Huckabee pulls negative ad, vows to go positive

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.

{mosads}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.

The former governor said the ad, which hits Romney on the issues of taxes and abortion, was set to start running in Iowa Monday at noon.

He said he made the decision earlier in the morning that he does not want to run a negative campaign. As a result, he said he will not run any ads going after Romney or other Republican rivals.

Perhaps because voters in other states do not respond as adversely to negative campaigning, Huckabee refused to rule out running similar ads in other states. For now, he said he wants to see how Iowans react to his strategy.

Huckabee said the ad cost about $30,000 to make, and the original purpose of the press conference was to introduce the spot to the media.

But the former governor said he had a change of heart shortly before the media assembled. Easels outlining the attacks on Romney were still standing in the room, and Huckabee stood in front of a banner that read “Enough is Enough.”

“It’s never too late to do the right thing,” he said.

In the ad, Huckabee says that Romney’s healthcare plan in Massachusetts allowed for $50 co-pays for abortions.

At the end of the ad, Huckabee again makes the point that Romney’s attacks on him have been “desperate and dishonest.”

“If a man’s dishonest to obtain a job, he’ll be dishonest on the job,” Huckabee says in the ad.

Huckabee acknowledged that his decision not to run counter ads to Romney’s is “a huge gamble,” and he conceded that Romney’s ads targeting him had hurt him.

But, he said, “if you gain the whole world and lose your soul, what does it profit you?”

The Romney campaign responded by again going after Huckabee’s record as governor, and in one email, the campaign described Huckabee’s ploy to announce he is not running the ad then following that up by showing it to reporters as a “meltdown.”

“We’re proud that Governor Romney has run a campaign about the issues that are important to voters,” Romney spokesman Kevin Madden said in a statement.  “Governor Romney has worked hard to talk about the vision and experience he has when it comes to keeping taxes low, cutting wasteful spending and securing our borders.  He’s worked hard to make his case to voters about leading a Republican Party that will strengthen the American family.”

Madden continued: “Mike Huckabee’s troubling record of higher taxes and spending binges is clearly not holding up well under scrutiny. Mike Huckabee has turned from nice to very hot-tempered and volatile now that his record has been examined by voters.

“It’s Mike Huckabee's record. It’s definitely a tough record for him to defend, but it’s still a record that belongs to Mike Huckabee.”