation into the queue so that you can have your time on the floor to get something done. And I can tell you, when social-conservative issues were ever raised -- whether it was marriage or abortion or a whole host of other issues -- there were always the moderates who said: 'No, no, no, we can't. They're divisive, divisive, divisive.' And more often than not, John McCain was ... with them."

    "That's wrong," Santorum added. "And that gives me an insight into what he would really be like if he were president of the United States."

    The next night on the Mark Levin show, another even more respected and distinguished conservative voice, Judge Robert Bork, called McCain a "liberal."

    Johnny, we hardly knew ye.

    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

    Posted by Wendy January 16, 08 08:34 PM
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  1. McCain and Thompson are old buddies in the senatorial club. Huckabee did not get the blessing of the establishment king-makers before throwing his hat in the ring. He must be destroyed because the establishment can't be sure he won't upset the status quo. All the more reason to vote for Huckabee.

    Posted by David Anderson January 16, 08 10:43 PM
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  1. man the cinicism.
    here comes mike!
    Go HUCK!!
    mike all the way!!!
    i can't believe the way people treat mike.

    Posted by sam January 17, 08 01:25 AM
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  1. Ed Rollins is Huckabee's campaign manager

    Posted by George C January 17, 08 02:03 AM
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  1. Whatever Thompson is doing will divide the social conservatives votes and gives McCain advantage. He can deny it but that will be the end results. Who knows he might be thinking a VP on McCain's ticket.

    Huckabee is a Washington outsider. Both Thompson and McCain are the insiders. There's no doubt that Huckabee is a more conservative candidate than Thmpson. Today I just received a DVD from Palmetto Family Counsel straw polls. I was so impressed with Huckabee's speech there. Many other candidates (including Romney, McCain, and Thompson) did not even bother to show up. They only started talking conservatively when the election is near.

    Posted by SC_GOP January 17, 08 10:32 PM
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  1. Huckabee supporter are unbelieveable... The man has a degree in RELIGION!!! Wake up! He pulls so many stupid stunts... " I am not going to show this negative attack but just watch as I show it to you right now. " And how about. "I'll tell you were to shove your flag pole." Is there another Huckabee for president because this cannot be the man some see as presidential...

    Huckabee didn't know where Afghanistan is in relation to Pakistan

    And how come no one is supporting him financially??

    Posted by stephanie January 24, 08 12:43 AM
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About political intelligence Field reports from Boston Globe reporters and editors covering the 2008 presidential campaign and the national maneuvering of Bay State politicians.

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