Fred Thompson, in his first Sunday show appearance since becoming a presidential candidate, fended off Meet The Press host Tim Russert's grilling today in a more than forty minute interview that has harmed other candidates' chances. Thompson defended his record on abortion rights and gay rights while delving into the developing crisis in Pakistan and ongoing situations with Iraq and Iran.

In short, while Thompson has failed to impress in previous speeches before important Republican constituencies, his performance this morning must have done a lot to assuage some nervous supporters.

But the impressive appearance came as the Washington Post reported a story, on the paper's front page, that top Thompson supporter Philip Martin, one of Thompson's campaign co-chairmen, has a past that includes drug and conspiracy convictions. Thompson, asked about the story by Russert, refused to throw his friend "under the bus," though he did not commit to keeping Martin on board with the campaign.

Thompson's campaign has saved more than $120,000, the Post writes, by using Martin's Cessna airplane to transport the candidate between events. The campaign only had to reimburse Martin for the cost of a commercial airline ticket rather than for the full costs of the private flight, which are much higher. Congress changed the rule in September to require the fuller reimbursement.

Thompson is not the only candidate to use a supporter's airplane, the paper reports, citing Rudy Giuliani and John Edwards as other examples. Nor is he the only candidate to grant access to a supporter with a criminal past, after Hillary Clinton's campaign had to return hundreds of thousands of dollars from indicted donor Norman Hsu.

Still, the timing is not what Thompson's camp would have hoped for. An appearance on a Sunday talk show that beat expectations was nonetheless overshadowed by a bad story. Little more than an hour after the appearance ended in the Washington media market, CNN and The Page both led with Martin, not the rest of Thompson's appearance.