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Huckabee Jabs

By Jennifer Rubin on 8.29.07 @ 9:18AM

As I suspected he would, Mike Huckabee is embarking on a "thorn in their side" effort directed against his opponents in order to gain some visibility. He starts with Romney at CBN:

"I'm going to accept that his position (on the life issue) now is a position he currently and indeed does hold but nobody can deny that it's not the position that he had held. He's the first to admit that and when you add to that positions that he's held on other topics like the second amendment and even the Bush tax cuts, on same sex relationships and marriage and other things, that's what I think causes people to say how many different changes of position can one have during an adult's lifespan as a politician and then be confidant that that person is going to have another epiphany at some point in the future. Let's assume that everyone of those positions that he's currently staking out for the nomination are correct and I'm going to assume they are, I have no reason to doubt him. I think he's a man of integrity and a man of honor. It doesn't mean the Democrats will lay off of him when it comes to doing the same thing to him in a general election that republicans did to John Kerry by rolling those pieces of videotape with conflicting statements."

In some ways he poses a trickier problem for Romney and others than a top tier candidate. First, he is very articulate and pointed without seeming mean spirited or angry (as McCain sometimes did in tangling with Romney). The recipient of the attack also has to weigh the downside of engaging with a competitor behind him in the polls and thereby elevating Huckabee's stature. Letting too many of these pointed barbs sit unaddressed, however, carries its risks.