A bizarre bit of political theater from the Huckabee campaign:
Talk about political jujitsu!
Mike Huckabee is holding a press conference right now in which he was supposed to unveil a new negative ad against arch rival Mitt Romney.
But Mr. Huckabee came to the press conference and announced he’d had a change of heart and would not be broadcasting the ad after all.
But wait! It gets better.
He then broadcast it for a room crammed with reporters, photographers and television cameras.
The assembled media found the display hilarious and at several points laughed out loud.
Huckabee’s melodramatic introduction, the one where he attempted to take the moral high ground while simultaneously wallowing deep in the muck, confirms the concerns that I’ve had about his character and judgement. His play here is so transparent and so slimy - so Clintonian - that a backlash would seem inevitable.
Update: 4:58 PM CST:
Video of the ad, shot at the press conference, can be seen here. I’m sure a better copy will be “leaked” via YouTube soon.
Update 4:40 PM CST:
The backlash was immediate. It continues to build. Huckabee might be toast before all is said and done. I’m adding commentary from the blogosphere below.
Others Blogging the Backlash:
Political Animal
We’ve all seen some very cheap stunts over the years, but they’re not usually this cheap and not this transparent. Reporters covering the campaign aren’t idiots, and Huckabee just insulted their intelligence.
Patterico’s Pontifications
Reading Huckabee’s quotes makes him sound entertaining and likeable, similar to Bill Clinton. He’s a great salesman … but I’m not buying.
Libertyblog
Gomer denounces the blatant cynicism of a campaign. His own.
ComMITTed to Romney!
I swear this guy is absolutely clueless, and he gets more ignorant by the moment.
Swampland
That sound you hear rumbling out of Des Moines appears to be a monumental implosion.
Marc Ambinder
The Romney campaign is already calling this a “meltdown.” Whatever it is, it’s a little bizarre.
The Real Clear Politics Blog
Why not just cancel the whole thing? It might have come off as a bit unorganized, but at least Huckabee would have been able to play the magnanimous card without the stench of clumsy opportunism, which will certainly be noted in the media reports.
Jonathan Martin
It’s the sort of gambit that will instantly trigger cynicism among the political class, especially given the confusion that surrounded the move.
Hot Air
It’s his entire cynical faux nice guy style of politics in microcosm — the man who’s so innocent and virtuous that he doesn’t even recognize the Machiavellian gambits he somehow keeps stumbling into.
California Yankee
Maybe, despite al the bravado, Huckabee doesn’t have the cash to run the ad. Whatever was behind Huckabee’s fiasco, it sure didn’t present the image of a decisive leader. I’m sure Carl Cameron’s report will have al Qaeda shaking in their caves.
Iowa Independent
A day after calling Mitt Romney “desperate” and “dishonest”, Mike Huckabee cancelled a negative commercial aimed at his chief rival in the Republican Caucus. Then he showed the commercial to the press and even encouraged them to tape it if they wanted to.
Stop the ACLU
This is what in politics is called utter B.S.
Right Up Front
This is going to be seen as the half-witted political maneuver that it is, and it could not come at a worse time for Huckabee as polls show him on the decline in Iowa and Mitt Romney on the uptick. Goodness, Mike. What were you thinking?
Riehl World View
But suddenly at Noon, no more negative attacks while standing surrounded by five placards of negative attacks and showing an attack ad to the press … and pledging to keep it positive from now on? How about, he doesn’t want to spend the money to buy air time and hopes the media will carry his water, instead? I’d like to think the press won’t lie down and play dumb for Huckabee, though I doubt it - some want him to be the nominee so bad, they won’t bother exposing the charade.
PoliGazette
Instead of being moral he acts like someone who donates thousands of dollars to charity and who, instead of doing it knowing that he’s doing the right thing and leave it at that, goes on to tell everyone how generous he is and how much money he exactly gave to those charities.
The QandO Blog
Yeah, right Mike. I’m sure they’ve never heard of “cynical manipulation” either. If they weren’t cynical before you began speaking they’re morons if they’re not cynical now. Yeesh.
A Chequer-Board of Nights
This is one of the most cynical and hypocritical things I have seen in politics.
The American Pundit
Huckabee is so full of crap I can smell him from here.
Outside the Beltway
Huckabee’s an idiot. More likely, though, he thinks we’re idiots.
Race 4 2008
Does he think we are fools?
Election Junction
In perhaps the single most brazen display of hypocrisy in politics in a long while, Republican Mike Huckabee held a press conference to say he’s above negative campaigning and then immediately went negative.
Say Anything
Huckabee likes putting on the airs of an “aw shucks” country pastor, but underneath I think he’s a lot more of a calculating, cynical politician than either he or his supporters are willing to admit. I’d even go so far as to say he’s a snake in the grass.
The Right’s Field
Huckabee’s really not experienced at the way these attacks are supposed to work, is he? You’re supposed to find a surrogate, not BE the surrogate handing out the ads to the media! It kind of ruins the whole “plausible deniability” thing when you’re doing the denying yourself.
Donklephant
What Huckabee pulled today was not only hilariously and woefully transparent, it also made him appear worse than the guy he was trying to smear.
On Deadline
If he loses Iowa’s caucuses, New Year’s Eve will forever mark the day Huckabee blew it — the day a crowd stopped laughing with the witty Republican and laughed at him.
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December 31st, 2007 at 7:29 pm
Mike Huckabee Melodrama: Pulls Negative Ad - Then ……
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December 31st, 2007 at 7:54 pm
I did a dumb thing. Before I found out about Deputy Dawg I send the Huckleberry Conpaign 20 dollars. Guess what just showed up in my email. No, not porn. Not a way to make something bigger. THE NEGATIVE AD HE ISN’T GOING TO SHOW ANYBODY. What a hopeless, twisted liar.
January 1st, 2008 at 12:10 am
Interesting, I just went to the website where I initially saw the report, and it appears they are backing off of it a little bit. Now they say that he is considering an offer from Arkansas. Considering and agreeing are extremely different things.
January 1st, 2008 at 9:24 am
Fact it, Huck IS worse than his opponents. He’s about the worst politician I’ve seen in my lifetime, and I’ve seen some real doozies! This foolishness even prompted me to donate yesterday to his intended target. I figure that’s a miniscule reward, but I’m sure I’m not alone in this assessment! Got Mitt?