The battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party

FRED THOMPSON, JANUARY 10, 2008 REPUBLICAN DEBATE, MYRTLE BEACH, SC: "This is a battle for the heart and soul of the Republican Party and its future.

"On the one hand, you have the Reagan revolution. You have the Reagan coalition of limited government and strong national security. On the other hand, you have the direction that Governor Huckabee would take us in. He would be a Christian leader, but he would also bring about liberal economic policies, liberal foreign policies. He believes we have an arrogant foreign policy and the tradition of 'blame America first.' He believes that Guantanamo should be closed down and those enemy combatants brought here to the United States to find their way into the court system eventually. He believes in taxpayer-funded programs for illegals, as he did in Arkansas.

"He has the endorsement of the National Education Association, and the NEA says it was because of his opposition to vouchers. He said that he would sign a bill to ban smoking nationwide.

"So much for federalism. So much for states' rights. So much for individual rights. That’s not the model of the Reagan coalition, that’s the model of the Democratic Party."