Huckabee Attacks Romney, Defends McCain

By Josh Kraushaar

(The Politico)  Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee, polling a distant fourth in the upcoming Florida primaries, continued to attack former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, while offering implicit support for his other rival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in his appearance on "Fox News Sunday."

When asked to take sides on a dispute between Romney and McCain over whether the former Massachusetts governor called for a timetable for withdrawal in Iraq last April, Huckabee sided squarely with McCain.

“Dishonest? I’ve never seen John McCain say something that is just blatantly untrue,” Huckabee said. Huckabee later praised McCain, saying “we have a civil approach to presidential process. Neither of us has sought the office by cracking the kneecaps of the other.”

But then he figuratively cracked the kneecaps of Romney by questioning the former governor’s veracity.

“There are published reports that I’ve seen in which Mitt Romney did in fact talk about support for – not a public timetable – but a secret timetable that would be held by administration officials and members of Congress,” Huckabee said.

And during the interview, he quickly papered over several policy disagreements between himself and McCain, but whacked Romney over his business experience, claiming he “wasn’t impressed” with Romney’s private sector experience.

“When Mitt Romney and the other Republicans a few months ago in Dearborn, Michigan at the debate were talking about how great the economy was, I was jeered and sneered, but I was the one saying it may not be that great,” Huckabee said.

“I was understanding that, seeing it, predicting it. People were laughing at me then, now they have to admit that I was right.”