SURFSIDE BEACH, S.C. — Republican presidential candidate Fred Thompson today lashed out at fellow Republican contender Mike Huckabee for waking him up. “What Mike did today is not appropriate behavior from a presidential candidate,” said Thompson from his resting place near this beach front town in South Carolina.

Huckabee happened to be swinging by the same area in this primary state when he noticed Thompson asleep on the beach at Huntington State Beach Park. Reporters at the scene say that Huckabee then tried to wake Thompson several times but was unable to, even after shaking him violently.

Fearing Thompson was dead, Huckabee called 911 from his cell phone and ambulances raced to the scene. Thompson finally awoke after receiving defibrillator treatments from paramedics. However, it turned out nothing at all was wrong with Thompson. “I’m just a deep sleeper,” he told a hushed news conference after the incident.

“This is about the heart and soul of the Republican Party and where the Republican Party is going to go over the next several years,” Thompson said later during a meeting attended by more than 100 people and also broadcast on AM radio. “You can’t have Reaganism if you’re not committed to sleep. And you can’t have sleep if you have crazy Christians running around waking everyone up.”

Huckabee’s campaign dismissed the attacks as issued by a candidate who is generally unaware of his surroundings. “It’s my feeling that Fred needed to have a few hours of wake time this week, and I gave it to him. That’s the kind of leadership America expects from its President.”

Thompson, a former Tennessee senator and actor, is struggling to stay viable in the GOP contest and has declared that South Carolina is his “line in the sand.” He even drew a line through the sand on a beach at Huntington, and has slept there ever since. An early favorite when he entered the race, Thompson has since been overshadowed by Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor with wide appeal to Christian conservatives here, and John McCain, the Arizona senator who got a boost with his New Hampshire victory this week.

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