Thompson thumps Dem candidates

Washington Times:

A more fired-up Fred Thompson said yesterday he needs to finish second in Iowa's caucuses this week, and he went on the attack, accusing Democratic leaders of having let their party be hijacked by liberal interest groups.

Campaigning heavily here over the past two weeks, Mr. Thompson has refined his message and yesterday released a 15-minute Web video laying out his qualifications and telling voters they need to pick a Republican nominee who is willing to call out Democratic leaders for abandoning their principles.

"They're all NEA, MoveOn.org, ACLU, Michael Moore Democrats," Mr. Thompson charges in the video, which is on his campaign Web site. "They've allowed these radicals to take control of the party and dictate their course."

He said that gives Republicans a chance to recapture independents and "good Democrats" who agree their party has been hijacked, but he said Republicans must choose someone capable of making that case.

The former Tennessee senator is in the middle of a two-week, 50-stop tour in Iowa trying to gain momentum as the polls show the race tightening. Former front-runner Mike Huckabee has slid back into a tie with Mitt Romney, a former Massachusetts governor, for the lead in Iowa, while polls show Mr. Thompson vying with Sen. John McCain of Arizona for third.

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I think this is a good campaign theme and much wiser than negative attacks on other Republicans. Democrats should be vulnerable on the issue of selling out to their special interest lobbies, especially their loser lobby at MoveOn. That said, the record comparison rhetoric by others has brought Huckabee, back down in the polls into a tie with Romney, while Thompson and McCain are very close for third place.