Huckabee Pays Price For Yanking Attack Ad

Politico: Republican's Decision To Pull Anti-Romney Ad Could Hurt Cash-Strapped Campaign

(The Politico)  This story was written by Jonathan Martin.

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Mike Huckabee’s last-minute decision to pull the plug on an attack ad against Mitt Romney has been the talk of Iowa in recent days.

But it turns out there is more to the story than Huckabee explained at his now-famous, had-to-see-it-to-believe it news conference Monday. Politico has learned that his campaign burned about $150,000 in scarce campaign cash on TV footage, radio spots and mail pieces that his strategists wanted to use -before the candidate decided he didn’t.

This figure is considerably larger than the $30,000 cost of the single ad Huckabee cited at the news conference, where he drew mocking laughter from reporters by righteously announcing that he had decided to “do the right thing” by staying positive - even while playing the negative spot for the assembled group.

Interviews with Republican sources portrays a chaotic decision-making process inside the Huckabee campaign. Campaign aides urgently wanted to strike back at Romney and the candidate tentatively agreed. Minutes before facing the press, however, Huckabee stunned his own team by telling them he had changed his mind.

The former Arkansas governor’s pang of conscience came at a hefty cost.

Besides the commercial that Huckabee shared with reporters, there was an arsenal of additional paid media at the ready. There was more expensively produced TV footage filmed in anticipation of subsequent ads, a tough 60-second radio commercial ready to go and thousands of pamphlets hammering Romney on abortion just moments from being dropped.

“We had that teed up and ready to pull,” campaign manager Chip Saltsman said in an interview Tuesday, describing what was originally planned as a multipronged attack. “The mail was actually in the truck headed to the post office.”

Campaign Chairman Ed Rollins was philosophical about the about-face.

“You got to do what the candidate wants to do, what he’s comfortable with,” the veteran GOP consultant responded, when asked why an underfunded campaign would burn through so much money on material that won’t see daylight. “Once he said, ‘I’m not comfortable with this, this is not the way I want it,’ there was no discussion. It was his decision and I respect it.”

“The radio was even tougher [than the previewed TV ad] and the mail was tough,” Rollins added. The mailer went after Romney for his changed views on abortion, Rollins said, and the radio ad “was 60 seconds of what the TV was.”

Despite a spike in fundraising in recent weeks courtesy of his surge in the polls, Huckabee is still running a bare-bones campaign with little of the organization and infrastructure that top candidates in both parties enjoy. He will report ending the quarter with about $2 million in the bank, so the loss is not insignificant.

“The governor made the decision to pull back everything we had - probably cost the campaign $150,000,” Saltsman said flatly. “But I think that pales in comparison to what the governor did, which was to say ‘no negatives.’ I think that’s historical.”

Both Saltsman and Rollins, while sounding stoical about the wasted cash, sought to highlight the positive reaction from his candidate’s decision.

We’ve got a lot of people at events [Tuesday] that are coming up to him and saying, ‘Thank you for doing this,’” Saltsman said after a day spent flying between campaign stops in the western and eastern part of the state. And, he said, scores of Iowans have e-mailed campaign aides and state Chairman Bob Vander Plaats to praise Huckabee for his decision.

“At the end of the day, it’s a one-day blip, plus or minus,” Rollins argued. “It has not affected our organization. Our people are very happy that he made that choice.”

Speaking from the second floor of the campaign’s downtown headquarters, where phone bankers were squeezed all around, Rollins said, “everybody is coming in here and saying, ‘Thank you, governor, for not being negative.’”

Still, Rollins, in an earlier chat with a group of reporters camped outside a Huckabee event Tuesday night at the Marriott hotel here, confessed: “Would we have rather have not had yesterday? You betcha.”

And Rollins twice declined to say whether he agreed with his candidate’s decision.

If a campaign “gets in front of a candidate where a candidate is not comfortable with the strategy, they’re not going to do well,” Rollins said. “This is a guy who has his own message, doesn’t have speech writers, he writes his own scripts. He knows who he is. And it’s got him here.”

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On the skywalk above the frigid Des Moines streets, Rollins made clear that while he didn’t enjoy the skeptical national coverage the press conference drew, he didn’t think it was having much local impact.

“The only downside is if it affected poll numbers, and nothing’s affected poll numbers,” he said. “So do I care that you guys are out there saying sh---y things about me? Absolutely not. Do I care about something that affects my candidate? Yeah.”

But it’s hard to gauge the impact of Huckabee’s decision to pull the ad and the largely derisive coverage of the Monday news conference. Many Iowans didn’t learn of the decision until reading their morning newspapers Tuesday, so polling would not be indicative.

One thing for certain, however, is that the loss of precious resources won’t help a campaign that, unlike GOP rival Mitt Romney, can’t tap into the candidate’s own bank account.

Although a similar amount could easily be raised and surpassed should Huckabee win here Thursday, the depletion could adversely affect him should he come in second and seek to mount an aggressive campaign in New Hampshire and beyond.

[apolloknowsa]

Huck just jumped the shark

Pulling this type of stunt proves that all of his other ''accidental'' side comments that he later claims that he didn''t mean (including all of the anti-Catholic and anti-Mormon and anti-any other sect but mine comments) were truly just ''my opponent no longer beats his wife'' statements.

He knew what he was doing and even though he claims to have taken the moral high ground, he is on judicial watch''s top ten most corrupt politicians list for a reason.

This is so like OJ Simpson''s book "if I did it" where he denies the killings, but then describes how he would have done it if he had. Huck says I will not attack Mitt personally, but if I would, this is what I would say: and then proceeds to personally attack him. Yes, there are some policy issues at the beginning, but the ad ends with the Huckster on camera, personally attacking Mitt--not policy--ad hominen attack, just like he said that he would not do.

Huck can not handle the scrutiny of his liberal record of pardons for convicted murderers and the taking of "gifts" in exchange for positions on state committees.

Huck is not presidential, pure and simple.
Huck is not qualified to be the CEO of the USA. He could not even graduate from seminary (although he led us all to believe that he had!)

Huck is a very funny guy and belongs on the comedy circuit and would make a great court jester, but never commander-in-chief.

[heartlandjim]

I respect Mike Huckabee for pulling the add. He did the right thing.

[newideas1]

Huckabee is a man of principle, and it will do a lot to renew my faith in voters when they turn out to support him in Iowa.

[im4honesty]

This guy is as phony as ''W''

He made sure the ad is all over utube and is getting a lot of TV coverage.

What a lying piece of ship this guy is!

[liberalme]

Sorry, but ole Huckster played the media like a violin--they did exactly what he intended---they showed the ad!
He said he wasn''''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!
The candidate will what the candidate is comfortable with, and the voter will do what the voter has to do!

[igniacad]

It is disappointing that so many have fallen for the Huckabee definiton of %u201Cnegative%u201D campaigning. The traditional definition of negative campaigning is personal attacks on one%u2019s character or false or misleading statements about the person or his beliefs. Neither of these apply to Mitt Romney%u2019s campaign ads which are better defined as contrast or issue-based ads. One must either question Mike Huckabee%u2019s campaign staff and their competency or the honesty and intergrity of Mike Huckabee himself. Unfortunately, as a one-time supporter of Mike Huckabee, I am beginning to conclude the latter.

[fornicario]

What principle? He''s got the free coverage, and he gets to pull a "I didn''t show it, the media did" while expecting the rest of us to suspend reason and not notice that the media would not have seen the ad if Huckabee didn''t show it to them! This is the same kind of stupid games that are played by people who want the results, they just don''t have the guts to sling the cr@p themselves.

[limbsy]

WOW, folks the media is completely ridiculous. First of all, things like ads, endorsements, what the media says, really don''t matter as much as the media makes it so. The people know politics has issues, the people aren''t stupid and blind (although some actually are), and get this: HE WOULD HAVE PAID A PRICE IF HE RELEASED THE AD AS WELL. So what the heck is the point here!? He said he wanted to run a positive campaign, so if he released the ad, he would have paid a price. YOU CAN''T PLEASE THE MEDIA. HUCK 08!!

[marcodele]

If Mike Huckabee was a man of principle, he wouldn''t have pulled a media stunt by calling the media and showing a negative attack ad that he was removing from the media. Very slick and nasty, this one.

If Mike Huckabee was a good Christian, he wouldn''t have to tell you what a good Christian he is.

The neocons are drooling over this incompetent fop because they know that "Guns and Jesus" are a political win win.

What a sad era we are entering when religious fundamentalists determine our leaders, just like in Iraq, Iran, Afganistan, Pakistan, and the rest of the blood soaked religious fundamentalist world.

[rowdytexan2]

Huckabee''s decision to pull the negative campaign ads may speak well for his character and conscience. However, it does not speak well for his judgement. If he was uncomfortable with it, he should''ve spoke up right at the inset and said, "That''s not what I''m about!" This alone disqualifies him. But also in addition to his proclaiming to be a Christian and not raising a hue and cry about the corruption and lies of the Neocon republican party, he was not even eligible for my vote from the beginning!

Neither Huckabee, nor Romney have the GUTS to stand up for their convictions! Either that, or they don''t have any!

[fornicario]

How did he pull the ad? I can watch it on Youtube all I want. If he did not want the ad released, as he keeps professing, why did he allow the media to see it? It would have never seen the light of day if he had truly embraced what he said, and not showed it to the ever watchful eyes of the media.

[liberalme]

WOW, folks the media is completely ridiculous. First of all, things like ads, endorsements, what the media says, really don''''t matter as much as the media makes it so. The people know politics has issues, the people aren''''t stupid and blind (although some actually are), and get this: HE WOULD HAVE PAID A PRICE IF HE RELEASED THE AD AS WELL. So what the heck is the point here!? He said he wanted to run a positive campaign, so if he released the ad, he would have paid a price. YOU CAN''''T PLEASE THE MEDIA. HUCK 08!!


Posted by LiMBsY at 02:02 PM : Jan 02, 2008

Huckabee USED the media to expose the ad!! What don''t you get about that????

He has no principles, no conscience no integrity and at the same time, calls himself a precher--well I''m glad he''s not my preacher and certainly don''t want his deceit running this country---once is enough thank you!!

[hwy71so]

Huckabee told the (Fox) reporter that he didn''t distribute any of the DVDs with the ad on it. According to him, someone must have copied it there in the press room. Easy enough to do I suppose.

Duncan Hunter ''08.

[beckajw]

"How did he pull the ad? I can watch it on Youtube all I want."

You can watch anything on youtube. No one can pull stuff from youtube. Once it is there, it is there, unless the youtube site actually wants to remove it.

[liberalme]

Huckabee told the (Fox) reporter that he didn''''t distribute any of the DVDs with the ad on it. According to him, someone must have copied it there in the press room. Easy enough to do I suppose.

Duncan Hunter ''''08.
Posted by Hwy71So

Ok so Huckabee is deceitful and the people working on his campaign can''t be trusted either??
Wonder what Washington would be like if he got into office.

Wow, sounds like some of what we already have running the country!

[beckajw]

Don''t get the wrong idea, I''m not voting for Huckabee, I just thought your response deserved a response.

[myidoncbs]

LiMBsY makes a good point-- that the Hucksterbee would have to pay a price for running the negative ad or for pulling it. (Though there would not have been any problem if he hadn''t first decided to go negative or if he had not shown the negative ad to the media after saying he wouldn''t run it. If he isn''t going to run the ad, why mention it at all?)

Then LiMBsY somehow manages to blame the whole thing on the media. That''s the wrong conclusion, LiMBsY! The media is just pointing out what everyone else is thinking: Hucksterbee is not the "paragon of virtue" that he pretends to be. This incident just makes that point extremely clear to everyone. You can''t blame the media for Hucksterbee''s failure.

[sparks224]

Huckabee Pays Price For Yanking Attack Ad

The "Party of Values" strikes again!

[antoniof123]

I heard the other day something that made me realize that the Republican party of my youth had gone astray. I heard and you can guess which one said it that if you compromise you have to lose and if you lose than what is the sense. Now those are not the exact words but the meaning. Because the GOP don''t believe in compromise they think that it is losing they will never have my vote again. Signed a former Republican oh and neo cons I really don''t care what you think anymore you destroyed us and I hope you get what is coming to you.

[random_radar]

I''ve got an idea! Let''s make a some negative ads, then claim a change of heart about showing them. We can still leak them to the public and get them aired on youtube for free.

Great plan! We can be negative and still appear nice guys after all. No one will ever be the wiser...

[roger_inkart]

Anyone who so BLANTANTLY exploits his (alleged) piousness isn''t fit to govern. I can''t belive people still fall for this routine.

The Huckster belongs on a deep cable station bilking religious old ladies out of their life savings in the ''name of the Lord.'' He has no business in the White House.

[liberalme]

Then LiMBsY somehow manages to blame the whole thing on the media. That''''s the wrong conclusion, LiMBsY! The media is just pointing out what everyone else is thinking: Hucksterbee is not the "paragon of virtue" that he pretends to be. This incident just makes that point extremely clear to everyone. You can''''t blame the media for Hucksterbee''''s failure.

Posted by MyIDonCBS at 02:29 PM : Jan

Sorry, I can''t see where the Libs have blamed the media--I have all along stated that Huckster is a deceitful preacher and USED the media--why else would he have brought a copy of the cd with him?

[liberalme]

The Huckster belongs on a deep cable station bilking religious old ladies out of their life savings in the ''''name of the Lord.'''' He has no business in the White House.

Posted by roger_inkart

That''s the ole "pay to pray" all for the "ALMIGHTY" dollar. Prayin to the wrong almighty!! Amen Amen Amen!!

[denn034]

Go to http://www.sltrib.com/ci_7861166?source=rss for an article by the Salt Lake Tribune that reports Huckabee''s failure to remove anti-Mormon blog posts by supporters from his web site.

[vastr-wcon]

.
QUESTION: What do a Radical, Islamic Muslin Jihadist and a Right-Wing, American Evangelical Fanatic have in common?

ANSWER: They BOTH strongly support and religiously follow Mike Huckabee''s statement that "a wife is to submit herself graciously to the servant leadership of her husband".

I have no doubt that Huck will bring these two groups together.

Any woman with a brain and a sense of free will should be afraid - very afraid - of this Neanderthal.

.

[marcodele]

He''s a total sham. No wonder the neocons love him.
Look what they gave us for the past seven years.

[wv4huckabee]

And what exactly is the price Huckabee is paying? He is still out front in the Register poll. $150,000 isn''t a small amount to lose, but it''s better to lose the money than your integrity. Think of bad Willard (that''s Mitt, folks) is going to feel after putting in over $17 MILLION of his own money trying to buy the White House, only to lose.
If you want the background on Huckabee''s decision, go read the Washington Post article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/01/AR2008010101864_pf.html

[mike71067]

It doesn''t appear that Huckabee is "paying" anything. As much as the political pundits want to see him implode, he''s actually doing pretty good in the polls, and this doesn''t appear to have hurt him.

[hillaryin08]

He''''s a total sham. No wonder the neocons love him.
Look what they gave us for the past seven years.


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Posted by marcodele at 02:57 PM : Jan 02, 2008

Yea, he still beat Algore and Kerry though didnt he

[ajaxtheleast]

This campaign stunt''s level of creativity is probably a notch above pulling a cell phone from your pocket and lo and behold it''s your wife talking fuzzy family stuff.

[smiley676]

Sometimes compromise is good. Sometimes it is bad. If you are compromising with terrorists you are setting yourself up to lose. If you aren''t compromising with people you need to work with you are setting yourself up for failure.

But I don''t vote on party lines and I know repubs don''t compromise with dems and dems don''t compromise with repubs. If the politicians we have in office today were there after the Revolution, we would never have gotten a Constitution.

[myviews1]

Huckabee is good for some media drama and a brief illusion for the religious right about having their own candidate, but is basically a folksey carnival act. And at least part of the reason he pulled his ads was that he knew they would come back to bite him. Lets move on.

[nolalou]

smiley676 said "I know repubs don''''t compromise with dems and dems don''''t compromise with repubs".

Actually, in spite of all the public comments and rhetoric, they do compromise behind the scene, otherwise nothing at all would get done. I agree however that this does not happen often enough!

[abdoul_pasha]

Haha, fanatic religious president in the "most democratic country" I can`t imagine that

[nirak2-2009]

Who wrote Huckabee is a Sham? Well, you are right on the money.
Huckabee is one of the biggest Hypocrates there is and after the last 7 years the last thing the country needs.

[rosesnpearls]

To me, this shows that his ethics are worth more than money. He''s willing to do what''s right, even if it costs him. I''m glad to see a candidate show some integrity.

[liberalme]

Yea, he still beat Algore and Kerry though didnt he

Posted by hillaryin08 at 03:39 PM : Jan 02, 2008

Did I miss something? Are Kerry and Gore in the running this year?

Sorry--must be "oldtimers"???????????????????? lol lol lol

[zefania-2009]

It is fair to say nobody is perfect. All candidates while campaigning try to appeal to voters and put their best "good looking mask'' on their face. But only one candidate is using religion to hide his real face. Quoting Scriptures to distort his opponent record and justifies his. Is he living in the Middle East or what? Doesn''t he know that to use Christ''s name presumptuously is an abomination? Huckabee is either an embarrassment to his religion or he is a wolf in sheep clothing hijacking a religion for a free ride for his political ambition. He even tried to hijack the media for free air time , what an embarrassment to his religion.

[abdoul_pasha]

The religion is a personal matter you cannot engage the "most democratic" country with you religious beliefs

[trailman101]

Baloney. Nice attempt to try and look sincere. Just like the innocent question of "Don''t Mormons believe that Jesus and Satan are brothers?" Gomer is sooo bad at this kind of thing that the thought of such a goofball in the Whitehouse is frightful. The press conference was about getting free playtime for this name-calling commercial. Why doesn''t he use the air time to explain the pardons instead?

[bah68]

What would President Huckabee do when faced with a bigger decision in the White House? How many of our tax dollars would he waste then?

[iceman_1960]

Chuck Norris vrs. Mitt Romney... Who would win ?

"(CNN) -- Mike Huckabee and Chuck Norris may be the political odd couple of this campaign season, but now Republican presidential contender Mitt Romney is trying to use the action star to try to score points against the former Arkansas governor.

In a new Web video, "Roundhouse kick," the Romney campaign uses the format that"s become familiar over several weeks of anti-Huckabee spots. "Two good men, both into fitness. Both love Chuck Norris," says the announcer.

"But where do they stand on crime ? Chuck Norris: "give a presidential pardon to no one, ever." Norris subdues criminals with just an icy stare."

"And Mike Huckabee ? He granted 1,033 pardons and commutations, including 12 convicted murderers. Huckabee granted more clemencies than the previous three governors combined. Chuck Norris, Mike Huckabee. Now who deserves the roundhouse kick ?"

The ad comes just hours after a blogger at a Huckabee campaign event asked the martial arts star, "How much do you want to roundhouse kick Mitt Romney ?"

Norris responded, laughing: "No, I don"t roundhouse kick. I choke," reminding reporters of an interview with CNN"s Larry King where he"d criticized the Romney campaign and said he"d "just like to choke those guys out." He added later that "truthfully, I hate negative campaigning."

[iceman_1960]

"What would President Huckabee do when faced with a bigger decision in the White House?"
- Posted by bah68 at 04:34 PM : Jan 02, 2008

He"d ask Jesus what to do.

[fulluvit]

We can''t truly know the motives here, but since they went ahead and showed the ads to the media, it''s a pretty sure bet that they were hoping the media would latch onto the "canceled" ads and show them for free. They might have been hoping that the "lost" $150 thousand would get them many dollars more in free air time.

[gunownerdan]

Huckabee is just another member of the CFR(Council on Foreign Relations) just like Clinton, Bush, Cheney, Obama, Giuliani, Edwards, Romney, Biden, McCain, Richardson, and Thompson to name a few.
The CFR has hijacked the foreign policy of both parties and their main goal is to destroy American sovereignty and our constitution leading to the formation of a North American Union with Canada and Mexico.

[Ruidu]

I am %u201Cdancing in the street%u201D watching the elite media slam Huckabee every chance they can. It%u2019s like watching someone who came from the wrong side of the tracks crash an elite social party in a well-to-do side of town.

Go Get%u2019um Huckabee!

[cyranocyrano]

"What would President Huckabee do when faced with a bigger decision in the White House? How many of our tax dollars would he waste then?"

He''d spend 20 times less money than the the other guy. Are we seriously asking whether what 150K is compared to Romney''s millions in Iowa?

[earthling56-2009]

Lost campaign funds for pulling "attack ad" $150,000 Publicity gained nationally, and moral high ground gained, priceless. Sound like a tired rehash of old commercial, well Huckabee sticks with what works!

[cs4466]

The only person I can think of that would be worse than Hucky in the White House would be George W Bush. So... Hucky would be an improvement. Odd, that.

[rational_1]

"What would President Huckabee do when faced with a bigger decision in the White House?"
- Posted by bah68 at 04:34 PM : Jan 02, 2008

He"d ask Jesus what to do.
Posted by Iceman_1960 at 04:37 PM : Jan 02, 2008

Just as long as he doesn''t ask what would Scooby Doo?