West Des Moines, Iowa
AND SO IT begins. At a speech in the Jordan Creek Mall, Mike Huckabee smiled his trademark dimpled smile, decried the intensifying attacks against his candidacy, and promised not to respond in kind.
Then he went on the attack.
Huckabee lamented that Iowans are getting “all of this poison in your mailbox,” especially at Christmastime. It’s not the right way to campaign, he said. “We believe the presidency ought to be about who you’re for, not what’s wrong with your opponent.”
What’s wrong with Mitt Romney, says Huckabee, is that he puts good politics before good judgment. Huckabee answered criticism from Romney on the issue of pardons, most recently leveled in a Romney ad airing in Iowa. Huckabee suggests that Romney’s decision not to grant pardons to deserving individuals came because he was looking to run for higher office.
Huckabee detailed the case of a Massachusetts man who had been charged for shooting his friend in the arm with a BB gun at the age of 13. Although the young man went on to serve his country in the National Guard, and spent time in Iraq, Romney refused to grant him clemency. Why? Huckabee claims it was politics.
“You have to decide whether we make a decision based on our political future or the future of some guy who’s gone and went to war for this country. I think we ought to make decisions on what’s best for the future of a young man, not what’s best for the future of somebody who wants to run for a future office. The smart political move is always to deny every single one of them.”
Huckabee continued. “My opponent says there’s something about judgment. I’ll put mine up against his any day. Because my judgment is, you act in the best interest of the people who elected you, not in your own best interest.”
Two points of interest. First, throughout his entire speech, Huckabee referred to “my opponent,” as if he were involved in a two-man race. In a sense, that’s true. Given recent trends in Iowa polling, it will be somewhat surprising if anyone is within 10 points of either Romney or Huckabee.
Second, even when Huckabee takes his shots, sometimes with an angry voice, he does it with a smile on his face. The effect is to soften the counterattack while still making his sharpest points. It’s very smart.
At a brief press conference after his speech in the parking lot outside of the mall, Huckabee offered this assessment of Romney’s criticism, dripping with condescension.
“You need to look with some sense of sympathy,” says Huckabee. “Here’s a guy who’s outspent me 20-to-1 here. That’s a lot of money, and he’s behind. And I’m sure it’s disappointing, and I’m sure there’s a lot of internal turmoil in his campaign, and I understand that.”
Then, with a smile, he returned to his core message. “I think all of us ought to tell people what we’re for, not what’s wrong with the other candidates.”
What’s odd about Huckabee’s responses today is that they are all defensive. They are counterattacks, yes, but they are responsive rather than offensive. He is defending himself on pardons, on immigration, on taxes.
Why hasn’t Huckabee challenged Romney on issues of concern to social conservatives where Romney has clearly changed his position, such as abortion, campaign finance reform, gay rights? Will Huckabee go after Romney on these issues after Christmas?
“I don’t plan to fight with him,” Huckabee says. “He’s throwing punches and I’m saying Merry Christmas.”
Stephen F. Hayes is a staff writer at THE WEEKLY STANDARD and author, most recently, of Cheney: The Untold Story of America’s Most Powerful and Controversial Vice President.
