Thompson Calls On Huckabee To Stop Push Polls
PROSPERITY, S.C. -- Fred Thompson called on Mike Huckabee to put a stop to push polling calls that misrepresent Thompson's record.
"I find it ironic that this man would talk about cleaner politics and rising above the fray," Thompson said, "while this is going on right under his nose."
At an event in Prosperity today, a Thompson volunteer stood up during the audience questions portion and said a lot of people had received negative phone calls that "misrepresented your record."
"Really?" Thompson asked, seeming genuinely surprised. "Could I ask you to raise your hand if you got a phone call like that?"
Roughly half the 75 people in attendance raised their hands.
"Good gracious," Thompson said. "Who do they say is calling? Do they say anything good about any candidate?"
"Huckabee," the audience responded.
"They're picking the most outrageous, easily disproved things that they could come up with," Thompson said, referring to the substance of the calls, which say that Thompson supported so-called "partial-birth" abortions. "It's amazing to me, it's so ham-handed. I call on the governor to put a stop to this."
Huckabee's campaign has said it doesn't know anything about the push polls and doesn't condone them. Thompson pointed to his endorsement from the National Right to Life Committee and several state right to life organizations as proof of his anti-abortion rights credentials.
Thompson stopped short of saying the results from the South Carolina primary would be skewed, because he believes the push polls won't work.
"I confronted him man to man at the debate with regard to the issues, and this is the response I get," Thompson said. "I don't think that's going to go over in South Carolina. I don't think the results are going to be affected by it."