6.29.2007

Fred Slips Up

Looks like Fred committed a Bushism today, and it may come back to bite him.

In his speech, Thompson assailed "unbearable tax burdens," called for restrained spending, and argued for a smaller federal government. He expressed his opposition to the immigration bill in Congress and decried the flow of illegal immigrants from Cuba, saying: "I don't imagine they're coming here to bring greetings from Castro. We're living in the era of the suitcase bomb."
Fred's office later contacted NRO with the following clarification:
"I am concerned that Castro might be sending agents into the United States through Mexico. Our porous border is unable to distinguish btween friend and foe. My feeling is that Cuban Americans share this concern."
Now, there is something to that concern, however, it seems Fred could have stated it clearer. As it is, it looked for a while like Fred was attacking the one group of Hispanics that reliably vote Republican.

I just hope the Cuban-Americans forgive him for his slip-up.

Update and bump: Fred has posted a somewhat longer clarification at the Fred File. I think he does a good job of explaining what he meant. I still wish he'd been clearer the first time around, tho.