The Hill News

Presidential hopeful Sen. John Thune (R) of South Dakota is trying to walk a fine line when it comes to his vote in favor of TARP â€" the Troubled Asset Relief Program â€" and his verbal gymnastics point to the fundamental flaw in Republican messaging on bailouts and deficit spending.

Thune defended his vote for TARP to C-SPAN. He claims he supported TARP because “when somebody comes to you and says, 'The economy is in a meltdown, the credit markets are frozen up,' these are all the experts on both sides of the aisle, Democrats and Republicans. That was a very compelling argument at the time, and there was a lot of fear that if we didn't take steps, it could have been disastrous for the country. And so in light of imminent financial meltdown, it was, I felt at the time, the right vote to make."

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