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Romney Camp Chafes at Huckabee Shtick
by Josh Gerstein
Thu, 3 Jan 2008 at 3:54 PM
Mike Huckabee's comic, aw-shucks shtick seems to be wearing on Mitt Romney's campaign.
A spokesman for Mr. Romney, Erich Fehrnstrom, sounded less than impressed with Mr. Huckabee's humor and guitar-playing on NBC's "Tonight Show" Wednesday.
"It was hard to tell the difference between the person who makes a living telling jokes and amusing himself and the late night television host," the spokesman quipped just prior to his boss's speech Thursday afternoon at the West Des Moines headquarters of a gas station/ convenience store chain, Kum & Go.
The Romney aide also pooh-poohed talk of Mr. Huckabee's surge. Mr. Fehrnstrom said the former Arkansas governor stages most of his events at pizza parlors and other busy venues which "have a built-in crowd."
Mr. Romney seemed intent on making the point, also in a comical way, that Mr. Huckabee's erratic campaign is populated by yahoos.
"It's getting intense. You may have seen that the chairman of Governor Huckabee's campaign said he'd like to knock my teeth out. That's quite a statement. And I have only one thing to say to him, and that is: don't touch the hair," Mr. Romney said, repeating a joke he unveiled at another speech earlier in the day. "We're down to talking about some important issues, as well," he added with a weary smile.
Another interesting moment at Kum & Go (a name dear to midwesterners but always met with snickering from the national press) was Mr. Romney's shout-out to any atheists who were in the house. While arguing that America's success is derived from its values and culture, the former Massachusetts governor described things valued by Americans, including family, education, and faith.
"They believe in God. If they don't believe in God, American typically believe in something greater than ourselves—the purpose-driven life," he said.
Mr. Romney seems to have taken to heart the criticism he received from some quarters after a speech last month in which he seemed to suggest that those without religious faith were not or could not be an integral part of America. "Freedom requires religion just as religion requires freedom," he said. Mr. Romney walked that back a bit after he was challenged on it, but its notable that the man formerly paid to give businesses advice has taken the criticism of him on board to such a degree that he's added an atheist-friendly line to his regular stump speech for Iowa's conservative Republican caucuses.
Related Topics: GOP Primary
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