Mitt Romney scored spectacular numbers in Frank Luntz’s focus groups. (See previous post, The Forum is Over, Who Won?) He withstood withering condescension from his rivals, tough questions from Chris Wallace, all after a full campaign day. Romney has campaigned harder and for longer than all of them. Romney was seated in the middle, and he was in the middle of every exchange.
He stuck to his guns and fired several good shots of his own. He let almost no charge go un-rebutted and pivoted to offense effectively on many. As far as debating tactics, poise and execution are concerned he won.
That said, he has a heckuva job ahead. The Union leader has been pounding Romney. Huckabee’s win and attacks on Romney in Iowa left alot of bruises. Romney’s strategy always included wins in Iowa and or New Hampshire - and now he’s running 2nd to the McComeback Kid, MAC IS BACK! John McCain
Blowing up in the blogosphere today were allegations of a subliminal image, a cross, in the background of Mike Huckabee’s new “What Really Matters ” ad. Some bloggers, and political observers, see the image in the ad as an appeal, or clandestine wink, to Evangelicals, a prominent GOP base that Huckabee has been successfully courting in his surging campaign. One of his opponents, Ron Paul, said the purported image goes too far.
“It reminds me of what Sinclair Lewis once said. He says, ‘when fascism comes to this country, it will be wrapped in the flag, carrying a cross,’ ” Paul told Fox News. “Now I don’t know whether that’s a fair assessment or not, but you wonder about using a cross, like he is the only Christian.”
Huckabee’s New Ad
Fox News caught up with Governor Huckabee while he took a fundraising tour through Texas today, and asked him about his new ad.
“It’s a bookshelf.It’s nothing more than a book shelf,” Huckabee responded, chuckling in disbelief.” All the people that are reading something into it, have made us all laugh out loud…insane.
GOP Presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee is on a western fundraising swing to raise cash for his surging campaign. He stopped in Beverly Hills for some private fundraisers, but took a moment yesterday to answer some questions from the press corps. We asked him about Romney’s new ad that challenges Huckabee’s crime record as Arkansas governor. Huckabee called the ad inaccurate because he was “hardly soft on crime”, pointing to the 16 convicted murderers he placed on death row. Huckabee described these tactics by his rivals as “desperate… and…despicable.”
Also, I asked him on another report: More push-polling claims, this time in Florida against Rudy Giuliani, to a group who have claimed, in the past, to be supporters of Huckabee. Huck again emphatically denounced the push-polling and wondered if, in fact, these people claiming to support his campaign were actually trying to help a rival because he has repeatedly asked them to stop.
“If someone thinks they are doing us a favor, they aren’t,”Huckabee said.” Maybe they are tied to somebody else’s campaign? If so, let’s expose it.”
The Romney camp responds to their new ad that is up in Iowa. The ad called Choice: The Record focuses on the differences between Governor Romney and Governor Huckabee’s records on immigration. Much of the media reported it as a negative ad, but the Romney camp calls it a “contrast ad.” They say the commercial starts with pointing out the candidates’ similarities on social issues and then it points out their differences on illegal immigration. Yesterday Romney refused to answer any questions about the ad.
Today after the Iowa Public Television/Des Moines Register debate Communications director Matt Rhoades and I spoke about the ad. He was clear that it is a contrast ad and that it was another candidate who put up the first negative ad targeting a republican rival:
“The first negative ad was Senator Thompson’s ad during the You Tube debate and this ad is not a negative ad. It is a contrast ad. It opens up by saying Governor Huckabee is a good man who agrees with Governor Romney on important issues like the life issue and like the marriage issue. They just happen to disagree on immigration.”
Rhoades kept defending the ad and even said that some people might see it as a positive ad for Huckabee. He did tell me all this with a huge grin on his face the entire time. He was almost holding back laughter when describing the commercial:
“We are talking about the issues we have in common with Governor Huckabee which is the life issue. But on the immigration issue there are two entirely different records. Governor Romney has a record of being tough on illegal immigration while Governor Huckabee provided tuition benefits as the Governor of Arkansas and if you look at the ad and you believe in the positions that Governor Huckabee took than you might think it is a positive ad. But if you look at the ad and see the positions Governor Romney took and you like those positions then that might be a contrast ad, but we are very proud of it. “
Yesterday, Governor Romney evaded the press and refused to take any questions. Mark Ambinder was able to catch up with Romney and ask him about the ad. Romney defended the ad also saying it could be seen as positive, “ as you have seen in the ad it is very fair, balanced, and positive ad for both of us. We both look good, there is no characterization of one being bad the other being good instead it just shows our respective positions.”
The Romney camp might be trying to spin the ad as a “contrast ad” and not a “negative ad,” but it is far from neutral or positive. Huckabee said he was flattered at being the focus of a new ad and that it shows desperation on the part of the Romney campaign.
The Thompson campaign put out an official release minutes after the debate ended this afternoon. The e-mail wasn’t touting Thompson as the winner, (that came later); instead it was questioning Romney’s pro-life position. It says that under Romney’s Massachusetts health care plan that people have access to abortions for a co-pay of $50.
The release cites several press articles, including an Associated Press report from April 12, 2006 that says Romney vetoed the expansion of dental benefits to Medicaid recipients, but did not veto the abortion co-pay.
Romney is running as a pro-life candidate, but when this initially came up over a month ago it didn’t really cause a stir. So why is the Thompson campaign bringing it up again? Romney Communications director Matt Rhoades told me that it is because we are so close to the Iowa caucuses, “we are down the stretch and it is go-time so a lot of campaigns are using a lot of misinformation.” Rhoades also said that the attack was an old one, “Governor Romney is very proud of his health care plan in Massachusetts and the attack from the Thompson campaign is using is an old attack that has been refuted before and we want to focus on the issues.”
At the time the Romney campaign released a statement trying to refute the claims. The campaign re-sent it to me today and it explains that the health care benefits package was, “developed By The Connector Authority – An Independent Body Separate From The Governor’s Office.” The release continues to say that, “under state law and court precedent, if the state is funding health care benefits it cannot refuse to provide abortion coverage.” The campaign is saying that essentially the Governor’s hands were tied.
The Thompson campaign responded saying the Governor has to take responsibility for all parts of the plan:
“Romney vetoed numerous parts of the health care plan, but allowed specific parts to remain, he can’t take credit for some of it and not own all of it.”
(Click below to hear Romney Communications Director Matt Rhoades respond to the Thompson camp accusations)
Governor Huckabee just apologized to Governor Romney in response to comments made about Romney’s religion, Mormonism. In this Sunday’s New York Times Magazine, Huckabee asks, “Don’t Mormons believe that Jesus and the devil are brothers?” Huckabee blamed the reporter for taking it out of context and pressed that he would never make an issue out of Romney’s faith:
“We thought good heavens we were having a conversation over several hours. The conversation was about religion and he was trying to press me on what my thought on Romney’s religion. I said I don’t want to go there. I don’t know much about it. I barely know about being a Baptist. He was telling me things about the Mormon faith and frankly he is very well schooled in comparative religions. As part of the conversation I asked about it. I asked him not to create something. I never thought it would make the story after the debate today. After the debate today I went up to Mitt Romney and apologized to him. I would never pick out some part of your faith and make it an issue.”
Huckabee embed, Serafin Gomez fought through the media horde to shoot the former Arkansas governor explaining his apology. Huckabee went over to Romney after the Iowa Public Television/Des Moines Register debate, the last debate before the Iowa caucuses.
**UPDATE**
The Romney Campaign responds to both the comments Huckabee made initially about Mormonism and also Huckabee’s apology, which Romney accepted.
Per Press Secretary, Eric Fehrnstrom:
“Governor Romney has accepted the apology. He believes that appeals to prejudice have no part in this campaign. While it’s fair to criticize an opponent’s record or policy positions, it’s out of bounds to question a person’s religious beliefs.”
The campaign also responded to the initial comments made by Huckabee.
Per Press Secretary Kevin Madden:
“Governor Romney will not debate candidates on their faith or question their faith. For those who want to know how Governor Romney’s faith informs his values, they can look at how he lives his life and how he has raised his family.”
**UPDATE**
Governor Huckabe e just spoke to Fox News about his apology saying that Romney responded, “very graciously, very graciously.” Huckabee described the encounter, ” I went to him. I just wanted to make sure that he heard directly from me,face to face, eye ball to eyeball, that I truly was sorry that that had come out that it looked like I had taken some shot at is faith. I absolutely did not, and I would not do that and so I apologized because I felt like I owed him that”
How long does it take to get from the Univision debate in Miami to the Iowa Public Television/Des Moines Register debate in Iowa? Well, I have been trying to get there for 20 hours and I’ve only made it to Chicago. Such is the life of an embed, but what a tale it is. Freezing rain here caused the initial 2-hour delay in Miami. Then after landing in Chicago I was ecstatic that the Des Moines flight had been delayed because it meant that I could still get to Iowa. At that point, I could still see the positive side of delays. . .how naïve!
We are delayed another hour and a half and then we board. I actually won the delayed flight lottery! I sit down and wait to pull out of the gate. Of course that never happens and instead the pilot comes on to announce that the flight has been cancelled. The tired, unhappy passengers, including myself, shuffle off. I am re-booked on the 6:25AM this morning and I am not allowed up pick up my bags because they are “locked up” so they can be re-loaded in the morning.
I wake up this morning at 4:15AM and the American Airlines website and automated phone line both say my flight is on time. As I get on the airport bus I have hope and I try to stay positive. That hope is quickly dashed as I see all the morning flights have been cancelled. American Airlines calls to inform me of the cancellation at 6AM, 30 minutes after my flight was supposed to take off. When did airline service get so bad?
I am now re-booked on a flight tomorrow morning. The weather is so severe in Iowa that Mike Huckabee and John Edwards have cancelled campaign events. Spouses are also being affected with both Ann Romney and President Clinton having to scrap their events as well. Governor Romney was able to meet with voters at the sky mall in downtown Des Moines today. But, evaded all questions regarding his new ad pointing out the differences between himself and Governor Huckabee on immigration.
Romney staffers are also affected by the severe weather with many also trying to get to Des Moines for tomorrow’s debate. Staffers are stranded here in Chicago, Cincinnati, St. Louis and Dallas, all trying to get to Iowa. I’m stuck in Chicago with campaign photographer Abby Brack. Press Secretary Eric Fehrnstrom is stuck in Dallas, but hopeful he will make it to Iowa tonight.
Bad weather is something that plagues the first in the nation caucus almost every four years. It affects the voters getting out, the candidates campaigning, and of course the press trying to cover both. The caucus could depend on which group of supporters are hardy enough to handle the extreme weather. Will I get to the debate? Keep checking back for updates!
Governor Romney returned to Iowa after his much anticipated “Faith in America” speech. Supporters at his event in Des Moines were impressed, one even telling me it was the best speech he had heard “in decades.” Analysts say that giving the speech helped answer some questions voters might have had about his religion. But, I asked the presidential hopeful about how he may solve his other problem: connecting to voters. Romney simply answered, “That was not the purpose of the speech.” He even denied knowing about the political fallout from his address, “I don’t know what the implications are from a political standpoint because that’s not really what I was addressing. I was addressing a topic of significance that hopefully will touch the hearts of some people. “
One Presbyterian minister, Claude Jones, was swayed to the Romney camp after hearing the speech:
“I’m a clergyman and I was somewhat concerned about Mormonism, but his speech really convinced me. He is sincere, pro-family. We have so much in common as a country. We are not electing a pastor, but instead a president. “
I also spoke with Bill and Karen Kurth who were on their way to an evangelical conference in Dallas, Texas. They both consider themselves “born again” Christians and said they could never consider voting for Governor Romney unless he renounced Mormonism. Bill Kurth did acknowledge it was “a good political speech.” But, said he believes that Romney’s religion would affect his presidency:
“His religion will affect his world view and his world view is what I am concerned with. He is a Mormon, therefore he believes that anyone can become God and that Jesus was a man and then became God and that’s not what the bible teaches and I do believe that the bible is what we should have as a moral compass and what we should be using for our world view.”
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee has surged past Romney to become the Iowa frontrunner. He has strong support among Evangelical Christians, the same group Romney was hoping to sway with his speech.
The Romney campaign will air a negative ad against Iowa frontrunner Governor Mike Huckabee beginning tomorrow. The campaign calls it a “contrast ad” and it will point out the differences between Romney’s record on immigration and Huckabee’s.
The Romney strategy to win relies on a victory in Iowa and New Hampshire and riding that momentum to the GOP nomination. But, with the former Arkansas governor surging in the polls the campaign has decided to turn to negative television ads.
Press Secretary Eric Fehrnstrom released a statement with the commercial, “Mitt Romney has a record as governor opposing illegal immigration. Mike Huckabee has a different record of supporting ‘discounted’ tuition benefits and amnesty for illegal immigrants. We think it’s fair to point out those differences.”
The ad begins by comparing Romney and Huckabee favorably, “Two former governors. . .two good family men. . .Both pro-life. . .both support a constitutional amendment protecting traditional marriage. . .” The ad then takes a negative tone pointing out their differences on immigration, focusing on Huckabee’s support for tuition discounts for the children of illegal aliens.
Huckabee’s defense is that he doesn’t believe children should pay for the sins of their parents and has said that America is a better country than that. The campaign responded to the ad:
“We’re disappointed that Governor Romney favors smearing his fellow Republicans as his primary campaign strategy. But the voters in Iowa are too savvy to fall for such desperate tactics.”
The McCain campaign was quick to issue a scathing statement, even before the Huckabee camp responded:
“News that Mitt Romney will launch a new attack ad tomorrow is another move by a campaign that continues to insult Iowa voters. . . Governor Romney has flip-flopped on several major issues that voters care about. It’s particularly amazing that Governor Romney would attack anyone on immigration when he’s on his third position.”
The release of the ad comes one day after the Univision debate in Miami where the majority of the questions tossed to the candidates focused on immigration. Romney stuck to the same wording on immigration he uses on the campaign trail, but delivered it in a much softer tone than the fiery rhetoric he usually delivers on the stump.
In the first caucus state of Iowa, illegal immigration is the most important topic to Republican voters. The Romney campaign is hoping this ad will score with that electorate and enable him to regain the lead he previously enjoyed.
San Francisco, CA — Despite the latest national polls now showing Mike Huckabee in a tie with Rudy Giuliani, the former New York City mayor says he does not feel Huckabee is a “threat” to his campaign.
Giuliani acknowledged that Huckabee has “gained quite a bit” in the polls, but said he does not feel any additional pressure from the former Arkansas Governor or any other GOP rivals, reiterating that he is the strongest candidate on fiscal and national security issues.
“I don’t see any of the other candidates as a threat to my campaign. My campaign is my campaign. I have got to reach out to Republican voters. Whether it’s Mike Hucakabee or someone else. There will always be competitors and it’s my job to convince the Republican party that I would be the most electable Republican,” Giuliani said during a quick stop in San Francisco today. “My fiscal conservatism and my ability to keep us on offense against terrorism make me the right man in the right place.”
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Mitt Romney scored spectacular numbers in Frank Luntz’s focus groups. (See previous post, The Forum is Over, Who Won?) He withstood withering condescension from his rivals, tough questions from Chris Wallace, all after a full campaign day. Romney has campaigned harder and for longer than all of them. Romney was seated in the middle, and he was in the middle of every exchange.
