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Thompson had been quiet on the Hillary immigration snafu but then his campaign manager Bill Lacy sent out this blast directed at Romney:

"Once again today, Mitt Romney is proving he will do anything and say anything for political gain. The fact is, Mitt Romney called the McCain-Kennedy amnesty bill 'reasonable' while the vast majority of conservative Republicans called it 'unacceptable.' No matter how many millions he spends trying to cover up his previous positions, Romney's record is to the left of the GOP base on immigration, just as it is on matters of life, gay rights and fiscal responsibility."

This is the tricky part of a three or four or five person race. Thompson, whose poll numbers have been suffering and sees Romney in the lead in early states( perhaps including SC), needs to not only go after Rudy but knock off his main competitor for votes from the conservative base.

But Romney, of course, cannot let the attack go unresponded to, although he'd like to make this purely a two man fight with Rudy. Kevin Madden, Romney spokesman, replies: "Fred Thompson is as wrong as he is late to this campaign and the debate over tougher immigration enforcement. Governor Romney has been at the forefront on this issue, advocating tougher standards of enforcement of existing immigration laws while also initiating the call the cut off federal funding to sanctuary cities that ignore our immigration laws. Governor Romney also took action in his state by working out an agreement with the federal government to authorize state police to enforce federal immigration laws. Governor Romney strongly opposed the McCain-Kennedy legislation and was a vocal critic of the blanket amnesty it provided to lawbreakers with the Z-visa provision."

And so it goes.

topics:
Law, Immigration