Ed Rollins: Huckabee Will Win Iowa
Political Players is a weekly conversation with the leaders, consultants, and activists who shape American politics. This week, CBS News' Brian Goldsmith talked with Ed Rollins, the former Reagan political director, who signed on last week as national chairman of the surging Mike Huckabee presidential campaign.
CBSNews.com: Let's start with the attacks on Governor Huckabee from a lot of Republican establishment figures lately. Rush Limbaugh has called him "the Huckster." Rich Lowry, the editor of the National Review, has said it would be suicide to nominate him. Why do you think he's provoking all of this criticism?
Ed Rollins: Well, I think first of all he is not an establishment candidate. I don't think anybody anticipated early on when he started to run that he would do as well as he's doing. Some of these guys have picked other candidates.
And I think, to a certain extent, the alleged wise men have sat around in either the studios, or the newsrooms, basically writing magazine articles. They didn't see it coming and I think they underestimated him.
CBSNews.com: Does he threaten them?
Ed Rollins: Well, I think he's not their candidate. You know some of them obviously are with McCain. Some of them are obviously with Romney. And I think at the end of the day Mike is a guy who basically was a very effective governor.
You can look at his record. It's a record of accomplishment. He didn't use the governor's office to just purely run for president. He wanted to fix mistakes and do things that are meaningful. And I think the thing they challenge him on is not really about his record.
CBSNews.com: But, as you know, Romney is running a number of attack ads in Iowa about your candidate's record. The latest is focused on crime-and Huckabee's pardons and commutations. And Huckabee's trying to turn that around by saying, the only reason Romney didn't issue any is that he's so political. Do you think the voters are going to buy that?
Ed Rollins: Well, I think to a certain extent the governor has had to explain what it is that he did. I mean, I think most people don't realize that everybody who's in prison in Arkansas has the option of appealing to the governor to get their sentence commuted or pardoned. It's an automatic state law, which it isn't in other places.
Most places the initiative comes from the governor or the president or what have you. But in Arkansas it's a state law that prisoners actually get to have that right. More than 8,000 applied to have their sentences commuted.
Mike read every single one. He made decisions on people that he thought had basically been rehabilitated. It wasn't like he opened up the prisons and sent everybody home. And I don't think anybody's ever said that.
No, it's about statistics. And there's a lot of statistics on Romney that we could fire back on, but we've chosen at this point in time not to do that. We certainly reserve that right.
CBSNews.com: What's your view of Romney's record?
Ed Rollins: The irony to me is that if Romney thought he was such a great governor, why he is not talking about being a governor? Why didn't he run for a second term? He was losing badly [in the polls] to a couple of Democrats.
He spent most of his last year out of state campaigning. He made it very clear in the New York Times, even before he'd ever been elected to an office, he wanted to run for president. And after having been defeated for Senate in 1994, I think he just basically was out looking for an office to get a hold of.
And the day he got inaugurated he started running for president. He's not the first man to ever do that, but I think Mike Huckabee tried to be a good governor and fix the problems of Arkansas.
CBSNews.com: And so what's your opinion of Romney not issuing any pardons or commutations?
Ed Rollins: My view is it was a political decision. I think Romney basically has changed his position on many, many things because he sees it as more politically doable. It's like you take a pollster and you sit down and say, "Tell me what the primary voters want." Not what I've done in the past. "Tell me what the primary voters want and that's what I'll do."
You know he shifts his positions on so many things. And to a certain extent, he's somewhat misleading. He said on Meet the Press last weekend he got the NRA endorsement when he ran [for governor]. It turns out he didn't. So there's just all kinds of little things that he spins.
And he's got a good campaign team. And obviously they thought they had this thing in the bag months ago. And they've spent an exorbitant sum of his own money, not money that he's raised. And I think he sees Mike as a very serious threat.
CBSNews.com: What's your reaction to the photo that came out this week of Mitt Romney at the Planned Parenthood fundraiser in 1994?
Ed Rollins: I mean all these guys have said, "Well, that's where I was then and that's why I'm in a different place today. And I made mistakes. I did this. I did that."
You know, at the end of the day, usually people develop their ideology before they get to be 60 years old. It's just all so political at this point in time.
CBSNews.com: But the Romney people would argue that Ronald Reagan, whom you served as political director and campaign manager, changed his positions.
Ed Rollins: Let me tell you the Ronald Reagan story. The Ronald Reagan story which they have used over and over again is totally untrue. First of all, Roe vs. Wade had not occurred yet [during his early years as governor]. Ronald Reagan was never pro-choice.
Ronald Reagan signed a law that allowed women who had had psychiatric damage and were suicidal to have an abortion. He thought it was about maybe 300 a year, which is what he was told. You know, it turned out to be a very significant abortion bill because a lot of women just went and got a sign off from a psychiatrist.
Ronald Reagan was opposed to that from day one. He was very upset about that. So I mean I find real fault with Romney basically saying, "Ronald Reagan did this. Ronald Reagan did that." I mean I remember him basically saying he wasn't for Ronald Reagan. He belittled Ronald Reagan in '94 when he ran against Kennedy.
Copyright 2009 CBS. All rights reserved. CBSNews.com: Let's start with the attacks on Governor Huckabee from a lot of Republican establishment figures lately. Rush Limbaugh has called him "the Huckster." Rich Lowry, the editor of the National Review, has said it would be suicide to nominate him. Why do you think he's provoking all of this criticism?
Ed Rollins: Well, I think first of all he is not an establishment candidate. I don't think anybody anticipated early on when he started to run that he would do as well as he's doing. Some of these guys have picked other candidates.
And I think, to a certain extent, the alleged wise men have sat around in either the studios, or the newsrooms, basically writing magazine articles. They didn't see it coming and I think they underestimated him.
CBSNews.com: Does he threaten them?
Ed Rollins: Well, I think he's not their candidate. You know some of them obviously are with McCain. Some of them are obviously with Romney. And I think at the end of the day Mike is a guy who basically was a very effective governor.
You can look at his record. It's a record of accomplishment. He didn't use the governor's office to just purely run for president. He wanted to fix mistakes and do things that are meaningful. And I think the thing they challenge him on is not really about his record.
CBSNews.com: But, as you know, Romney is running a number of attack ads in Iowa about your candidate's record. The latest is focused on crime-and Huckabee's pardons and commutations. And Huckabee's trying to turn that around by saying, the only reason Romney didn't issue any is that he's so political. Do you think the voters are going to buy that?
Ed Rollins: Well, I think to a certain extent the governor has had to explain what it is that he did. I mean, I think most people don't realize that everybody who's in prison in Arkansas has the option of appealing to the governor to get their sentence commuted or pardoned. It's an automatic state law, which it isn't in other places.
Most places the initiative comes from the governor or the president or what have you. But in Arkansas it's a state law that prisoners actually get to have that right. More than 8,000 applied to have their sentences commuted.
Mike read every single one. He made decisions on people that he thought had basically been rehabilitated. It wasn't like he opened up the prisons and sent everybody home. And I don't think anybody's ever said that.
No, it's about statistics. And there's a lot of statistics on Romney that we could fire back on, but we've chosen at this point in time not to do that. We certainly reserve that right.
CBSNews.com: What's your view of Romney's record?
Ed Rollins: The irony to me is that if Romney thought he was such a great governor, why he is not talking about being a governor? Why didn't he run for a second term? He was losing badly [in the polls] to a couple of Democrats.
He spent most of his last year out of state campaigning. He made it very clear in the New York Times, even before he'd ever been elected to an office, he wanted to run for president. And after having been defeated for Senate in 1994, I think he just basically was out looking for an office to get a hold of.
And the day he got inaugurated he started running for president. He's not the first man to ever do that, but I think Mike Huckabee tried to be a good governor and fix the problems of Arkansas.
CBSNews.com: And so what's your opinion of Romney not issuing any pardons or commutations?
Ed Rollins: My view is it was a political decision. I think Romney basically has changed his position on many, many things because he sees it as more politically doable. It's like you take a pollster and you sit down and say, "Tell me what the primary voters want." Not what I've done in the past. "Tell me what the primary voters want and that's what I'll do."
You know he shifts his positions on so many things. And to a certain extent, he's somewhat misleading. He said on Meet the Press last weekend he got the NRA endorsement when he ran [for governor]. It turns out he didn't. So there's just all kinds of little things that he spins.
And he's got a good campaign team. And obviously they thought they had this thing in the bag months ago. And they've spent an exorbitant sum of his own money, not money that he's raised. And I think he sees Mike as a very serious threat.
CBSNews.com: What's your reaction to the photo that came out this week of Mitt Romney at the Planned Parenthood fundraiser in 1994?
Ed Rollins: I mean all these guys have said, "Well, that's where I was then and that's why I'm in a different place today. And I made mistakes. I did this. I did that."
You know, at the end of the day, usually people develop their ideology before they get to be 60 years old. It's just all so political at this point in time.
CBSNews.com: But the Romney people would argue that Ronald Reagan, whom you served as political director and campaign manager, changed his positions.
Ed Rollins: Let me tell you the Ronald Reagan story. The Ronald Reagan story which they have used over and over again is totally untrue. First of all, Roe vs. Wade had not occurred yet [during his early years as governor]. Ronald Reagan was never pro-choice.
Ronald Reagan signed a law that allowed women who had had psychiatric damage and were suicidal to have an abortion. He thought it was about maybe 300 a year, which is what he was told. You know, it turned out to be a very significant abortion bill because a lot of women just went and got a sign off from a psychiatrist.
Ronald Reagan was opposed to that from day one. He was very upset about that. So I mean I find real fault with Romney basically saying, "Ronald Reagan did this. Ronald Reagan did that." I mean I remember him basically saying he wasn't for Ronald Reagan. He belittled Ronald Reagan in '94 when he ran against Kennedy.
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Most importantly, Huckabee is ONE with the FairTax grassroots movement ( http://*****.com/fthuckabeeonirs ). Romney''s recent WEAK response to FairTax questioning on %u201CThis Week with Geo. Stephanopoulos ( http://*******.com/stephanopoulosdebate )%u201D drew a sharp contrast between Huckabee and all other presidential front-runners who will not embrace it. Huckabee understands that what''''s wrong with the income tax can''''t be fixed with "a tap of the hammer, nor a twist of the screwdriver." That his opponents cling to the destructive Tax Code, the IRS, preserving political power of granting tax favors at continued cost to - and misery of - American families, invigorates his campaign''''s raison d''''etre. %u201CMain Street%u201D will have to demand ( http://*****.com/scrapthecode ) that their legislators deliver the bill to Huckabee, if elected.
I watched that ad 3 times & never saw anything other than a window pane (I thought it was a window - till the "cross" furor, then I looked at it closer & realized that what I thought were lights on the window are baubles on a shelf). This man has been open & honest about his faith despite the ridicule & abuse that is being heaped on him for it - why on earth would he start making subliminal messages now? What would be the point?
This whole thing is so incredibly absurd! What is so threatening about the cross anyway? And on what basis have you determined that the man is lying?
If Huckabee loses Iowa, it will be because our country has given over its heart to money & cynicism...
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Posted by fibonacci_ at 08:02 PM : Dec 22, 2007
Interesting who else will you prevent from having their constitutional rights. maybe anyone who is a muslim Or simply anyone you don''t like.
First, Rollins says, "I think the bottom line is that we think we''''re going to win Iowa." (Notice the word ''''think'''').
Second, the headline of this story reads, "Ed Rollins: Huckabee Will Win Iowa." (Notice the word ''''will'''').
Last, and of course the most egregious, DrudgeReport says, "Huckabee''''s National Chairman Guarantees IA Victory..." (Now the word ''''think'''' has become a ''''guarantee'''')
Let the spin continue.....
At this rate, we''ll need Bindi Irwin to pay our nominees a visit.
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1638065,00.html