Actor and Senator Fred Thompson came to the Presidential party late, but his growing supporters are happy, a classic case of better late than never.
US actor and former senator Fred Thompson speaks during a rally in Des Moines, Iowa, USA, 06 September 2007. Fred Thompson formally announced his intention to seek the 2008 Republican presidential nomination. EPA/STEVE POPE
Mitt Romney's camp is sweating the new poll numbers, Guiliani and Thompson are neck and neck, which leaves them further in the dust.
But now the latest political brouhaha has the left and right both saying the website, 'PhoneyFred.org' linked to a Mitt Romney consultant was indeed, a dirty deed.
Under the heading "Playboy Fred," the "PhoneyFred" website begged the question: "Once a Pro-Choice Skirt Chaser, Now Standard Bearer of the Religious Right?"
Links between the website called PhoneyFred.com that skewered Thompson, and a consultant to the Mitt Romney campaign in South Carolina have caused a broad concensus between disparate ideologues on the Internet and televised news.
"It's perfectly legitimate to criticize one's opponents on the basis of their record in office, but one would expect a legitimate campaign to do so openly and for attribution," writes Ed Morrissey at the conservative Captain's Quarters. "Doing the same anonymously not only make it less legitimate, but makes the campaign that engages in these attacks look less than courageous in their efforts."
"The thing is with these dirtball sites you either do them publicly -- the party committees do them all the time -- or you conceal your role," says Josh Marshall at the liberal Talking Points Memo. "One or the other, not a mix of the two."
PhoneyFred.org has had the plug pulled. It disappeared yesterday, shortly after The Washington Post and Jonathan Martin of The Politico took notice of it.
According to the Post:
"The site, PhoneyFred.org, painted an unflattering picture of Thompson, dubbing the former TV star and senator Fancy Fred, Five O'clock Fred, Flip-Flop Fred, McCain Fred, Moron Fred, Playboy Fred, Pro-Choice Fred, Son-of-a-Fred and Trial Lawyer Fred."
Shortly after a Washington Post reporter made inquiries about the site to the Romney campaign, it was taken down.
The front page of the website featured a picture of Thompson depicted in a frilly outfit.
The Post found that the creator of the site appears to have been working from Under the Power Lines, "the website of the political consulting firm of J. Warren Tompkins, Romney's lead consultant in South Carolina." Tompkins, the Post says, did not return phone calls seeking comment.
A Thompson spokesman, Todd Harris, told the Post that the Romney campaign should fire Tompkins. Romney spokesman Kevin Madden told the Post that the former Massachusetts governor's campaign will look into the matter, but added that "our campaign is focused on the issues and ideas that are of paramount concern to voters. The Web site we are focused on is MittRomney.com."
robSep 13th, 2007 - 05:49:03
From the NYTimes Caucas blog today:
“The third partner at the firm [TTS Strategies], Heath Thompson, is now working for Rudolph W. Giuliani’s presidential campaign, according to published reports.”
Hmmm. Compare that to this article from the Wash.Post: Heath Thompson is working FOR Scott Howell (this is confirmed on Howell’s website:
Howell has been linked to the infamous ‘abrad2345? Giuliani ads that have blasted Thompson, McCain and Romney on Youtube.
Just rank speculation, but is it possible that Wesley Donahue did the site at the behest of Heath Thompson and Scott Howell, rather than his other two bosses??? Maybe it WAS Rudy and not Mitt after all? Either way, someone’s got a lot of ’splaining to do!
Report this comment