A prominent Arizona Republican leader who considers Fred Thompson his second choice for President after favorite son John McCain told me he was worried about the Tennessean’s recent choice of former Sen. Spence Abraham (R.-Mich.) as chairman of his still-unannounced campaign.

“I am concerned because Spence was not on the same side of Arizona Republicans on border security and amnesty,” John Rutledge, First Vice Chairman of the Arizona Republican Party, told me this week. Rutledge, a strong conservative and close ally of State Chairman Randy Pullen and Republican National Committeeman Bruce Ash, cited Abraham’s record in the Senate (1994-2000) as a vigorous opponent of any measures that would limit immigration.

Rutledge is himself a former Michigan resident. He served as chairman of the Young Republicans of Michigan, a Sixth District Party Chairman, and was actually a backer of Abraham for his first party position as youth vice chairman of the state GOP in the early 1970’s.

“However, based on his record, Spence is dead wrong on border security—at least as far as Republicans in Arizona are concerned,” Rutledge said. He added that Thompson himself is “with us,” based on his hard-hitting radio commentaries against the comprehensive immigration package backed by the Administration and thwarted in the Senate. The Arizona vice-chairman also said he had been assured by a close friend of his and Thompson’s, former Tennessee Gov. Don Sunquist, “that Fred was right on border security.”

The choice of Abraham did send a confusing message to potential Thompson supporters who believe in tough border security and no amnesty, Rutledge said. In discussing his concerns about Abraham, Rutledge took pains to emphasize that Thompson was “my second choice for President, so long as John McCain is in the race.”

---By John Gizzi---