Thompson's mail piece in Iowa
Posted: Tuesday, November 20, 2007 3:56 PM by Mark Murray
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From NBC/NJ's Adam Aigner-Treworgy
Many former Iowa caucus-goes may be returning home today to find a new piece of political mail waiting in their mailbox.
The first direct mail piece from the Thompson campaign
(.pdf format) should be hitting Iowa mailboxes sometime today, and
according to one campaign source it is going out to "a wide universe"
of people likely to caucus for a Republican in January.
The
mailer is called "Believe," and it is seen by the campaign as an
introduction to Thompson's record. At the top it says "What if…" there
was a candidate who had a 100 percent pro-life voting record, a
consistent plan to secure the borders and a history of fighting to keep
government spending under control, "Would it make you believe again?"
Beneath that question, at the center of the
red, white and blue page, big letters read: "Don't settle, don't
compromise, don't lose faith. You can believe in Fred Thompson!"
At a campaign stop today Thompson was hesitant
to say exactly which of his opponents might be a "compromise" for Iowa
voters, instead jokingly saying, "Anybody but me."
"I think the point is that people need to stick by their principles," he said. "People don't do well, our party doesn't do well, when you stray from your principles for practical reasons and -- because staying with your principles turns out, usually, to be the most practical thing that you can do."
Although Thompson would not name names, this appears to be a very thinly veiled shot at Huckabee, Romney, and Giuliani, all of whom Thompson has repeatedly accused of having inconsistent conservative credentials on abortion, illegal immigration, and gun control -- three of the issues listed on his mailer.
And to make the veil just a bit thinner, right after addressing the significance of his new direct mail piece, Thompson was asked his opinion on a proposal now before the Des Moines City Council sponsored by an immigrants' rights group that would expand the rights of illegal immigrants living in Des Moines.
"I don't believe, at the end of the day, Des Moines wants to follow the pattern of New York City or Little Rock, Arkansas. I think that they will reject becoming a sanctuary city or anything close to that," Thompson said, pointing to two cities with relatively relaxed immigration laws that also happen to be formerly governed by two of his big opponents in the Iowa polls: Giuliani and Mike Huckabee.
