Huckabee Yanks Attack Ad At Last Minute

Republican Shows Anti-Romney Spot To Reporters Despite Claiming He'll Rely On Positive Politics

(CBS/AP)  Mike Huckabee said Monday he wouldn't run a TV ad he'd prepared blistering Republican rival Mitt Romney as dishonest. Then he showed it to a room packed with reporters and cameramen.

Huckabee, who has sharply intensified his criticism of the former Massachusetts governor in recent days, tried to reclaim the high road in the midst of a news conference three days before Iowa's presidential caucuses. He told reporters the event had been called to announce the hard-hitting new ad but he had changed his mind about running it on TV.

"We are now committed from now through the rest of the caucuses, that we will run only ads that talk about why I should be president, and not why Mitt Romney should not," he said. "The tipping point was this morning. I just realized that this is not how we run our campaign in this state. We have run it positive. We have gotten here by being positive."

Polls show the race very close between Huckabee and Romney in Iowa. The former Arkansas governor's double-digit lead has evaporated amid a series of Romney ads assailing Huckabee.

Huckabee had long pledged to run a positive campaign and for months had resisted criticizing his rivals directly although he did take unnamed shots at them daily. But as polls narrowed and Romney continued to go after him, Huckabee shifted course over the weekend, calling Romney "desperate and dishonest."

The expectation, fueled by Huckabee himself and his aides, was that he would run ads against Romney in the final days of the campaign. He and his aides hinted a direct response to Romney might be forthcoming, filmed such an ad and called an elaborately staged news conference to announce it.

Then he reversed course.

There was a risk that Huckabee himself would be hurt if he went negative in a TV ad, particularly after spending months branding himself as the upbeat candidate who shunned such politics. Monday's events resulted in him denouncing negativism, though the negative ad got wide coverage.

The 30-second spot accused Romney of "dishonest attacks" on him and on GOP contender John McCain - and then criticized Romney on taxes, spending, guns, health care and abortion. "If a man's dishonest to obtain a job, he'll be dishonest on the job. Iowans deserve better," Huckabee said in the ad.

Romney's campaign suggested Huckabee's turnabout - and what it termed his "rather odd press conference" - was a sign of a campaign in free-fall.

Said Romney spokesman Kevin Madden: "To say one thing one minute and then turn around and show an attack ad to reporters the next will, obviously, leave folks with a very cynical view of Mike Huckabee and his message. Mike Huckabee has turned from nice to very hot-tempered now that his record has been examined by voters."

Romney later told CBS News, "The press conference which Gov. Huckabee had today, I think it's confusing to the people of Iowa."

In Des Moines, more than 50 reporters and a dozen cameras were packed into a conference room at a downtown hotel. A backdrop behind a podium on a platform repeated the phrase "Enough is Enough." Placards on either side of Huckabee - five in all - included conflicting quotes from Romney on issues including taxes, abortion, immigration, judicial nominations and guns.

Huckabee arrived and stepped to the podium. His wife, Janet, stood off to the side. A throng of Huckabee's senior aides were nearby.

He denounced the "very negative and nasty tone that the campaign has taken" and said he had mistakenly come to the conclusion that the only thing to do "was to respond with a counter-punch." He said the ad was supposed to start running Monday but just an hour before the news conference, he had ordered his staff to stop it.

"I just feel like we ought to change the tone of the debate, and I'm going to start with me," Huckabee said.

Nevertheless, he showed the ad to the media - after audio problems caused a several-minute delay.

At the press conference, Huckabee told CBS News correspondent Nancy Cordes that he would have faced questions no matter what he did with the ad.

"By the same token, if I came and said we were going to run an ad but we're not going to run an ad, you'd say 'Where's the ad?'" Huckabee said.

Even though the candidate denounced negative advertising at the press conference, he said he would not rule out running such spots in the future, and wanted to see how Iowans responded to his pledge to stay positive.

[alanrobisch]

Sound Legislation of the 1st 6years or the last 1year of Dumbya ??? Divisive with the dems ??? Have you even been around the last few years at all ?


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Posted by parrot2 at 12:58 PM : Jan 02, 2008
+ report abuse
he passed the no child left behind bill. He for the first time passed a bill that helped people on medicare pay for their prescription drugs and he lowered taxes resulting in a continued expansion of the economy when the dot com bubble burst.

[liberalme]

It''''s pathetic how well the media plays you guys. You believe exactly what they plant in your heads. If the media hadn''''t aired the fact he had the ad, you''''d never known about it. Matter of fact, its the news agencies that first suggested he appeared to be looking to run a free campaign smear ad by showing it to the press.

Posted by Hwy71So
Say what?

Sorry, but ole Huckster played the media like a violin--they did exactly what he intended---they showed the ad!
He said he wasnn''t going to show the ad and he and the media did!! FOR FREE!!! lol What''s not to believe??
Another politician that "preaches" one thing and does another!

[hwy71so]

Oh yeah:

Good morning and Happy New Year.

[hwy71so]

It''s pathetic how well the media plays you guys. You believe exactly what they plant in your heads. If the media hadn''t aired the fact he had the ad, you''d never known about it. Matter of fact, its the news agencies that first suggested he appeared to be looking to run a free campaign smear ad by showing it to the press.

The media is playing America for all she''s worth. I''m fairly convinced Clinton will win the White House (to our demise and disdain) just as the media wants. You think Bush has lead poorly? Wait till she takes the seat.

I personally think Bush has made a great effort in the executive seat. However, the political agenda of congress has been so devisive with the Dems trying to prove THEY are in charge instead of working on sound legislation. I imagine I''d do a bit of vetoing myself in the exec chair.

[jsilver2th]

Poor Huckabee- I think he peaked about a week early and didn''t know how to handle it- this commercial facade lacks sincerity and bringing in Rollins like it was a big power play- it all kind of works to deuse the image people liked

[apolloknowsa]

Huck stuck to his principles? Which ones are those?
The principles that let him bypass the law and release 12 murderers because he felt like it? Or the other 1,021 convicted criminals for whatever reason he conjured up?

Or his principle of taking what amounts to bribes (yes, taking a gift while as an elected official even barbecues, eye exams, and $70,000 worth of furniture in exchange for positions on statewide boards is bribery.)?

For that he is on judicialwatch.org ''s top ten most corrupt politicians list. Way to go, preacher boy!

Or is it his bigoted principles where his camp continuously fired off anti-Catholic commentary during the straw poll. with his recent sectarian violence against two other sects, the only question is which flavor of Christianity will he attack in the Spring?

Huck fought for sales tax on food. Nothing is more regressive than that.

Huck fought to give scholarships to adult illegal aliens (which would take scholarship money away from Arkansas citizens, unless he wanted to pay for them with increased sales tax on food).

He increased the tax burden on every resident by an average of 60%. More than Bill Clinton could have ever dreamed of doing.

[apolloknowsa]

If you want a big-government, tax and spend liberal who goes to your church, Huck is your man. But, then again, you would have voted for Jimmy Carter instead of Ronald Reagan in 1980.

Jimmy was a good Southern Baptist Sunday school teacher. Reagan was a divorcee who had signed into law a bill that created abortion in the State of California.

Would you vote for Jimmy Carter today? Yet you are thinking about voting for Jimmy Huckabee, who is the same thing.

Don''t be fooled by the aw shucks exterior of this snake oil televangelist. He will take the widow''s mite and demand more!

[dfazio22]

I will vote for Gov. Romney there have been times that he has spoke ok for Amnesty for Illegals but now he says he is against i will give him benifit now that he is against I do know that Gov. Huckabee was for the Illegals while he was Gov of Arkansas and was for Kids that were here that were of Illegal Parents so i will vote for him only if he is the last Republican left running against a Demicrat which none of them are fitting to be President. The Mayor and McCain i would hate to see win the Republican Nom. but i would vote for them before i would a Democrat. I would just close my eyes when i vote and pull the leaver for One of them.

[liberalme]

What a typical play for an underhanded repug--actually a Bible thumping underhanded sneaky ploy! A true Christian!

Huckster, you are living up to the beliefs of many that the Christian born agains are the truest of hypocrites.

When someone tells me they are a Christian "born again" I expect them to walk on water--they want us to think they are that much better than the "rest of us". UGH

[bdrlnt4rl]

Huckabee''s unfortuneate colors have been showing for some time now and even more so as the polls tighten. He has proven himself to be a very sly polititian. During his interview at the cafe during the ballot bowl o8 issue, he made a very subtle comment. He said "let me order everybody a glass of tea to show that it is healthy." This is once again a subtle attack on Mitts religion. He knows that Mitt does not believe in drinking tea. Huckabee knows what he is doing. He seems to be falling into the old clitche of " a wolf in sheeps clothing" and appears to be expressing his skill at deception by being as sly as the devil. And he will mislead many people and the cost to the American people will be great if he is elected president. I hope that the American people will continue to decern the deep realization of huckabee''s true character as I beleive many are beginning to do.

[harvey1948]

Nice show Huckster, but I don''t buy it. Wow he got to show his ad that he had pulled, it didn''t cost him a penny, and more voters got to see it than if it had been presented in a political commercial. He actually wants to come across as a guy that wears a white hat, but shows the commercial anyway.

[ncgmcpherson]

Simply amazing. Jobs outsourced overseas, military outsourced to mercenary groups, a HUGE federal deficit, Schools failing, the middle class disappearing, our soldiers dying, and the best the press can do is this?

It would be nice if the press would report on where the candidates stand on the issues instead of this garbage. I couldn''t care less about negative adds. I do care how these candidates will deal with Pakistan''s latest crises and how they plan to bring back jobs and get us off of oil.

[jumpyg1258]

Oh please, he didnt yank anything. This was nothing more than a publicity stunt. He is probably getting more views of the ad by doing this than he would have if he ran it like a normal ad which is why he did this. He''s nothing more than a typical politician which is why I am not voting for this guy.

[heartlandjim]

Mike Huckabee did the right thing. Once again Mike did the unconventional and even though he was tempted, he stuck to his principals. Today''s polls show Mike up by 6 points over Romney. That''s really good news! Keep that message positive, Mike. We do like your refreshing new ideas and that''s why we''re going to vote for you!

[mcvet]

Same old Fascist Party.... same old trash!

[brianbwb-2009]

Posted by erichsh

One would think that someone should support a policy position because one thinks it is the correct one to support, not simply because it is considered to be "right" or "left", so if that is your main criterion for whether or not you support a policy, that is already ignorant enough, but then to have even that baseless decision reversed because someone on a blog thread wrote something you don''t like suggests that you may not even be capable of making an informed voting decision...

[apolloknowsa]

The big difference between Huck''s actually, truly negative ad and Mitt''s issue ad is that Huck actually attacks Mitt''s character.
Mitt doesn''t say anything about the man, Mr. Huckabee, merely talks about his record.

One ad (huck''s) is negative. It is truly an attack ad.

Mitt''s is an issue ad, no attacks. There is a big difference!

[apolloknowsa]

Is he running for president or trying to sell light beer?

This stunt isn''t ''smart'' it is insulting to the office of the president.

He can not stand up for his own (horrible) positions regarding pardons and his pathetic position on illegal aliens, so he resorts to cheap theatrics.

Fortunately, Iowa voters are smarter than this. He has been running a negative whisper campaign for months. (not so silent considering his bigoted, idiotic comments to the New York Times).

This proves that all of his off-the-cuff comments are actually calculated. I don''t like being manipulated.

Huck is not presidential. Don''t waste your caucus vote on the huckster.

[apolloknowsa]

Is Huckabee really serious about the presidency? He acts like this is just a game.

Not only did he apologize for the assassination (what was that about?) and not know that martial law had been lifter weeks earlier, demonstrating that he is not ready to be the commander in chief, he now pulls a political stunt more akin to Howard Stern.

The man would make a great court jester, but not a President of the United States

[erichsh]

Whenever I might be inclined to support a liberal policy position on a particular issue, I come back to these pages and am invariably put off by the complete arrogance, intolerance, and downright nastiness of the left-wing crowd. Characters like cs4466 (who refers to over 1/2 of the voters as "stupid" because they have a different political POV than his, or SIValleyGuy (who berates the press because they don''t toe his far-left POV line), add absolutely nothing to intelligent political discourse. Indeed, they serve no other purpose than to further polarize an already divided nation. Way to go.