The Univision Debate has been relatively peaceful thus far—without any of the sparring or attacks we saw last week in St. Petersburg, Fl. But the Fred Thompson campaign just sent out a reminder to reporters about Mike Huckabee’s more lenient attitude toward Fidel Castro.

The document is below:

Huckabee: Mr. President, Lift the Cuban Embargo

Summary: In 2002, Governor Huckabee strongly advocated lifting the embargo against Cuba saying it “harm[s] our own agricultural and business interests,” “has not helped the people of Cuba” and has “provided Castro with a convenient excuse for his own failed system of government.”

“Huckabee, the GOP governor of Arkansas, wrote to President Bush seeking action against the embargo.” (Jeffrey Birnbaum, “Business to Bush: Let Us Into Cuba!”, Fortune, 5/27/02)

“All four House members, both senators and Governor Huckabee strongly support doing away with the trade embargo.” (Kevin Freking, “Legislators Call For Ending Ban On Cuba,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3/22/02)

“‘The United States’ policy of unilateral embargo against Cuba continues to harm our own agricultural and business interests here at home and has certainly not helped the people of Cuba,’ Huckabee wrote in his Feb. 14 letter [to President Bush]. It’s not right to continue to make American farmers bear the burden of a policy that hasn’t worked, he said. Huckabee cited a study by Texas A&M University reporting that the embargo hurt Arkansas more than other states, costing Arkansas lost farm exports of $ 167 million a year and a loss of almost 4,000 jobs.” (Michael Wickline, “End of Cuban Trade Embargo Benefits Children, Snyder Says,” Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 3/29/02)

“In a letter to President Bush, Mr. Huckabee wrote, ‘U.S. policy on Cuba has not accomplished its stated goal of toppling the Castro regime and instead has provided Castro with a convenient excuse for his own failed system of government.’” (Letters, “Time To End Embargo Against Cuba,” Washington Times, 2/27/02)

Buffalo Grove, IL — While presidential candidates typically make multiple stops a day at diners on the campaign trail where it is a must to try local cuisine, a number of the 2008 hopefuls also happen to be on diets. How is that working out for them?

Using our new Streambox technology, I appeared on Weekend Live today to discuss the candidates’ eating habits from a Lou Malnati’s Pizzeria in the Chicago area–known for it’s famous deep dish pizza.

“When I saw that sonogram of my little girl back a few years ago, it had an impact on me like nothing else ever has,” Fred Thompson told reporters outside the South Carolina Citizens for Life headquarters in Columbia, South Carolina, on Wednesday. After being endorsed by the statewide grassroots organization for his pro-life stance on abortion, Mr. Thompson addressed the media in front of a large, white banner bearing the words “Stand Up for Life,” which hung outside the building—a small one-story structure that was at one time South Carolina’s most controversial abortion clinic.

Before the Senator delivered his speech, Executive Director, Holly Gatling, set forth the cause of the SCCL (a state affiliate of the National Right to Life Committee)—and explained why it stood behind Mr. Thompson.

“Our endorsement is a testament to Senator Thompson’s long-standing pro-life record, his commitment to unborn children, and our belief in his ability to win,” Ms. Gatling said.

Mr. Thompson thanked the SCCL for its endorsement—one he said meant so much to him “not only politically, but personally”—and stressed his consistent pro-life voting record while serving in the Senate, and the need to nominate and appoint judges who abide by the Constitution.

“That will be one of my primary endeavors if elected President,” Thompson said.

The SCCL endorsement is one of three for Thompson thus far. He was endorsed today by the Wisconsin Right to Life PAC and by the National Right to Life Committee in early November.

Click to listen:

Former Tennessee senator Fred Thompson issued the following statement today in regard to the latest National Intelligence Estimate (NIE), which concluded that Iran halted its nuclear weapons program four years ago:

“The accuracy of the latest NIE on Iran should be received with a good deal of skepticism. Our intelligence community has often underestimated the intentions of adversaries, including Sadam Hussein’s Iraq and North Korea. And are all of the CIA detractors now going to take intelligence pronouncements at face value? It’s awfully convenient for a lot of people: the administration gets to say its policies worked; the Democrats get to claim we should have eased up on Iran a long time ago; and Russia and China can claim sanctions on Iran are not necessary. Who benefits from all this? Iran.”

“And what if the NIE estimate is accurate? It’s essentially an analysis of Iran’s intentions at a point in time. Meanwhile, Iran continues to enrich uranium for allegedly peaceful purposes, but which would allow them to easily transition to a nuclear weapons program at any point in the future. Maybe even now–now that so many seem willing to forget Iran’s past deceptions and ongoing intransigence. After all, a nuclear weapons program is simply an extension of the process by which uranium is enriched for civilian nuclear fuel. To this day Iran has yet to comply with international demands and its Nuclear Non Proliferation Treaty requirements for open inspections and other safeguard measures.”

“The bottom line is that the United States must continue to improve its human intelligence capabilities and intelligence analysis. We must hope for the best, but not let our guard down for a moment. If something appears to be too good to be true, it very well may be.”

Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson continued to rally support yesterday in South Carolina, a state the former Tennessee senator refers to as “my neck of the woods,” and one where his poll numbers remain competitive.

Making stops in such places as Greenville, Greer, and Spartanburg, Thompson touted his consistent conservative record and foreign affairs experience during his time in the United States Senate. “I’m just about the only guy in this race who hasn’t lost an election,” Mr. Thompson said, “and the guy you saw yesterday is the guy you see today…and it’s the same guy you’ll see tomorrow.”

While greeting supporters in coffee shops and restaurants around the state, Thompson addressed a variety of issues ranging from illegal immigration to the Second Amendment to South Carolina’s startling high school drop-out rate. He also offered his reaction to a new U.S. intelligence report that claims Iran ended its nuclear weapons program four years ago. The senator said he was skeptical of such a conclusion, adding that he’s lost confidence in the country’s intelligence-gathering capabilities.

“I hope that they are accurate with this assessment, but right now, I don’t have the confidence in our own intelligence capabilities to make that assessment,” he told a crowd of supporters at a gun shop in Greer, South Carolina. “One thing that crosses my mind is that this is information that the Iranians have put out, that they want us to kind of relax a little bit.”

A sense of humor sometimes provides welcome relief in a campaign increasing in intensity. That’s not difficult for Mr. Thompson, who some say is never without a witty remark–even when pressed on tough issues. At a gathering of supporters in a Greenville restaurant on Tuesday, one man asked Thompson what he plans to do on his first day if elected President:

Governor Romney fired his lawn care company today. He made the move in advance of a Boston Globe story reporting that, despite a year’s worth of controversy, the company continues to hire illegal immigrants to work on Romney’s lawn. Romney has a tough illegal immigration policy that he touts every day on the trail, but he gave the lawn company he uses for his Belmont home a second chance after it was revealed that illegals were working on his lawn last year. The Romney camp issued a statement from the former Massachusetts Governor saying he had terminated his lawn company today:

“After this same issue arose last year, I gave the company a second chance
 with very specific conditions. They were instructed to make sure people
 working for the company were of legal status,” the former Massachusetts
 governor said in a statement. “We personally met with the company in order
to inform them about the importance of this matter. The owner of the
 company guaranteed us, in very certain terms, that the company would be in
total compliance with the law going forward.

We personally met with the company in order 
to inform them about the importance of this matter. The owner of the
 company guaranteed us, in very certain terms, that the company would be in
 total compliance with the law going forward.”

Romney’s defense has always been that he hired the company, not the individual workers and that he can’t go up to every worker and ask to see their documents.

Romney was campaigning in New Hampshire today and said the very first thing he would do on the immigration issue if he was elected would be to build a border fence. Republican rivals have already started to attack Romney. Thompson’s campaign has put out a statement saying, “First Mitt Romney was FOR illegal immigrants working on his lawn, and then he was against it, then for it, and now I guess he’s against it again. Sounds like his position on amnesty.”

At the Republican debate last week Rudy Giuliani attacked Romney on this very topic and the Governor denied having illegal immigrants work on his lawn:

GIULIANI: You did have illegal immigrants working at your mansion, didn’t you?

ROMNEY: No, I did not, so let’s just talk about that. Are you suggesting, Mr. Mayor — because I think it is really kind of offensive actually to suggest, to say look, you know what, if you are a homeowner and you hire a company to come provide a service at your home — paint the home, put on the roof. If you hear someone that is working out there, not that you have employed, but that the company has.
ROMNEY: If you hear someone with a funny accent, you, as a homeowner, are supposed to go out there and say, “I want to see your papers. Is that what you’re suggesting?”

This scandal is in advance of Romney’s “Faith in America” speech on Thursday, arguably the biggest moment in his campaign so far.

UPDATE: Giuliani communications director Katie Levinson on the Romney statement: “I think it speaks for itself.”

A crowd of several hundred Fred Thompson supporters gathered today at a retirement community in Laguna Woods, California, to hear the senator speak about such topics as national security and tax reform. But before Mr. Thompson addressed his audience, former talk show radio host, John Ziegler, took to the podium, poking fun at the senator’s opponents–among them, Hillary Clinton.

Referring to yesterday’s standoff at a Hillary Clinton campaign office in Rochester, New Hampshire–in which a man with a history of mental illness held five people hostage for nearly six hours and threatened to detonate an explosive–Mr. Ziegler made the following remarks:

“Yesterday was an interesting day in the campaign. I’m sure you all heard about what happened at the Hillary Clinton headquarters in New Hampshire. In case you missed it, some nut-job broke in there and took hostages and apparently threatened to blow himself up unless he got a chance to speak to Hillary. Now, I found this rather odd because I always feel like blowing myself up after hearing Hillary Clinton speak.”

Click here to listen:

Although Ziegler’s remarks were met with laughter by some, his comments didn’t sit well with everyone. One female attendee, who wished not to be identified by name, called them “distasteful” and “insensitive” to the mentally ill as well as to the Clinton volunteers involved in the incident. The seriousness of yesterday’s events–which caused local schools and businesses to lock down as well as Barack Obama and John Edwards’ New Hampshire offices to close–was “no laughing matter,” she said.

Senator Thompson and his wife, Jeri, were not present in the auditorium when the remarks were made. And for his part, Mr. Ziegler told the audience that his opinions were “not necessarily those of Fred Thompson, the Fred Thompson campaign, or anyone affiliated with the Republican party.”

Presidential hopeful Fred Thompson’s mantra from the very beginning of his 2008 campaign has been: “I’m the same.” In touting his rock-solid record as a consistent conservative among voters, Thompson has sought to characterize himself as a man with unswerving conviction, while, at the same time, portraying his opponents as political chameleons.

He’s attacked Mitt Romney for his changing positions on abortion, Mike Huckabee for his past approval of tax increases, and Rudy Giuliani for his record on gun control and sanctuary cities. For Thompson, one of the most important standards for choosing a Commander–In-Chief is consistency and predictability. Only the candidate whose positions never have wavered, Thompson believes, can earn the American people’s trust.

Here’s the new Thompson campaign attack-ad, which aired for the first time during Wednesday night’s CNN/YouTube Republican debate in St. Petersburg, Florida:

In a guest appearance tonight on CNN’s Larry King Live, Thompson again stressed his record’s consistency. He also said that national security was “the number one priority.” Addressing questions concerning his worth ethic, Thompson described himself as a “slow talkin’, slow walkin’ Tennessean,” and spoke about how he worked his way through school to become a federal prosecutor, Watergate counselor, and United States Senator.

“If a man can be lazy and do all that, I recommend it to everybody,” he said.

In his guest appearance this morning on Fox News Sunday, Fred Thompson unveiled his tax plan and addressed the issue of abortion—and then toward the end of the interview parried the thrust of Rudy Giuliani’s criticism that he “has no record.”

In Nashua, New Hampshire, on Saturday, Rudy Giuliani objected to Thompson’s implication that his record on gun control is inconsistent—first as mayor he “supported every gun control legislation that came down the pike” and now as presidential contender declares himself a strong supporter of the second amendment. Giuliani told reporters, “Fred has no record to talk about… I have a good record to talk about so I am very proud of it…If you have had a good record, that is something you would want tell people as preparing you to be a good president….if you had no record at all, you would want to attack somebody else’s record.”

But when Fox News’ Chris Wallace today showed him the Giuliani clip, Thompson touted his past accomplishments to prove that he does have a record—including areas where, he says, Giuliani has no record.

Thompson spoke of his experience on the Intelligence Committee, his service as chairman of a committee dealing with nuclear proliferation, and his role as Republican floor leader for the homeland security bill. He also noted his involvement in preventing an export legislation bill from going forward because it was too favorable to China. He added, “I’ve dealt with those issues for almost a decade both in and out of government.”

Finishing up with a final thrust, Thompson said that in federal or national matters, Giuliani has “five minutes of experience.”

Click here to watch.

Nashua, NH — One day after Fred Thompson went after him for being out of touch with the country on gun control and over-relying on his NYC record, Rudy Giuliani fired back today saying Thompson is only criticizing him because he lacks a record of his own.

Following a town hall meeting on the sixth stop of his Granite State bus tour today, Giuliani staunchly defended his mayoral record and accused the former Tennessee senator of empty rhetoric.

“Fred has no record to talk about…I have a good record to talk about so I am very proud of it,” Giuliani said. “If you have had a good record, that is something you would want tell people as preparing you to be a good president….if you had no record at all, you would want to attack somebody else’s record, which is what I think some of my opponents are doing. They don’t have the record of results that I have so instead…they attack you.”

Giuliani’s three-day visit comes on the heels of a visit by Thompson to a gun shop in the Granite State where he hammered away at Giuliani’s support of a number of gun control measures and accused him of being out of touch with voters.

“He simply supported just about every gun control legislation that came down the pipe, and I just disagree with him on that,” Thompson said, adding, “he relates everything to New York City, well New York City is not emblematic of the rest of the country…and I think the sentiments of those people in the rest of the country are in strong support of the second amendment. It’s where I’ve always been, and I don’t think he’s ever been.”

Without specifically discussing his gun control record, Giuliani talked statistics, saying his record on crime speaks for itself.

“Which ones of them reduced crime by 60 percent, which ones of them reduced homicide by 70 percent?” he asked of his fellow GOP contenders. “If you have a record like that, you’re proud of it and you want to show people, ‘I can do same thing as President of United States.’ When you don’t have a record, than you attack people with a record.”

***UPDATE***11pm

The Thompson campaign response from spokesman Darrel Ng:

“Unlike other candidates in this race, Fred Thompson has a strong record of supporting the second amendment and has earned an A rating from the NRA. Unlike other candidates in this race, Fred Thompson has a strong record of being pro-life, and has received the National Right to Life endorsement. The strong record that Rudy brings to the table is one where he joined liberal Sen. Chuck Schumer at a press conference calling for more gun control.”