Mitt Romney says rival is 'another Bill Clinton'

Toby Harnden
London Telegraph
Monday December 17, 2007

Just when it seemed that the fight for the Republican nomination could not sink any lower, Mitt Romney has pulled out the ultimate insult - branding his rival Mike Huckabee another Bill Clinton.

Scarcely an hour goes by without the Romney campaign issuing a press release painting Mr Huckabee, a Baptist who has surged past the former Massachusetts governor to become the new front runner in Iowa, as a joker. He's called his quips about policy "no laughing matter" and mocked his "playground diplomacy".

But even hardened Republican operatives were surprised by the direct mail he issued as his latest frantic attempt to prevent the Baptist minister from a victory in the first-voting state on January 3rd that could kill off Mr Romney's chances.

Trading on the fact that Mr Huckabee and Mr Clinton are both former Arkansas governors who hail from the town of Hope, Mr Romney sent out a "mailer" to Iowans entitled "Two governors from Hope - one was president, one wants to be."

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It asked a series of question about which governor "raised" 21 taxes", "supported amnesty for illegal immigrants" and "granted 1,033 pardons" and that gave the answer to each - "which might surprise you" - as Mr Huckabee.

With the national front runner Rudy Giuliani slipping in the national polls and well behind in most of the crucial early states, Mr Huckabee - now the clear leader in Iowa and second nationally - could be the man standing between Mr Romney and his party's nomination.

In a television appearance yesterday, Mr Romney laid into his rival for an article in "Foreign Affairs" magazine that accused President George W. Bush's administration of an "arrogant bunker mentality" in foreign affairs

Full article here.

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