Fred Thompson In the Hot Seat with Cubans

During a rare "campaign" stop in South Carolina the "non-candidate" GOP Presidential candidate tried to assert his conservative credentials to southern voters. The former Tennessee Senator spoke on a variety of subjects, including taxes, iraq and made the horrible mistake of tying illegal immigration with Cuban exiles....

Here is the speech on You Tube:


Senator Hillary Clinton quickly attached Fred Thompson, stating:

"I was appalled when one of the people running for or about to run for the Republican nomination talked about Cuban refugees as potential terrorists," Clinton told Hispanic elected officials. "Apparently he doesn't have a lot of experience in Florida or anywhere else, and doesn't know a lot of Cuban-Americans."

Hillary has been the candidate, on either political side, to obtain the most Hispanic support. Clearly she capitalized on the opportunity to obtain extra brownie points in the Cuban community, where her husband is loathed because of Elian Gonzalez and the Wet Foot Dry Foot Policy.

Soon after the Clinton statement, Thompson posted on his campaign blog saying he had been referring to Cuban spies, not immigrants. "Our national security is too important an issue to let folks twist words around for a one-day headline," Thompson said in his post. "Cuban-Americans are among the staunchest opponents of illegal immigration, and especially so when it's sponsored by the Castro regime."

The gaffe by Thompson was a mistake, he must have misspoke, yet you must wonder, who if anyone, is counseling him on the diverse Hispanic community and the Cuban-American constituency.

Thompson, who has become a conservative blog regular, has a long history of being hard on Fidel Castro and supporting Cuban exiles. Earlier this year he had a virtual fight with Micheal Moore. Thompson was attacking Moore's Sicko, for its erroneous portrayal of the Cuban health care system.