I Guess We Won’t Call Him “The Decider”

Lane Hudson, whose publication of the initial Mark Foley emails played no small part in the 2006 Democratic victories, is at it again. This time he’s filed a complaint with the FEC against reluctant-virgin-cum-lobbyist Fred Thompson:

A liberal activist today lodged a complaint (LINK HERE) with the Federal Election Commission against former Sen. Fred Thompson, R-Tenn., contending that Thompson’s “testing the waters” committee has long since surpassed that designation and that he, for all intents and purposes, is a candidate for president.

This is not without precedent. Previous pre-candidates who tried the “testing the waters” committee — including Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., Rev. Pat Robertson, and Rev. Al Sharpton — invited FEC scrutiny.

The rule is pretty simple. If you spend more than $5,000 on campaign activities, you’re a candidate, whether or not you’ve officially declared. The question is what constitutes “testing the waters” activity, and what constitutes “candidate” activity.

In 2004 the conservative National and Legal Policy Center filed a complaint with the FEC (LINK HERE) alleging Sharpton was using the “testing the waters” committee to run an “off-the-books campaign,” not declaring his candidacy officially while clearly a candidate, thus avoiding disclosure rules. The FEC investigated the matter, and arrived at a settlement with Sharpton.

The FEC ruled that Robertson had violated the “testing the waters” rules in 1988, fining him $25,000.

The campaigns of some of Thompson’s potential GOP rivals have groused — off the record — that Thompson is similarly skirting the law.

As candidates go Thompson seems a bit of a duffer, but in typical GOP fashion he’s got to break a few laws even when he’s half-assing it.

BTW, did you know Rudy Giuliani spent more time in the mines than the miners? S’true.

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