Phoney Fred Linked to Romney
The Washington Post reports a Mitt Romney consultant was behind an anti-Fred Thompson website that disappeared soon after the campaign was asked about it:
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.
The website is hosted by a company called bluehost.com, a firm based in Orem, Utah. An inquiry of that website about phoneyfred.org returns the following statement: “Domain phoneyfred.org is still attached to your politicalnetroots.com account as Addon,” the site states. “For security reasons, you must remove it BEFORE you can continue. After detaching phoneyfred.org from politicalnetroots.com, you should experience some brief downtime on phoneyfred.org while its DNS propagates to your new account.”
The site www.politicanetroots.com brings up the homepage for “Under the Power Lines,” which lists Tompkins as “Partner, Consultant,” along with Terry Sullivan and Welsley Donehue.
I’m disappointed the Romney camp is connected to this. But I’m also ticked that the Washington Post figured out who was behind the site before me. I’ve read the story three times and still can’t figure how how they did it.
“Anti-Thompson Site Connects to Romney Camp”
Disclaimer: I work for Friends of Fred Thompson.
[…] Others: The Politico, The Caucus, DownWithTyranny!, eyeon08.com, race42008.com and The American Mind […]