…or is he not? Apparently Huckabee is trying to have it both ways. Here are the reports:

Jonathan Martin: “Claiming that he changed his mind this morning, Huckabee told reporters gathered in anticipation of seeing the spots that he would no longer attack Romney off the air, either, and would run a positive campaign in the final days before the caucuses.

But Huckabee still aired the ad he cut yesterday in which he criticized Romney on fiscal matters, gun control, law and order, and abortion.

Additionally, Huckabee spoke surrounded by five placards on easels leveling the same attacks in print on Romney.


Stephen F. Hayes at the Campaign Standard: “Hmmmm. It's an old campaign ploy--to share attacks on your opponent with journalists in the hope that they include them in their reporting. The politics of paralipsis again: Here are the negative charges I'm not going to air. The Huckabee camp is probably hoping not only to give life to his attacks on Romney, sort of a political bank shot, but to get credit for staying positive.

But let's assume Huckabee is telling the truth. Why was he even considering running these ads? He promised nearly two weeks ago that he would not run negative ads against Romney and, indeed, said he was betting his campaign on it.”


Rich Lowry at the Corner: “To me, Huckabee seems a little like McCain near the end in 2000, when he got absolutely obsessed with process and the ads and phone calls that were being run and made against him. In the end, most voters don't care. Maybe people in Iowa are obsessed enough with "positive" campaigning that all this will work for Huckabee, but at the very least it's gotten him off message.”


Marc Ambinder: “The Dallas Morning News seems to buy the Huckabee spin:
In a news conference Monday designed to launch an all out assault against Mr. Romney, Mr. Huckabee said he would instead remain positive. "At some point we have to decide can we change politics and the level of discourse?" he said.

Most reporters did not.

They started to laugh.”


Joe Klein at Time: “That sound you hear rumbling out of Des Moines appears to be a monumental implosion.”

Labels: mike huckabee