Fred Thompson on Push Polling

Fred Thompson Gets Mad

By Joel Achenbach
PROSPERITY, S.C. -- You rarely see Fred Thompson get too riled about anything, but steam was near about shooting from his ears today when he heard at a campaign stop that some of his supporters had received "push poll" calls from a group supporting Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee.

At a steak house in this small town west of Columbia, a man in the small crowd told Thompson that many people had gotten such calls in the past 24 hours. Thompson asked anyone who had received such a call to raise his or hand. At least a dozen hands shot up. The former senator said he'd heard of push polls accusing him of supporting partial birth abortion.

"They're taking the most outrageous, easily disproved things that they can come up with. It's amazing to me. Its so ham-handed," Thompson said. "I had a 100 percent pro-life voting record over 8 years."

Trey Taylor, 41, told The Post that he'd gotten a call in which, after he'd revealed his preference for Thompson, a recorded voice said Thompson had lobbied on behalf of a "radical" pro-abortion organization. The recording then cited Huckabee's anti-abortion record.

Speaking with reporters, Thompson looked like he was ready to strip the bark off Huckabee. He suggested that Huckabee isn't trying to "win the legitimate way" by focusing on the issues. At the most recent debate, he said, "I confronted him man to man, with regard to the issues. This is the response I get."

Thompson said he expects the governor of South Carolina to respond to the push polling. The state, he said, has gotten a "bad rap" for nasty campaign tactics in the past. This time, he said, "The only one I know that's doing any negative campaigning here is the Huckabee people." [source]

Since it is not proof positive that Mike Huckabee himself or even his campaign has anything to do with this directly I will assume that it is not from the Huck camp. But I do have some suspicions about some stuff. Supposedly Mike Huckabee has been telling them to stop. They aren't stopping. They are supposed to be from his supporters. If he can't persuade "friends" how can he persuade enemies?