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.

[prinzowhales]

Hucksterbee can''t even put out a campaign add without equivocating...

ronpaulwarroom.com has just opened for business, so if you want to find out about the only Republican or mainstream Democratic candidate who stands for something besides Open Borders, Usury, and War...go there and help Kurt Nimmo and Alex Jones launch this web portal.

[jgn69]

Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee crossed a picket line recently and by doing so slapped the American worker across the face. With good paying American jobs going overseas at an alarming rate, do we really want a leader who%u2019ll cross a picket line? When a worker is struggling for fair wages and benefits it is reprehensible for anyone to cross a picket line. In a field of candidates, please don%u2019t vote for someone who has contempt for the American worker. Support anyone but Huckabee.

[quetzal666]

the huckster trying to play the Bass how funny....
now did that go "onward Christian soldiers"
dadum.. dadum....goin to kill afew babies in palestine.baboom baboom..........

[im4honesty]

JUST WHAT WE NEED... ANOTHER BIBLE THUMPIN'' PHONY!!

[nirak2-2009]

George had a direct line to God and we saw what that got us.
Huckabee probably will say, God is living with him in the White House.
ROFL

[giantrobot2]

ATTENTION, READ ALL ABOUT IT!

Mike
Huckabee
is
leading
this
country
up
to
higher
ground.

Mike
Huckabee
is
creating
a
new
American
spirit.

Mike
Huckabee
leaps
two
to
one
over
Mitt
Romney
in
the
latest
Iowa
poll.

Mike
Huckabee
is
the
Rockstar
President
Iowa
voters
are
thrilled
to
support.

Iowa
voters
are
taking
a
ride
on
the
Huck-a-bus
increasing
their
speed
to
Huck-a-boom
speed!

GO MIKE GO!!! GO MIKE GO!!! GO MIKE GO!!!

[jn122736]

Huckabee has one serious problem that most presidential candidates don%u2019t have (with the possible exception of Romney).
He is accustomed to successfully using this kind of snake-oil/con-artist tactic on people whom voluntary flock to his church predisposed/susceptible to believing the preacher without question.

While there are, indeed, many like that in the voting public, they are actually more of a minority than many suppose, and they are not restricted to any one party.
Most people, involved enough to get out and vote, actually do think for themselves much of the time, and recognize snake oil when it is thrown at them.
****
As to Chuck Norris, I find it interesting that almost all politically inclined actors from the supposed %u201Cliberal%u201D Hollywood generally are republicans like, Ronald Reagan, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Charlton Heston (NRA), Fred Thompson, et al.

The same curiosity could also be applied to the so-called %u201Cliberal%u201D Press (Fox News, among others).

[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?

[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.

[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!

[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?

[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!

[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.

[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.

[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.

[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."

[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?

[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?

[abdoul_pasha]

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

[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.