Fred Thompson FOX Meltdown Shows Desperation

Fred Thompson is getting a little testy, and he has a good reason. He is not making enough progress in his poll numbers. He is also being challenged on being the only bona fide conservative in the race. He is right about FOX, though. They support Giuliani:

Former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.) suggested on Sunday that Fox News is biased against his campaign, charging that the network highlights commentators who have been critical of his run for the presidency.

In an interview on "Fox News Sunday," host Chris Wallace pressed Thompson on how some conservatives have lambasted Thompson's campaign and showed clips of Fox conservative commentators Charles Krauthammer and Fred Barnes criticizing the former senator.

Thompson said, "This has been a constant mantra of Fox, to tell you the truth." He noted that other conservatives have praised his bid for the GOP nomination and took issue with a Fox promo that focused on polling in New Hampshire, where Thompson is registering in the single digits.

He said he is running second in national polls and has been leading or tied for the lead in South Carolina for "a long, long time."

Thompson, in a firm, but measured tone, scolded Wallace: "...for you to highlight nothing but the negatives in terms of the polls and then put on your own guys who have been predicting for four months, really, that I couldn't do it, kind of skew things a little bit. There's a lot of other opinion out there."

Not even pandering to the NRA can help him now:

[...]Thompson took a swipe at former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani's bona fides on the Second Amendment during remarks he gave at Skip's Gun & Sport Shop here.

"(Giuliani) simply supported every gun control legislation that came down the pike,'' Thompson charged.

"I saw he was at bill-signing ceremonies with (New York Sen.) Chuck Schumer and President Clinton and others for gun-control legislation over the years. Of course, he's not as outspoken about it as before.''

"Paradise!?" Now really, that's going too far:

White House hopeful Fred Thompson called his trip down aisle of rifles, shotguns and pistols at a gun show "a day in paradise," and said he wished he could come back to spend more time and money.

It was the former Tennessee senator and "Law and Order" actor's second trip to a gun show since launching his late bid for the GOP nomination in September.

[...]"It's a beautiful day in paradise," Thompson said when greeted by one of the people packing the show's aisles.

Thompson was a hit with James Hill, 65, from Summerville. "It's absolutely important to come to gun shows," Hill said. Thompson, he said, wins his support because he's strong on Second Amendment gun ownership rights. "He's right where our strength is."

If that doesn't work then why not a re-hashed idea: the flat tax. That'll get the conservatives' attention:

Republican presidential hopeful Fred Thompson proposed an income tax plan Sunday that would allow Americans to choose a simplified system with only two rates: 10 percent and 25 percent.

Thompson's proposal, announced on "Fox News Sunday," would allow filers to remain under the current, complex tax code or use the flat tax rates.

Asked whether the plan would cut too deeply into federal revenues, the former Tennessee senator and actor said experts "always overestimate the losses to the government" when taxes are cut.

"We've known for years any time we have lowered taxes and any time we've lowered tax rates, we've seen growth in the economy," Thompson said.

Thompson added that money would be saved by his Social Security reform plan. He proposed that workers younger than 58 receive smaller monthly Social Security checks than they are now promised. Individuals could contribute 2 percent of their paycheck to a personal retirement account, an amount that would be matched by the Social Security trust fund.

The retirement plan "faces up to the fact that Social Security is going bankrupt and we're going to have to do something about it," he said.

You have competition, Fred. The other candidates have their own gimmicky tax plans:

Thompson proposed permanently extending tax cuts enacted in 2001 and 2003, reductions that would end after Dec. 31, 2010 unless Congress acts. Republicans Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney and John McCain said they also would extend President Bush's tax cuts. The Congressional Budget office has estimated it would cost the government $2.3 trillion from 2008 through 2017 if the expiring cuts were extended.

Romney said he would eliminate taxes on interest and dividends for families earning less than $200,000 annually.

He does have something the other would be nominees of the Republican Party--the endorsement of the Right to Life Committee. But that probably won't be enough:

Fred Thompson, the candidate billing himself as the most consistent conservative in the crowded Republican field, has won the presidential endorsement of the National Right to Life Committee, Republican officials said Monday.

The nod by the prominent anti-abortion group could boost the lackluster campaign of the former Tennessee senator. He has seen his poll numbers drop in recent weeks in Iowa and elsewhere as he has failed to become the consensus candidate of restive social conservatives still searching for someone to embrace.

"It speaks for itself," an upbeat Mr. Thompson told reporters while campaigning here -- even as he spoke in hypothetical terms and declined to confirm the endorsement. "These are people who supported me in times past. I think it would be a perfectly natural thing to happen. I've had a 100% pro-life voting record in the United States Senate. And I think they know that, and that's the way I would govern if I was president."

The polls numbers are a mixed bag:

Fred Thompson's campaign got some good news in the polls this week as a new survey shows him tied with Mitt Romney in the early primary battleground of South Carolina. A new survey released Friday also shows him almost in a tie with pro-abortion New York Sen. Hillary Clinton nationally.

The Rasmussen poll, conducted on Tuesday, finds both Thompson and Romney at 21 percent in the southern state among likely primary voters.

The bad news for Thompson is the poll shows a decline of four percent and Romney increasing his percentage, but it shows his campaign continuing its strategy of a strong showing in Iowa (where he's tied for third) and a win in South Carolina.

Also, 68 percent of Romney’s supporters say they might change their mind before voting. For the other candidates, 47% to 57% of their supporters say the same thing.

Meanwhile, Rasmussen released a new poll on Friday showing Thompson just two points down to Hillary Clinton at 46-44 percent with 10 percent undecided.

Thompson's problem is Huckabee. The former Arkansas Governor could beat Romney in Iowa. Where would that leave Thompson:

Looking back at South Carolina, Rasmussen has Rudy Giuliani at 13%, Mike Huckabee at 12%, John McCain at 9%, and Ron Paul at 8%. Tom Tancredo and Duncan Hunter each earn support from 2% while 13% are undecided.

Those numbers reflect a seven-point drop for Giuliani, a nine-point gain for Huckabee, little change for McCain, and a six-point jump for Paul.