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Thompson skips Michigan primary day, continues focus on SC

By Meg Kinnard / Associated Press

SPARTANBURG, S.C. -- Republican White House hopeful Fred Thompson on Tuesday skipped traveling to another primary state to keep his focus on South Carolina, where he told a crowd that picking the right judges is one of the most important duties of a president.

"I look for a person who will follow the laws and the Constitution instead of making it up when they wake up in the morning," Thompson told more than 100 people at a restaurant in this early voting state that will hold the first GOP contest in the South on Saturday.

"I think it's the second most important thing that a president does besides national security because more and more we're straying away from the original intent of our founders and federal judges are making social policy. It wasn't intended to be that way," Thompson said.

The former Tennessee senator has said South Carolina's GOP primary is key to his presidential campaign. As he did with New Hampshire, Thompson was here rather than spending Tuesday in Michigan, which was holding its primary contest.

Thompson wouldn't say who he wanted to win Michigan.

"It'd be best if I finished first, but since I'm not competing there, I don't know past that," Thompson said. "For me, it's about South Carolina. ... They're up there fighting the blizzards in Michigan, and I'm down here in South Carolina. Now who's most qualified to be president, with judgment like that?"

Thompson on Tuesday continued his veiled criticism of rival Mike Huckabee without mentioning the former Arkansas governor by name. During a debate last week, he said Huckabee was liberal and would take the country away from the direction favored by President Ronald Reagan.

"If you say the Reagan Coalition is dead is kinda like saying the Constitution is dead," Thompson said Tuesday.

Huckabee has noted Thompson did not support Reagan in bids for the White House and his campaign has said the criticism is an attempt by a flagging campaign to get traction.

Thompson also took on criticism that he has been a reluctant candidate who entered the race too late to be effective.

"I'm a kind of laid-back guy anyway," he said. "I will not ever try to be somebody I'm not. ... and I make no apology for it. And it's served me pretty well."

In York, a city near the North Carolina state line, Mayor Eddie Lee praised Thompson's conservative credentials and read a proclamation saying that Tuesday was "Sen. Fred Dalton Thompson Day."

"You compliment me and you honor me by doing this. I'm trying to make next Saturday 'Fred Thompson Day' in South Carolina," Thompson said.

The former senator ended Tuesday at a barbecue restaurant in Columbia, answering questions from a crowd of about 300. He told one person he wanted to increase the child tax credit and said the government needs to be careful in the kind of help it gives during economic downturns.

He also took a swipe at Democrats when he was asked his plan for health care. "You can put lipstick on a pig, but it's still a pig," Thompson said. "These health care plans that they're pushing, they're pigs."