January 2, 2008

Huckabee Responds To Critics On Ad Pull

Earlier this morning, I conducted an interview with Governor Mike Huckabee regarding criticism of his ad pull in Iowa and the press conference that followed. The interview got arranged after last night's blogger conference call, when Huckabee's team wanted to allow for a clear answer to the controversy.

I'll play the entire 10-minute recorded interview on Heading Right Radio today, but here are a few quotes to whet listener appetites:

  • Regarding ads opposing Huckabee: "The ads were dishonest .... misrepresentations and outright fabrications of my record."
  • A pattern: "The same kind of ads were going against John McCain in New Hampshire. ... not an accident or an isolated incident."
  • Why he pulled the ads: "The television sets (in Iowa) had become a cesspool ... People keep saying that they want a positive campaign, and let's give them an opportunity to prove that that's exactly what they want."
  • On showing the ad to the press: "Maybe in hindsight we'd have done it differently, but if we had said that we had an ad that we were going to run but now we're not going to run it, the press would have said, 'Oh yeah, right -- where is the ad? You don't have one.'"
  • Huckabee has plenty more to say about his prospects in Iowa and where he sees himself in the national race. He also disputes the report at The Politico that the ad cost his campaign $150,000, putting the figure closer to $30,000. Don't miss the whole interview!

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