Huckabee Continues Hitting Back

By: Joy Lin
Topics: Mike Huckabee

(CBS)

From CBS News' Joy Lin:

OSCEOLA, IOWA -– Gesturing to a wild turkey that had been taxidermied, Mike Huckabee joked, "I thought that was one of my opponents." He paused during the laughter, "That'll make the blogs."

Huckabee continued his quest to set his record straight today, shifting to a strategy of calling out Mitt Romney, by name, for misrepresentation as well as going too far in putting up attack ads against John McCain, who Huckabee called a "rival" but a "honest, decent…American hero."

"It's like Mitt doesn't have anything to stand on, except to stand against," said Huckabee.

"And I'm saying enough is enough. Ladies and gentlemen, what I'm going to say to you today is, if a person is dishonest in his approach to get the job, do you believe he will be honest in telling you the truth when he does get the job?"

Huckabee defended his record against the "relentless attack ads…some of them from Mitt Romney, the others from a Washington special interest group, hundreds of thousands of dollars flowing, a lot of them from Mitt Romney's big supporters and that they in turn used against me" -- making a tie between the Club for Growth and Romney's donors.

Huckabee didn't just attempt to set his own record straight, he tried to set his opponent's record as well.

"You're not going to find moments on YouTube with me saying something different about the sanctity of human life today than I said ten years ago, ten minutes ago, or fifty years ago. You're not going to find something on YouTube where I said something completely different about gun ownership and the second amendment than I did last week, last year, ten years ago. You're not going to hear me making up stuff about my biography. I won't go around saying I'm a lifelong golfer cause I once rode in a golf cart when I was eight years old. You're not going to hear me talk about…how I once was a person who was on the other side of the issue when it came to the Reagan, Bush legacy, and didn't believe in it, was an independent, and now 'I love Ronald Reagan."

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by tinacbs December 29, 2007 11:19 PM EST: Billy2227: You want an example of Romney''s lies in his ads against Huckabee? How about his use of the Condeleeza Rice quote? Romney says Rice called Huckabee''s foreign policies "ludicrous." Have you been listening to the news lately? If so, you''ll know that her comment was not a statement about Huckabee''s foreign policies. How the Romney folks thought they could get away with a total twisting of the truth is beyond me. Sure, there are people who won''t know the context of Rice''s statement, but surely the Romney folks knew that some of us would. Did he think then that he could just get away with it? Probably. And that is stunningly dishonest.; Reply to this comment


by tbholsinger December 29, 2007 11:10 PM EST: There is a reason that the most respected conservative editors endorsed Mitt Romney. It isn''''t a personality contest folks -- it''''s a contest about which of our candidates stands the best chance at defeating Hillary/Bill Clinton!!!

National Review: "If Mike Huckabee becomes the Republican nominee he would pull apart the conservative coalition by alienating the economic (and foreign-policy) conservatives."

"Like any Republican, he would have an uphill climb next fall. But he would be able to offer a persuasive outsider%u2019s critique of Washington. His conservative accomplishments as governor showed that he can work with, and resist, a Demo-crat-ic legislature. He can also speak with more authority on health care than any of the other Republican candidates. He would also have credibility on the economy, given his success as a businessman and a manager of the Olympics."; Reply to this comment


by billy2227 December 29, 2007 10:02 PM EST: dshoup3, you speak of Romney''s lies. If your speaking of his commercials on Huckabee, then maybe you should state one lie that he mentioned. These are contrast ads, not personal attack ads such as Huckabees and Mccains.; Reply to this comment


by billy2227 December 29, 2007 9:38 PM EST: dshoup3, you speak of Romney''s lies. If your speaking of his commercials on Huckabee, then maybe you should state one lie that he mentioned. These are contrast ads, not personal attack ads such as Huckabees and Mccains.; Reply to this comment


by rgeorgedunn December 29, 2007 8:10 PM EST: Governor Huckabee was talking about the turkey Romney and I got confused for a moment. I began thinking he was talking about Slick Willie Clinton. Why would anyone vote for Romney? Who can trust a thing he says? Romney''s past will tell you he is very liberal in his approach to everything. Romney''s past on the 2nd amendment surely should tell you what the Mitt thinks of our Constitution, not much. You want more of the same we have in Washington, you vote for anyone but Mike. Governor Huckabee is the true Statesman who was the same yesterday and will be the same tomorrow, the most honest a truthful conservative candidate to come along in a long time.; Reply to this comment


by Ruidu December 29, 2007 5:05 PM EST: Concerning Mitt Romney''s lies against Mike Huckabee, Arkansas has an old saying. %u201CIts your lie so you can tell it anyway you need too!%u201D; Reply to this comment