Huckabee pulls negative ad, vows to go positive

[Terri]

The Hill

DES MOINES – Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee (R) told reporters Monday that he was pulling a negative ad designed to target his chief rival in Iowa, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney (R).

Then he showed the ad to a room packed wall to wall with reporters.

When asked if it is hypocritical to make an announcement about not running negative ads, and then show a negative advertisement to dozens of members of the national and local media, Huckabee said he had to show the ad to prove its existence.

“I want to show you that we were fully prepared,” Huckabee said.

More (http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/huckabee-pulls-negative-ads-vows-to-go-positive-2007-12-31.html)

That is just sooooo Huckabee. :laff:

[lpara]

I don't get this "negative ad" stuff.

If it's the truth, is it negative?

:ne_nau:

[CleosMom]

Is the truth negative? I'm not sure, but I would think it depends on the way it's presented.

Pulling the ad during a press conference (while showing the ad to the media)------------->disingenuous!

[lpara]

OK, I should rephrase that---->

I'm tired of the whining that there are so many negative ads when most of them are just stating facts.

If you (politicians) don't like negative--you should have thought of that before you opened your BM or voted like a lib!

Most of the ads I've seen that have been labeled "negative" are just stating facts.

I have seen some that are ludicrous, and just call names without any facts, too--those would be negative, but that's what big boys do. :doh:

[CleosMom]

I'm tired of the whining that there are so many negative ads when most of them are just stating facts.

If you (politicians) don't like negative--you should have thought of that before you opened your BM or voted like a lib!

Agreed - as long as it's presented in a "fair" way (is that possible)?

[Amawalk John]

Slick Mike

[candles]

Huckabee should take this statement my grandmothers would say when people complained,"If you can't take the heat stay out of the kitchen".l

If Huckabee thinks this is negative wait until the winning :elefant: faces off with the :jacka:, IMO he has seen nothing yet.

[schillerbjr]

Looks like Huckabee wants things "both ways"!!
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM MMMM!!!

[qrayjack]

At best, I have to question his judgement. Either run the ad or ditch it, but don't play this little, "look how nice I am for not running this negative ad" game. It's ridiculous. If I hadn't read it, I wouldn't have believed it. All the stories we've been hearing about what a brilliant politician Huckabee is are suddenly suspect.

[Amawalk John]

Fumblebee

[qrayjack]

Rep. King questions Huckabee move; Thompson said he had ‘a nice laugh’
By Sam Youngman, The Hill

URBANDALE, Iowa – Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa), who is supporting former Sen. Fred Thompson (R-Tenn.), questioned former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee’s motives in showing a negative ad to reporters after telling them that he would not put it on the air.

King suggested to The Hill that Huckabee’s plan was to get a lot of play for the ad without having to pay for it.

“Doesn’t he have any money?” King said, laughing. “That’s what I’d have to do if I didn’t have any money.”
MORE (http://thehill.com/campaign-2008/rep.-king-questions-huckabee-move-thompson-said-he-had-a-nice-laugh-2007-12-31.html)

[Terri]

I think this is exactly why he did it.

It wasn't stupidity. It was the only way he could get the ad out there and naturally the media fell for it.

[qrayjack]

naturally the media fell for it.
Yes, in the sense that it was widely reported, but negatively, seems to me.

[CleosMom]

Do we really want to a President who plays silly games like this? This is what pre-teen girls do. . . . not serious adults.

[qrayjack]

This is what pre-teen girls do. Agreed, CM, and I also agree with Terri that money was an influence. But if he was trying to be cute, he outsmarted himself by far. The whole thing is so inept that I am still stunned that he did it. Not that it matters. I'm an Arkansan but definitely not a Huckabee fan. I think he's a flash in the pan.

[lpara]

The reporters laughed in his face when he said "I'm going to show it to you, just to prove there is one." Total flop. He's a strange bird, that one.

[Ohiowoman]

If he was so concerned about doing the right thing, he could have simply said that he had made the ad, but decided not to run it and had, instead, destroyed it.

[carver]

Ohiowoman:
If he was so concerned about doing the right thing, he could have simply said that he had made the ad, but decided not to run it and had, instead, destroyed it.

Yea, but then he would have the :moonbat: accusing him of a cover-up.
What we have here is the equivalent of the Dean Scream.

---Carver

[qrayjack]

Huckabee insists no trick with ad
By LIBBY QUAID, Associated Press Writer

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa - Republican presidential candidate Mike Huckabee insisted he wasn't trying to pull a fast one when he played a negative TV commercial for the media even as he promised not to air it for voters.

"It was not trying to be tricky; it was trying to be as honest as I could," the former Arkansas governor said Tuesday. "If I'd have really wanted to be tricky, I would have let the ad run three days and then say, 'No, I've had a change of mind."
MORE (http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080102/ap_on_el_pr/huckabee_ad_1)

*Oh sure Huck, we believe you. Don't we everybody? Uh... guys? Where'd everybody go?

[Amawalk John]

Scott Ott's satirical "Scrappleface" captures this best with it's headline Huckabee Unveils Dirt He Won't Use Against Rivals (http://www.scrappleface.com /?p=2838)