Romney's ads dishonest, Huckabee tells Indianola
By LISA ROSSI • Register staff writer • December 30, 2007

Indianola, Ia. -- Mike Huckabee on Saturday sharpened his rhetoric against Mitt Romney, his chief competitor in Iowa, but insisted that he is running a positive campaign for the Republican presidential nomination.

The former Arkansas governor also departed from his previous practice of referring to Romney as his "opponent" and instead used his name repeatedly in speeches in Iowa.

Speaking in Indianola, Huckabee said Romney's name nine times at various points in his remarks. He said Romney has been dishonest in his depictions of Huckabee and his policies in various television advertisements.


During a meeting with reporters, Huckabee spoke about Romney's character during the campaign and how it reflects on what kind of president he would be.

"If you get a job by being dishonest ... how can you be trusted once you're in that job?" Huckabee asked.

"I think people look for a person who runs for office to tell the truth about himself and hopefully the truth about his opponents," he added. "If the truth gets in the way of your campaign, and you just step right over it in order to campaign, that should be problematic to voters.

"We haven't seen that in John McCain or Rudy Giuliani. We haven't seen that in Duncan Hunter or other candidates running."

Tim Albrecht, a spokesman for Romney's campaign, said Huckabee's policies would take the Republican Party in the wrong direction.

"Campaigns are about big issues, and while Governor Romney is for lower taxes, strong enforcement of immigration laws, Mike Huckabee has a troubling penchant for more taxes and more spending while looking the other way on the issue of illegal immigration," Albrecht said.

In speeches before Christmas, Romney attempted to distinguish his record on taxes and immigration from Huckabee's, dropping his rival's name in front of audiences across Iowa.

Huckabee repeatedly defended himself on Saturday against allegations regarding taxes and spending.

"My opponent said I increased taxes," Huckabee said. "You know what? I cut 94 taxes," including the marriage penalty, and put a freeze on property taxes for people 65 and older, he said.

Register staff writer Grant Schulte contributed to this report.

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