‘Top Line’ Candidate Corner: Tom Foley, R-Conn., for Senate

ABC News’ Rick Klein reports: After decades spent behind the scenes in politics, most notably as a top fund-raiser for President George W. Bush, former ambassador Tom Foley is making his first run for elected office since high school, in seeking the Republican nomination to take on Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn. In a crowded primary field that also includes former World Wrestling Entertainment CEO Linda McMahon, we asked Foley what he makes of the fact that one of his rivals, former Rep. Rob Simmons, R-Conn., boasts of carrying a teabag in his pocket, in homage to the “tea party movement.” “Well, Rob has a very liberal voting record that I think now that’s he’s expecting that there’s going to be a primary, he’s trying to wash his hands of a little bit. And the tea party people are people that he would probably want to try and appeal to. Don’t know whether or not it’s going to work,” Foley said. Before becoming ambassador to Ireland in 2006, Foley worked as director of private sector development for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq. “The CPA had a very difficult challenge,” he said. “But the CPA laid a lot of good ground work that’s being — the fruits of which are being realized now. I was in charge of basically the economic portfolio, we did a lot of thing then that now that the security problems are being relieved, that are taking hold and are helping the economy.” Foley said he’s not seeking the endorsement of the National Republican Senatorial Committee: “I think the party ought to stay out of primaries,” he said. But when it comes to one particular prominent Republican, his door is open. Asked about Sarah Palin, he said, “I’m going to be looking for all the help I can get. She’s quite an interesting lady and she’s served the Republican Party quite well. Connecticut isn’t Alaska, so some of the positions on the issues that appeal to voters and other things are certainly different.” He added: “Well, if she wants to come to Connecticut I’ll certainly — I’ll certainly welcome her, yes.” And he said he’s ruling out going the Joe Lieberman route — running as an independent candidate — if he loses the primary: “No, Republican or bust — I like that,” Foley said. “I’ve been a loyal Republican for three decades, and I worked for the party and helped get other candidates elected. So I’ll stick with it.” Watch the full interview with Tom Foley, which also touches on health care and Afghanistan, HERE. We also played a new piece of Sarah Palin’s interview with Barbara Walters, where Palin equates her talk of “death panels” with Ronald Reagan’s use of the term “evil empire” in the cold war. And we checked in with Ana Marie Cox of Air America, who said she came away from Palin’s book convinced that she’s not running for president in 2012: “She is not a serious person, she is not a serious candidate, she is not a serious politician,” Cox said. “I think that that was  a sexist thing for Newsweek to do to put that [picture] on the cover. But let’s be very clear: This is not a person who is going to run for office, who could successfully run for national office.” Watch the second half of “Top Line” HERE.