DES MOINES -- In an interview today, Gov. Mitt Romney said he authorized his campaign to air his new ad, which takes Gov. Mike Huckabee to task on immigration, because he believed that Huckabee's sudden rise hasn't been accompanied by the type of scrutiny generally given to top-tier presidential candidates.
While national media outlets have begun to scrutinize Huckabee's record in earnest, Romney said he saw much less of that sort of coverage in Iowa.
And Romney hinted that immigration is only the start of his comparisons. On taxes, pardons and commutations, he said Huckabee's record compares unfavorably with his.
I spoke with Romney at the Marriott in downtown Des Moines a few minutes before he headed into a prep session for tomorrow's debate. I called the ad a "contrast" ad, not a "negative" ad -- trying to preserve the distinction between the two -- and Romney seemed to much prefer that characterization.
The full interview / podcast will be posted later.
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The ad's not negative. But it is misleading, since Huck actually supports a more radical immigration plan than Mitt does now. (I bet that threw a wrench in Mitt's plans. He didn't expect other people to change their positions as cravenly as he does! Will he be ballsy enough to criticize Huck for flip-flopping?) Anyway, when Iowans see Jim Gilchrist on their TV talking about how Huckabee's "great" new plan, who are they gonna believe-- the vigilante or flip-flopping Mitt?
Posted by Algernon | December 11, 2007 8:35 PM