New Thompson Ad

Written by Sam on November 29th, 2007

Posted in |

16 Comments so far ↓

Nov
29
2:55
PM

Chris
Great ad. If Fred wants to move up in the polls he needs to show that ad in NH, SC, and Iowa.
Nov
30
1:37
PM

ChemistryDave
I am continually amazed at the conservatives lack of historical knowledge. This same ad could have been run against Reagan in the primary of 1980. Reagan also raised taxes as president and pushed through the awful amnesty bill of 1986. The ususal excuse for this is a democratic congress or legislature. Same situation that Huckabee was in in AK, but instead he gets destroyed. I suppose Reagan would be destroyed by the “real republicans” if he were running right now too. Strange world we live in when we cannot put things in context.
Nov
30
6:09
PM

Alan
ChemistryDave: That’s true, but it proves nothing. For one thing, as bad as Reagan’s record was, he was the only Republican candidate in 1980 who was running on an even remotely conservative philosophy. For another, Reagan’s mistakes dosn’t mean that we should take the chance that everyone with Reagan’s record as governor of California (or even, in his worse moments, as president) is going to be a conservative president. If Arlen Specter or Lincoln Chafee ran for president, and conservatives criticized the liberal record of the RINO candidate, obviously the argument that the conservatives could’ve made the same charges against Reagan would lose much of its force. Reagan did a lot of good as president, a lot more good than anyone can expect Huckabee or Giuliani to do. Huckabee is conservative only on abortion and gay marriage, and Giuliani is conservative only on crime. Unlike in 1980, in 2008 conservatives can do much, much better.
Nov
30
6:41
PM

ChemistryDave
I am not asserting that it proves or disproves something about Huckabee, merely that our party will destroy itself by “making the perfect the enemy of the good”. I think the Specter/Chafee comparison is not that accurate given that they totally suck. No doubt Reagan was a great president, but using the current point-of-view on candidates, Reagan would have been torn to shreds by the base. I am no Huckabee supporter, but I dont think he is terrible. He is out there pushing heavy tax reform, a good energy plan, among a few other things. But the immigration position is not good. I thought the Club for Growth came down on him too hard, and misrepresented some things about his AK record. Based on what I know (maybe not everything), Huckabee did fairly well in a Clinton-tainted AK government. Above all, I just want some honesty in this race, and I think some of the contributors on this website are pushing misrepresentations in the usual slick political way that has crushed our political system and given us the mess we have now….which is selecting the leader of the free world based on youtube clips. I think we should be above that kind of thing.
Dec
1
2:00
AM

Chris
I see your point Dave and I agree that there is way too much misrepresentation in politics.

The Club for Growth may be guilt of misrepresentation or they may be innocent, I don’t know all the facts. However I don’t believe this ad is guilty of misrepresentation. Rudy really did endorse a Democrat over Pataki. Romney use to be pro-choice.

Campaigns are a mess these days though. Anyone who watches the crappy ads that NRSC or the DSCC put out can see that.
Dec
1
9:06
AM

Alan
If you want honesty, you have no business defending Huckabee.

Huckabee *repeatedly* said on national television that his infamous gas-tax increase won 80 percent suport in the 1999 ballot initiative; in fact, as the Club for Growth pointed out, the tax hike was never on the ballot. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zO-flytX2HQ

When that other video clip came out, showing the once-morbidly-obese Huckabee begging for tax increases, Huckabee tried to pin it on the Supreme Court. But that, too, was a lie. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYrGlfkvRV0

In any event, it’s not as if the only problem is that this man of God can’t tell the truth about his record. (Though that would be enough of a problem if conservatives still believed that good moral character is important for presidents to have. I guess our new standard is that the candidate is acceptable, even if he’s a serial liar, as long as he didn’t lie under oath about messing around with a chubby intern. I think conservatives might have lowered their moral standards a bit too much, don’t you? I mean, don’t we still need a president we can trust? A president who won’t lie about his reasons for doing something we don’t agree with?)

Huckabee has another big problem: He’s the second coming of Jimmy Carter. He’s not conservative on more than a small handful of issues.

The Cato Institute gave Huckabee a grade of “F” last year for his fiscal record. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa581/reportcard_table.html

As governor, Huckabee raised taxes 21 times. http://www.nwanews.com/adg/national/203850/

And when I listen to Huckabee’s class-warfare rhetoric, I wonder when Hillary Clinton and John Edwards are finally going to sue him for copying their campaign speeches.

He shows too much compassion for illegal immigrants.

He pandered on that question about space-exploration program at the most recent debate. (Is there ANYTHING he won’t spend taxpayer money on?)

His goal of energy independence is utterly IMPOSSIBLE, and I don’t like electing presidents who can’t see facts as plain as that.

I could go on all day. The truth of the matter is, in brief, that Huckabee is just a liberal who opposes abortion rights and gay marriage–and beyond that, he’s a serial liar. Anyone who compromises conservative principles by supporting Huckabee is making a Faustian bargain, and will regret the decision to support him when he starts making policy as president.
Dec
1
9:59
AM

Fred White & True
Check out this link on Huckabee

http://www.blogsforfredthompson.com/huckabee-facts-org-exposes-mike-huckabees-weak-conservatism
Dec
1
2:03
PM

Alan
Oh, I forgot to say, Huckabee’s grade from Cato for his *overall* record is a D. I apologize for neglecting to put in that piece of mitigating evidence. http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa581/reportcard_table.html
Dec
1
3:21
PM

Joseph T McCarthy
If Fred’s people don’t like Huckabee, there is a logical alternative: Mitt Romney.
Dec
1
5:17
PM

Sam
How is Mitt Romney a logical alternative?
Dec
1
10:47
PM

Joseph T McCarthy
Beautiful: http://www.mcclatchydc.com/election2008/story/22392.html

Sam: Mitt Romney is a logical alternative because he believes in free trade and the power of lowering taxes to stimulate the economy. It’s quite simple actually.
Dec
2
2:29
PM

Lars
Great ad. Rudy and his Kazooties are from New York. Mitt is from Space. Huck is a Emer Gantry wannabe.

Fred is the only true conservative in the race.
Dec
2
3:14
PM

ChemistryDave
Alan-Seem to have missed my point in my posts, but I cannot say that I am surprised. As clearly stated in my above post, I am no Huck supporter, but without a doubt, the CFG coverage of him is slanted, and this is the problem. Dont know about the gas tax thing, dont really care. He’s pushing the Faritax, and has pledged not to raise taxes, good enough for me. Its the same thing that ALL of the candidates have done, defended a terrible record in the past and said they have changed. The Cato group gave MI gov Granholm a better grade than Huckabee……Pass on that! Point being, these interest groups are not being 100% clear on the whole candidate, and that goes for others as well, not just Huck.
As a side note, everyone should read the link that McCarthy posted above. Pretty much what I said in this thread earlier. A little reality mixed with history always goes a long way.
Dec
2
4:16
PM

Roger
I wonder if any republican wants to capture Osama, GWB surely doesn’t….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JRY_BOYeySc
Dec
2
7:32
PM

Sam
Huckabee will be another big government neocon like Bush. He won’t scale it back, he’ll make it bigger.
Dec
3
10:31
AM

Joel
Sam, you are on target. Huck would be a GWB third term, without the strength on security (he may develop it, but he has not history of it). And based on what he has said and done, he would be a willing accomplice to the Dems in bloating the size and reach of government.

This site is about saving the GOP. In my mind, the GOP has to return to principled, conservative leadership in order to be saved. Huck does not do this–in fact he takes us the other direction. (Rudy takes us the other direction as well)

Joseph, Fred’s people do not need an alternative. Fred will do just fine. Let’s cast votes before we write off any of the top teer candidates.