Oh-eight (R): More Thompson attacks

Posted: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 9:12 AM by Domenico Montanaro
Filed Under: Republicans

GIULIANI: So bygones are bygones... The new Rudy Web site includes a link to the talk radio show hosted by his ex-wife Donna Hanover.

While in Mississippi, Giuliani stood with Gov. Haley Barbour, the former RNC Chair. He declared Barbour "on the top of everybody's list" for vice president but would not answer whether he was considering him. Barbour dismissed the idea that a Republican nominee would select a Mississippi governor for the ticket. "We're one of the safer states for Republicans in an election, and I don't think anybody thinks that they need to go out and find them somebody to help carry Mississippi," Barbour said.

MCCAIN: The New York Times on McCain challenging Giuliani’s (and also Romney’s) foreign policy credentials yesterday. “The remarks represented a departure for Mr. McCain, who has usually refrained from questioning the experience of his rivals. And he has until now shied from any criticism of Mr. Giuliani, whom he describes as a friend and often praises.”

“Asked about Mr. McCain’s remarks, Maria Comella, a spokeswoman for the Giuliani campaign, ">said, ‘The mayor considers John McCain a friend and continues to have the utmost respect for him and for his service to our country.’”

ROMNEY: So is Romney trying to sound more like a Democrat when it comes to Iraq? Yesterday, he described Iraq as a "mess." Now he's talking up the likelihood that there will be a " ">substantial reduction" of U.S. troops in Iraq in 2008.

Is Romney simply HOPING there's a substantial reduction of troops in Iraq by '08, or does he know something?

The Boston Globe front-pages “a first-of-its-kind website that it says contains an unparalleled repository of information about Mitt Romney's record that could be used against the former governor in his White House run.” RomneyFacts.com was created by the Massachusetts Democratic Party and “lays out a wealth of documents: personal financial disclosure statements he filed as governor; policy proposals he put forward in his 2002 campaign; several old campaign ads; and a unique searchable database of campaign contributions from his entire political career.”

Romney is up today with a new ad that will begin running in South Carolina in the next couple of weeks. The Columbia State says the ad is “intended to boost his name identification and propel a candidacy that is winning in Iowa and New Hampshire but has yet to flourish in South Carolina,” where he “is mired in third or fourth place in most S.C. polls.”

THOMPSON: Yesterday, Romney took the lead in mocking Thompson. Today, it's Giuliani ">surrogate Peter King. "Rudy is a real crime fighter," said Rep. Peter King (R-L.I.). "Fred Thompson has primarily done it on television." King, former chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, is an adviser to Giuliani on national-security issues. "Rudy got crime in New York City under control - not by acting, but by getting results. Rudy Giuliani has the real credentials," King added. The Thompson team responded: "It's the first of what I expect to be many signs of desperation from the Giuliani campaign.”

A Boston Globe staff editorial called Thompson’s flirtation with a presidential run a “campaign of seven veils” and a “striptease,” one that has been seen before and hasn’t worked. They compare it to Wesley Clark’s failed campaign and cite his lackluster fund-raising as another complication.

EMAIL THIS

Comments

What Barbour was really trying to say is, "The Republicans are a lock for the "redneck" vote. Everything must be just fine with those folks in Mississippi, seeing as they are in the bottom ten for wages, education, social services, life longevity, health care and most other livibility factors.

Robert Catalano, Salem, OR (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 9:53 AM)

The Republican candidates so far have not been attacking each other much. But before Fred can get his hat officially in the ring, they are after him. Tells you something. Are they worried? You bet. Look out Rudy, your pro-abortion, anti-gun, marry my relatives, type of politics are not going to fly with Republican voters. Your history. Try to go down with dignity.
Please Fred stick to the issues, don't get into a quibbling match with the crybabies. Do like you have and speak to the issues. Don't be like the dems either and run against Bush's ghost.

Vote for small government. Vote for federalism.

Vote for our next President Fredrick Thompson!

RH Oregon (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 9:53 AM)

Fred is dead , fred is dead. Not even in the running. Your tooo late fred.

bb (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 9:59 AM)

Since when is 4-6 months until primaries and 14 months until the election count as "tooo late". How much of this drivel do you need? Someone needs to get a life.

RH Oregon (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 11:13 AM)

Small government Just like the republican congress of 00 02 04.Small government is actually code for fewer in the mix to disturb the big fish from haliburton and kbr .like it, LONG LIVE THE KING FRED those other dummies dont stand a chance against the welloiled machine that is known as the thompson campain

kenn"FRED IS SO RADICAL"O (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 12:21 PM)

Repubs will really be having a meltdown on election day when Freddy isn't even on the ballot and Mrs Clinton becomes our next president.If denial makes them feel better, then so be it. bb you got it right already.

Susan, Miami (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 12:27 PM)

Way to show just how ill-informed you are. If you can wander past the borders of Oregon, you should step foot in Mississippi before passing any sort of judgment.

It always cracks me up when the first place people go, when talking about Mississippi, is the redneck slant. You do realize that your state likely has a comparable number of uninformed hicks? We don't have a monopoly on them, though I'm sure it makes you feel more self-important to think that we must.

Jared Martin, Oxford, Mississippi (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 1:49 PM)

Thank you Jared and RH. You both have it "right", no pun intended. Fred Thompson will put America back on the Reagan era track. The world respected us then and it will again. Fred Thompson will be President.....you can take that to the bank.

Frosty (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 3:28 PM)

"The Republicans are a lock for the "redneck" vote.
Please, Arkansas(State Motto: Thank God for Mississippi) is as Blue, and Redneck, as it gets, and they're at the top of failing in everything too.

Richie Rich (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 4:38 PM)

IF YOU ARE A TRUE REPUBLICAN YOU KNOW FOR A FACT THEY HAVE SCREWED UP ROYALLY, THE WAR, KICKBACKS, RESIGNATION, JAILTIME, AND BIG LIARS, HIDING IN THE CLOSET (SEXUAL). DEMOCRATS HAVE THEIR PROBLEMS BUT NOT LIKE THE REPUBLICANS,THOSE ARE THE DEVOUT! NOW IS THE TIME FOR A THIRD (HONEST) PARTY.

jesse clark (Sent Wednesday, September 05, 2007 7:33 PM)

Jared, I have been to Mississippi and, yes, there are quite a few rednecks in Oregon. What I saw in Mississippi as a kid really opened my eyes: white and black drinking fountains, a cross burning off the highway as my mother and I rode the Greyhound to visit my grandmother in Florida, and the homes of the sharecroppers, both white and black, which had outhouses and wells instead of in-house running water. This, admittedly was in the early 1960s but, it, in my case, is less than a lifetime to go. When I was in Mssissippi in the 1990s I met a lot of nice people but having lived on the west coast for the last 30 years it was shocking to hear the "N" word used with a familiarity I thought had died over the years. I was surprised at how low the state's minimum wage is and how few people cared. Except in the cities I saw a lot of the old south "plantation mentality" alive and well. I am sure you love where you live and, believe it or not, I think Missisissippi is a physically beautiful state. I just didn't see much hope for a better future in the eyes of most of the people I met.

Robert Catalano, Salem, OR (Sent Thursday, September 06, 2007 1:40 AM)

At 23, I'm relatively young. Originally, I was from a much poorer area of the state and I've grown up with the good and the bad of which you've spoken. There are bastions of racism, but they are not the norm. My home was destroyed by a natural disaster back in '98, and one of the first groups to take a collection and help us rebuild was a 'traditionally black' church. As a sidenote, that label isn't applied derogatorily, but as a matter of historic significance.

I've attended the University of Mississippi, Ole Miss, for 6 years now. I'm halfway through Law School currently... If you want a setting rife with conflict and reform - this is the setting you should visit. The Lyceum still has bullet-holes from the forced integration of Robert Meredith. Now, the gentleman has a statute placed prominently in front of that same building.

Of course statutes are silent reminders of nothing in particular, but the sentiment should be what is remarkable. You might not have witnessed the recent flap where a more 'plantation-minded' fraternity was accused of racist acts to a black rushee or the fact that the frat is now forced off campus. The thing you most certainly didn't see was the outcry on campus. For the fifty good people who are trying to make a difference, one yokel can set us back 20 years. Still, from a school that was once obsessed with confederate-pageantry to one that has banned the flag, a racially-suggestive mascot, and an administration focused on increasing minority enrollment (currently at 20 percent) and participation.

I could go on and on with anecdotal evidence, but you get the idea. If you get the chance, I really suggest you come down to Oxford. In what was once perhaps the most hostile and unyielding town in Mississippi, there has been a transformation analogous to that of Mississippi as a whole.

Oxford is a beautiful town steeped in literary history. If you're a fan of any college sport or well versed in American literature or independent music, you'd likely enjoy a weekend vacation in this sleepy college town.

My apologies if I came across harshly earlier; there are many uninformed opinions about my home state. Even your impression, better than many others', is still almost 50 years removed. There are many Rangel-esque insults hurled at the South and our state in particular; perhaps we've grown to have a slight chip on our shoulder.

Jared Martin, Oxford, MS (Sent Wednesday, September 19, 2007 12:06 AM)

SEND A COMMENT

PLEASE READ: All comments must be approved before appearing in the thread; time and space constraints prevent all comments from appearing. We will only approve comments that are directly related to the blog, use appropriate language and are not attacking the comments of others.

Message (please, no HTML tags. Web addresses will be hyperlinked):

Your name, city and state (John Doe, Seattle, Wash.):

Your e-mail address (jdoe@msnbc.com):

Your website (it's okay if you don't have one):

Remember me? (We'll keep it private) Remember me?

TRACKBACKS

Trackbacks are links to weblogs that reference this post. Like comments, trackbacks do not appear until approved by us. The trackback URL for this post is: http://firstread.msnbc.msn.com/trackback.aspx?PostID=345333