Professor Jacobson over at Legal Insurrection has posted a video recorded during the 2008 primaries in which former Arkansas Governor and 2008 Republican presidential primary candidate Mike Huckabee claims quite blatantly that Mitt Romney is a liar. It was quite a famous ad in its time. Huckabee didn't have the money to run the ad on Iowa television ahead of the Iowa caucuses, so campaign manager Ed Rollins hit on a brilliant strategy. He called a press conference, where he showed the ad. The media televised it as part of their news cycle, at no expense to the Huckabee campaign. In fact, the ad has been credited in no small measure with helping Huckabee win the Iowa caucuses in what was a stunning upset to the Romney campaign. In fact, even though Huckabee did not go on to become that year's GOP nominee, it might well have helped John McCain in the end. Here is the ad, which quite clearly targets Romney as a liar, and a purveyor of liberal ideas, including co-pays for abortion, and gun control. And of course, RomneyCare.
Seems pretty clear, doesn't it? Apparently though, not now to Mike Huckabee, who insists the ad has been characterized by the Newt Gingrich campaign in a deceptive manner. Huckabee has demanded that Newt stop using the old ad and has denied that he was talking about Romney. Huckabee has issued the same denial and assault on the Gingrich campaign via his HuckPAC. Again, you can watch the ad above and see for yourself.
So, what exactly is the big deal? More to the point, since its so blatantly obvious that Huck is referring to Romney, why would he deny it so strenuously? I suggested to Professor Jacobson that it might have something to do with the fact that Huckabee is currently employed by Fix News, which has him under contract, and that Fix News is itself in the tank for Romney. He responded to me with a link to Roger Aisles Twitter account, specifically a screen cap to a Tweet which, while not exactly a ringing endorsement of Romney, certainly makes plain his dislike for the candidacy of Newt Gingrich. It reads in full-
Can't blame Newt G too much. He was carpet bombed with negatives by
Romney. Brilliant, visionary but just too much baggage! And erratic.
It would seem as though Fix News is fair and balanced to all sides, except to true conservatives. But hey, maybe the Republican elites know best after all. Maybe we shouldn't feel so badly that Fix News, like seemingly most of the Republican Establishment, are so thoroughly in the tank for Mitt, who evidently has no baggage worth noting,
