Huckabee Supporters Slime Fred in South Carolina

Common Sense Issues, Inc. has brought the political dark arts back to the South Carolina Republican Primary. The ironically-named group is running unethical and misleading "push poll" telephone calls.

Push polling is a technique in which a negative message is cloaked in a telephone call that pretends to be an opinion poll. The following hypothetical telephone call would be considered a push poll:

Question: Whom do you support for the Republican nomination for president: A. Fred Thompson, b. Duncan Hunter, c. John McCain, d. Mike Huckabee, e. Mitt Romney, f. Ron Paul, g. Rudolph Giuliani?

Answer: D. Mike Huckabee

Question: Would it change your opinion if you knew that Mr. Huckabee's son had been thrown out of Boy Scout camp for animal cruelty?

or

Question: Would it change your opinion if you knew that Mr. Huckabee and his son sodomized cadavers?

Now, clearly neither Mr. Huckabee nor his son have ever sodomized cadavers, but you get the idea. Hopefully, South Carolina Republican voters are smarter than all that, and can look past this dirty trick performed on behalf of the Lord's Candidate.

There is only one consistent conservative in the race. That is Fred Thompson.

NJ Leftists Setting Up Future Whining

The far left is at it again. The Coalition for Peace Action is already trying to undermine the public's confidence in the election provess. The Coalition for Peace Action, a collection of moveon.org types, has been pushing the State of New Jersey to use paper ballots in the presidential primary.

That's right, they WANT paper ballots.

For whatever reason, they don't trust the machines. I don't know why they don't trust the machines in NJ. After all, the bulk of them are manufactured by a close ally of Venezuelan Marxist Hugo Chavez. Chavez, a close ally of the Kennedy family (see Chevron Oil ads in which Kennedy appears), is no friend of the Republican Party.

Nevertheless, the left's template has a spot for complaining about valid election results.

Paper ballots cause problems - see Palm Beach County 2000. They are a last resort, to be used only in an emergency. Where hundreds of thousands of ballots in 21 counties are used, you are just asking for a problem, and for an increase in recounts and election challenges.

New Poll Confirms Rudy's Garden State Chances Withering

In a recent post, I reported the results of the Middlesex County GOP straw poll, and observed that Mayor Giuliani's support in that poll had dropped dramatically. In a new poll, for the first time, Rudy is not leading in NJ.

In a poll released this morning, Senator John McCain is leading in New Jersey. This is a disaster for the Giuliani campaign, which has no doubt been counting on NJ's 52 delegates. The Giuliani campaign employs some outstanding New Jersey people. His campaign manager is a gifted and devoted New Jersey Republican. One of his key field people, Amanda Gasperino, is a respected Republican operative.

New Jersey is key for Giuiliani. The campaign is desperate to keep NJ in Rudy's column. Indeed, one person recently asked to be a county coordinator for Rudy is actually a Fred Thompson voter. The request was an offer that the person couldn't refuse. Just another anecdote that indicates where Rudy stands in NJ.

All of this points to a McCain-Thompson show down.

Should Fred "hit" McCain?

I have been hearing a lot of calls for Fred to attack Senator McCain. Certainly Senator McCain has gained momentum thanks to the publicity following his win in New Hampshire. With that attention will come some attacks from different quarters, and the urge to attack the perceived frontrunner.

While people have encouraged the campaign to attack McCain, Fred has not done so. Frankly, I support the strategy, at least for the present. For now, Fred must resist the calls to attack Senator McCain.

Fred has established that this Republican primary is a battle for the heart and soul of the national Republican party. To win the fight for the heartsand minds of the Republicans, Fred must first establish himself as the standard-bearer for the conservative wing of the party, the philosophical heir of Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan.

Fred has established his conservative bonafides. No one disputes that he is a consistent conservative. However, there are still pretenders to the conservative mantle: Mike Huckabee and Mitt Romney. (For better or worse Duncan Hunter is not a factor. He is a good Republican and a conservative, but not really a factor.)

Both Governor Huckabee and Governor Romney are flawed. Governor Huckabee is a pro-life liberal. Governor Romney has taken some strong conservative positions during the campaign. However, only time will tell whether these are really his positions. In order to become the conservative standard bearer, Fred must first defeat the conservative pretenders, or at least knock them back considerably.

So right now, Fred is not in direct competition for votes with Senator McCain as much as he is in direct competition with Governor Huckabee and Governor Romney. To start a war of words with Senator McCain at this point would not be prudent. You can not fight on all fronts at all times. It just does not work. Fred has chosen the candidate with whom he is in most direct competition, Mike Huckabee, and has drawn some very strong contrasts.

Once Fred wins South Carolina and emerges from Super Tuesday with some other victories (say Georgia and Tennessee), it will be more clear that he is the conservative leader. As the Giuliani campaign continues to deteriorate, the Rockefeller Republicans will look to their second choice, and that second choice will probably be Senator McCain.

Then the time will come when Fred is matched up against Senator McCain. Fred would be the Reagan to McCain's Ford, or the Goldwater to McCain's Rockefeller. Then the strong contrasts will abound, but not until then. First things first.

Vote Your Conservative Conscience, Dammit!

I have never heard anyone say that Fred Thompson was unqualified to serve as president of the United States. I haven't heard too many people say that he was wrong on the issues. But I have heard from people are reluctant to vote for Fred because he (1) got in the race too late or (2) it's too late for him.

People like to sound smart. If I had a nickel for everyone who thought they were smart, then I'd be about as rich as Mitt Romney. People like to sound smart by talking about the horse race instead of talking about the issues. That is, they overthink the thing.

Like Crash Davis said to Nuke Laloosh in Bull Durham: "Don't think. It hurts the team."

That's right. Some people think TOO MUCH. The simple fact is that if people would just go into the voting booths in the Republican primary and vote their consciences, then Fred would win. So you just need to go out there and remind people to just vote their conscience.

And don't forget the Conservatives with Attitude! straw poll this coming Saturday in Woodbridge.

Middlesex Result Shows Rudy Dropping Even in Jersey

Rudy Giuliani, once the inevitable Rudy Giuliani, is now just plain old ex-mayor Rudy Giuliani. His campaign professionals are now working as volunteers, and his poll numbers are plummeting.

Yes, he won the Middlesex County GOP straw poll yesterday. He won it with 38% of the votes. Fred ran second with 16% and according to one conservative blogger had the best organization at the event. While he won, his margin and share of votes plummeted since the last time the Middlesex GOP held a straw poll.

Last year, he won with 60% of the vote. Thus, his share has plummeted by 22 points.

Today one of Rudy's key supporters in NJ, a member of what used to be the NJGOP machine, acknowledged that he and other Giuliani supporters should be thinking carefully about their second choice for president.

Rudy is beatable in New Jersey. Should Fred's surge continue, he might just be the man to upset Rudy here.

Fred Finishes Second at Middlesex GOP Convention

This morning the Friends of Fred Thompson made a statement in the Garden State. They showed that Fred has very strong support, even in the shadow of the city that Rudy Guiliani ruled for eight years.

The Middlesex County Republican Committee held its presidential preference convention this morning at the Forge in Woodbridge. The Thompson Team arrived early, and decorated the place with Fred08 signs. They distributed literature and worked the floor. And they got results.

Despite the fact that Senator McCain and Governor Romney have very high level support amongst the NJGOP - basically every machine Republican in New Jersey that is not supporting Rudy - their political muscle could not stand up to the Thompson surge.

When the convention cast its votes, Fred finished second behind the favorite of the NJGOP machine, Rudy Guiliani. Congratulations Fred.