Fred to Newt: STFU

I'm impressed with the way Fred Thompson's getting organized for the 2012 primaries. He's definitely on the right track with his dissing of Newt Gingrich's RINO defense campaign. From the Politico, "Fred to Newt: We're Not 'Deaf, Dumb'" (via Memeorandum):

Former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson brushed back former House Speaker Newt Gingrich on Tuesday over Gingrich’s warning that the Republican Party is wrong to thrown in its lot with the Conservative Party nominee Doug Hoffman over Dede Scozzafava, the GOP’s candidate, in the special election in New York’s 23rd congressional district.

Gingrich has called the many prominent national Republicans – including Thompson – who have endorsed Hoffman over Scozzafava in recent days “misguided,” arguing they are making a “mistake” to back a third-party candidate over the party’s nominee.

The conservatives who back Hoffman point to Scozzafava’s support for abortion right and ties to local union leaders ....

Thompson, a 2008 GOP presidential candidate ... asked of Gingrich: “Who’s applying the litmus test here?”

“Are we saying that as Americans you’ve got to have an ‘R’ by your name before you vote for them? Where do you draw the line?” he continued. “If somebody with a record like this gets our seal of approval, regardless, only because she’s got an ‘R’ by the name… You know, just because we’re Republicans doesn’t mean that we’re deaf, dumb, and blind.”