What it lacks in originality, it makes up for with childishness.A top adviser to former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney appears to be behind today's launch of a new Web site attacking GOP presidential rival Fred Thompson.
The site, www.phoneyfred.org, paints an unflattering picture of Thompson, dubbing him: 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. [View an image of the Web site]
Shortly after a Washington Post reporter made inquiries about the site to the Romney campaign, the site was taken down.
Before it vanished, the front page of the website featured a picture of a regal Thompson dressed in a frilly outfit more befitting a Gilbert and Sullivan production than a presidential campaign. Under the heading, "Playboy Fred," the site asks the question: "Once a Pro-Choice Skirt Chaser, Now Standard Bearer of the Religious Right?"
Nowhere on the site does it indicate who is responsible for it. But a series of inquiries leads directly to the website of Under the Power Lines, the political consulting firm of Warren Tompkins, Romney's lead consultant in South Carolina.
This isn't even Bush-league -- i.e. Karl Rove -- dirty tricking. He would have done something like exploit the fact that Fred Thompson once provided legal advice to the Pan Am 103 bombers. But playing Photoshop dress-up? What is this, MySpace?
If this is the best they can do, it's going to be a tedious campaign.
