Wednesday, September 12, 2007

THOMPSON VS. ROMNEY

A spokesman for Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson blasted GOP rival Mitt Romney yesterday for a "half-baked cover-up attempt" in trying to distance himself from an attack Web site.

In a statement, Todd Harris called for an immediate apology from Romney and again demanded that the Romney campaign terminate anyone involved in the creation of a Web site parodying Thompson's background.

"This latest episode only serves to prove what many voters are already figuring out: Mitt Romney will do anything, say anything, smear any opponent and flip-flop on any position in order to win," Harris said.

Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said an employee of one of the campaign's consulting firms in South Carolina, Wesley Donehue, created the Web site PhoneyFred.org without approval. Madden said the campaign ordered the site removed when staffers received calls about it.

"The site has no direct affiliation to our campaign, and we had no knowledge of its development," Madden said.

Madden insisted that Donehue is "not an employee of the Romney campaign." But he is an employee of firms that have been paid tens of thousands of dollars by Romney.

The firm TTS Strategies has received $37,596 from Romney's campaign, most of it for "political strategy consulting." A recent Web page cached by Google listed Donehue as an "associate consultant and vice president" who "runs the daily operations of the firm."

It is run by Warren Tompkins, Romney's senior adviser in South Carolina, and Terry Sullivan, who is on Romney's payroll as his state director.

The company Under the Power Lines, which describes itself as an Internet consulting firm, lists Donehue as a "partner/consultant." The anti-Thompson site was hosted on the same server as the Under the Power Lines Web site.

Donehue is also listed as an "associate" in a direct-mail firm called On the Mark Direct, which has been paid $146,018 by Romney's campaign for printing.

Asked whether Donehue should be fired, Madden said that "he has no role with the Romney campaign." He said the campaign will not sever ties with Tompkins or Sullivan because they have told Romney officials that they knew nothing about the Web site.

"I did not know about a web site and quite frankly am very internet dysfunctional," Tompkins wrote in an e-mail. "Anyone who knows me would laugh at the prospect of my even being involved in such an undertaking."

Donehue could not be reached for comment.

-- Michael D. Shear