Posted on 01/25/2015 9:44:37 PM PST by 2ndDivisionVet
(VIDEO-AT-LINK)
In the fall of 2007, as Mike Huckabee was surging in the Iowa polls, Mitt Romneys foundering presidential campaign dispatched a camera crew to Arkansas with the charge to produce one of the most brutal ads of the election cycle.
The final product a withering spot that tied Huckabee to a 2003 murder committed by a serial rapist who was paroled while he was governor of Arkansas never saw the light of day. But the unaired ad, obtained this week by BuzzFeed News, highlights a potentially potent line of attack on Huckabee as he considers a 2016 bid for the presidency.
The ads existence was first reported in the 2012 book The Real Romney (and noted, then, by BuzzFeed News). The books authors report that Alex Castellanos, then the Romney campaigns chief strategist, was aiming for an emotionally hard-hitting commercial that would have the same effect as the infamous Willie Horton attack ad on 1988 Democratic presidential candidate Michael Dukakis.
Others in the campaign, including Stuart Stevens, believed going after Huckabee so harshly would backfire. The operatives ultimately deferred to Romney, who spiked the ad, believing it would make him look desperate.
The ad features an interview with the mother of the murder victim, condemning Huckabees judgment and ruling him unfit to be president.
This is my daughter, the mother says in the commercial. She was pregnant with her first child. She was murdered by a serial rapist released early from prison in Arkansas. It was Mike Huckabees intent that Wayne Dumond be released from prison. Its a pattern of bad judgment very bad judgment. I dont know how you could trust that person with the highest power in our country.
On the screen at the end of the ad, white lettering appears against a black backdrop informing viewers, Mike Huckabee granted 1,033 pardons and commutations, including 12 murderers.
Though this ad never ran, Romney did eventually produce a softer spot attacking Huckabees extensive use of pardons to cast him as soft on crime. No doubt many of these cases are sitting in opposition research files belonging to Huckabees prospective 2016 opponents although its unclear whether such a line of attack would carry the same force eight years later, at a time when many Republicans are rethinking their approach to criminal justice.
A spokesman for Romney declined to comment on the ad, while an adviser to Huckabee did not respond to a request for comment.
This ad was produced before that happened.
The thing about Willie Horton was that it was accurate.
Romney is such a wuss.
That was a very legitimate attack to use against Huckabee. It should be used by Walker or Cruz if that fat sack of French fry grease runs again, as seems likely.
Walker supported McCain’s 2013 Senate Amnesty Bill. He shouldn’t be mentioned in the same sentence as Ted Cruz.
Romney has ZERO killer instinct.
If he’s ahead in a race, he’d probably spend the final days of the campaign helping his opponent.
If you think the voters' revulsion was propelled by his race, you've been listening to the media narrative on this for too long. I didn't know Willie's race for years. That wasn't the issue.
The issue was: why is a guy serving life without parole allowed out for the weekend?
I think it was five police officers, four men and one woman who were eating a meal at a restaurant in Lakewood, Washington.
Huckabee either pardoned or parolled a black guy in Arkansas who then ended up in Washington State.
As “nice a guy” as Romney is in the opinion of most pundits, he was quite the vicious bastard when it came to attacking his Rep opponents and downright pansylike attacking BHO. Not that I like Huck. Or Romney. Or Bush. Or Christie.
I shall not forget that.
Until I ran for Senator in a State where FALN had murdered people. Then, I was against them.
My CoPresidency was only about the good things Bill did. None of the bad things.
So there's nothing like this out there on me.
And... anyway...
...unless that opponent is a conservative. Just watch if it is down to Romeny and Cruz, Romeny will fight him to the death. Then if he wins the primary he will concede the race to the Democrats, just like in 2012.
Well done. I guess Huckabee released so many crooks from jail that they were able to find a white one to make an example of...that works. The BIGGER KILLING was in Tacoma, Washington, where one of his released buddies killed 4 cops in COLD BLOOD...I suspect that guy was black, so Romney didn’t want the Horton comparisons.
The bottom line is that Huckabee RELEASED these people despite the BEGGING AND PLEADING of law enforcement people that knew full-well that they would go back to killing and raping - yet NOTHING could stop Huckabee, so he kept releasing and releasing. Don’t be surprised if liberals and the ACLU start pushing Huckabee on us...he seems to be a dream-come-true for them.
The Dims readily use such ads"Works for Them"!
Gosh, what a weird coincidence that the underlying events are getting new publicity without anyone having to air the attack ad. I wonder how Buzzfeed happened to obtain a copy of the unaired ad?
Huckabee — would have been a disaster as a candidate. But this is oh so obviously a dirty trick from the Romney campaign, or less possibly a dirty trick from someone else who knows they have the perfect alibi.
Thanks 2ndDivisionVet.
that fat sack of French fry grease
________________________________________________________
That pretty well sums him up. He has so compromised his principles in the past few years.
I’m not interested in Walker bashing.
I understand Huckster was motivated to release these violent criminals at the behest of black ministers. He was race baited.
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/11/29/multiple-police-officers-_n_373119.html
I hope you are comfortable in railing about the same things the liberals do.
“None of the prosecutors were ever told why Huckabee felt compelled to have a hand in freeing so many prisoners, though all of them speculate that his deeply religious nature led to a strong belief in repentance and forgiveness. In some cases, prosecutors say, evangelical leaders attested that a prisoner had found Jesus and that seemed to influence the governor’s thoughts.”
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.