FRED THOMPSON GOES AFTER RUDY ON GUN CONTROL. This is strong ground for Fred.

UPDATE: A weak ad hominem response from the Rudy camp. This round goes to Fred.

ANOTHER UPDATE: Reader Curtis Overbo emails:

I appreciated the post regarding Fred Thompson’s statement about Rudy on Gun Control. I also agree that the response from Rudy’s team is basically useless as something those guarding 2nd Amendment rights, for example, might take comfort with. It’s “little things” like this that can cost Rudy so very much among the voters who maybe want to believe his heart & policies are good, while already having disagreed with some or many of them. Fred makes it even clearer to them, me included, that it’s a “leap of faith” to go with Rudy if the end point of Fred’s statement isn’t actually addressed — that point is Federalism.

Rudy can side-step the discussion, but he knows his own record offers very little to address Fred’s observations, which resound with many.

Rudy was quick to invoke federalism on abortion, but he’s missed the point here. And this issue will hurt him if he makes more responses as weak as this one.