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Posted
Monday, December 10, 2007 6:17 PM
| By
Christopher Beam
The Romney campaign breaks the ice with the first intra-party attack ad of
the GOP race, “The Choice.” The spot pits Romney against newly crowned Iowa front-runner Mike Huckabee—the latest Iowa
poll puts him at 32 percent to Romney’s 20—on what many people consider
Huckabee’s soft spot: immigration.
It starts off with their similarities: “Two former governors.
Two good family men. Both pro-life. Both support a federal marriage amendment
banning gay marriage.” (Notice how it puts Romney's pro-life bona fides on par with Huckabee's.)
Then the ad sets up what you expect to be a direct contrast:
“Mitt Romney stood up and vetoed in-state tuition for illegal aliens; opposed
drivers’ licenses for illegals. Mike Huckabee supported in-state tuition benefits
for illegal immigrants. Huckabee even supported taxpayer-funded scholarships
for illegal aliens.”
Wait, what about that driver’s license thing? This is
supposed to be a contrast ad—you expect it to say, “Huckabee even supported
licenses for illegals,” or something like that. Why pull that punch?
Probably because it’s a weak claim. A few blogs out there link to a 2001 piece from the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
reporting that Huckabee supported a bill that would have allowed licenses for
illegal immigrants. But the issue hasn’t come up in debates, nor have the opposing
campaigns run with it.
So if Romney doesn’t have a good case against Huckabee on
the licenses issue, why bring it up at all? Well, that much is obvious: It's easier to say it without saying it than to actually say it.
The Huckabee campaign responds here.
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