Brutal 2007 Romney anti-Huckabee spot gets leaked

[Likely Voter]

Buzzfeed got an unaired 2007 Romney TV spot that attacks Huckabee for pardoning a serial rapist and murderer
http://www.buzzfeed.com/mckaycoppins/heres-the-willie-horton-ad-romney-almost-ran-against-mike-hu#.gib2pK7QOp

The ad had been talked about in a book before so it was known to exist, but curious that it leaks now, shortly after both Romney and Huckabee announce they may run. I bet someone on Team Romney wants to scare Mike out of the race, or maybe just send a signal to all the potential candidates that they know how to play rough.

[Frozen Sky Ever Why]

Romney is the scum of the earth. Opportunist pig.

[IceSpear]

No wonder he didn't release it, there's no way it wouldn't have backfired. Reminds me of Godless/Aqua Buddha/Wheelchair.

[TomC]

So far, Romney has effectively taken the spotlight off Jeb. This does so two-fold. Wow, I'm starting to think he's actually running.

[Stranger in a strange land]

If Huck runs, his candidacy will be Willy Hortoned to death.

[Mister Mets]

Am I wrong in assuming Romney loyalists leaked this now in an effort to convince Huck to go back to Fox News?

[Chunk Yogurt for President!]

Am I wrong in assuming Romney loyalists leaked this now in an effort to convince Huck to go back to Fox News?

Would not surprise me.

[OpinionatedGuy]

Am I wrong in assuming Romney loyalists leaked this now in an effort to convince Huck to go back to Fox News?

Possibly, but if so, that would be a mistake on their part. Someone like Huckabee is great for Romney to have around because he eats up the fundie vote that Romney will never ever ever get, while at the same time having a very limited cross-appeal to most other Republicans so it's difficult for him to win the nomination.

Huckabee can kind of "neutralize" the fundie vote, which would dilute the threat of someone (like say, Mike Pence) who can appeal to both fundamentalists and other more economic focused sections of the party.

[Obama-Biden Democrat]

The murderer isn't a black guy though, so it doesn't have the same salience as the Willie Horton ad.

[Maxwell]

Romney is such a scumbag. He's worse than a Bush.

[Mr. Morden]

The murderer isn't a black guy though, so it doesn't have the same salience as the Willie Horton ad.

But that was 2007.  Post-2009, one could now run such an ad featuring Maurice Clemmons.

[Mehmentum]

Am I wrong in assuming Romney loyalists leaked this now in an effort to convince Huck to go back to Fox News?

Possibly, but if so, that would be a mistake on their part. Someone like Huckabee is great for Romney to have around because he eats up the fundie vote that Romney will never ever ever get, while at the same time having a very limited cross-appeal to most other Republicans so it's difficult for him to win the nomination.

Huckabee can kind of "neutralize" the fundie vote, which would dilute the threat of someone (like say, Mike Pence) who can appeal to both fundamentalists and other more economic focused sections of the party.

I disagree.  Huckabee is a much different candidate than someone like Carson, Cruz or Santorum.  While he has extreme views, he's also very likable and charismatic In fact, according to this Yougov poll (https://uselectionatlas.org/FORUM/index.php?topic=205810.0), Huckabee is the second most liked candidate among Republicans after Romney himself.  

Not to mention, Huckabee is particularly strong in Iowa, a state that he won in 2008 and Romney lost against a much weaker candidate in 2012.

I think Huckabee and Walker are the two most credible conservative candidates this cycle.  While Romney and Bush are fighting it out, either one could take advantage of the situation and give them a run for their money.

[OpinionatedGuy]

@ Mehmentum

I have to disagree. Huckabee actually suffers from the same problem that Santorum suffered from, is that he has 0 appeal to Republicans who vote GOP for primarily economic/class reasons, similarly to Romney having no appeal among Republicans who vote GOP for cultural reasons except the Mormons.

Huckabee "appears" better because he is more likeable as opposed to Santorum who is an obnoxious prick, but Huckabee cannot win or perform well in a state where there isn't a significant contingent of evangelicals (which is why he performed well in Iowa, something like 60% of caucus goers were evangelicals), and he was also lucky enough in 2008 to not have very serious competition for that vote, which I don't see happening in 2016.
 

[Warren 4 Secretary of Everything]

@ Mehmentum

I have to disagree. Huckabee actually suffers from the same problem that Santorum suffered from, is that he has 0 appeal to Republicans who vote GOP for primarily economic/class reasons, similarly to Romney having no appeal among Republicans who vote GOP for cultural reasons except the Mormons.

Huckabee "appears" better because he is more likeable as opposed to Santorum who is an obnoxious prick, but Huckabee cannot win or perform well in a state where there isn't a significant contingent of evangelicals (which is why he performed well in Iowa, something like 60% of caucus goers were evangelicals), and he was also lucky enough in 2008 to not have very serious competition for that vote, which I don't see happening in 2016.
 

I wouldn't go that far. Huckabee is a populist and I'd like to think he's smart enough to run on that instead of falling into the same trap Santorum fell into in February 2012 with social issues. He has working class appeal.

[RFayette]

@ Mehmentum

I have to disagree. Huckabee actually suffers from the same problem that Santorum suffered from, is that he has 0 appeal to Republicans who vote GOP for primarily economic/class reasons, similarly to Romney having no appeal among Republicans who vote GOP for cultural reasons except the Mormons.

Huckabee "appears" better because he is more likeable as opposed to Santorum who is an obnoxious prick, but Huckabee cannot win or perform well in a state where there isn't a significant contingent of evangelicals (which is why he performed well in Iowa, something like 60% of caucus goers were evangelicals), and he was also lucky enough in 2008 to not have very serious competition for that vote, which I don't see happening in 2016.
 

I wouldn't go that far. Huckabee is a populist and I'd like to think he's smart enough to run on that instead of falling into the same trap Santorum fell into in February 2012 with social issues. He has working class appeal.

Yeah.  There's definitely populism in the Republican party on economic issues.  They're hardly free-market purists........immigration restrictions, agricultural subsidies, etc. etc. etc.  It's just a populism largely directed in favor of white rural folks.

[OpinionatedGuy]

@ Mehmentum

I have to disagree. Huckabee actually suffers from the same problem that Santorum suffered from, is that he has 0 appeal to Republicans who vote GOP for primarily economic/class reasons, similarly to Romney having no appeal among Republicans who vote GOP for cultural reasons except the Mormons.

Huckabee "appears" better because he is more likeable as opposed to Santorum who is an obnoxious prick, but Huckabee cannot win or perform well in a state where there isn't a significant contingent of evangelicals (which is why he performed well in Iowa, something like 60% of caucus goers were evangelicals), and he was also lucky enough in 2008 to not have very serious competition for that vote, which I don't see happening in 2016.
 

I wouldn't go that far. Huckabee is a populist and I'd like to think he's smart enough to run on that instead of falling into the same trap Santorum fell into in February 2012 with social issues. He has working class appeal.

First of all, working class was not at all what I had in mind to the average Republican who votes on economic reasons. In fact, I actually sort of meant the opposite. But look at the the areas where Huckabee dominated, it's where the evangelicals are, they weren't voting on economic reasons.

The problem with that second statement is that Huckabee did fall right into the same problem Santorum did. Compare 2008 exit polls on income with 2012 exit polls. In South Carolina, Huckabee only won the <$40,000 category, he could not attract those primarily fiscal voters. The only voters he did well with were the evangelicals.

In 2012, Newt Gingrich steamrolled from under $50,000 to over $100,000. The big factor being that Huckabee had no cross-appeal, while Gingrich weirdly enough, did.

Another claim people like to make is that Huckabee lost because Fred Thompson split the conservative vote, but polls showed that the second choice of Thompson supporters were split between Mitt, McCain and Huckabee pretty evenly.

[OpinionatedGuy]

Yeah.  There's definitely populism in the Republican party on economic issues.  They're hardly free-market purists........immigration restrictions, agricultural subsidies, etc. etc. etc.  It's just a populism largely directed in favor of white rural folks.

I don't know what any of this has to do with what we're talking about.

[Indy Texas]

So far, Romney has effectively taken the spotlight off Jeb. This does so two-fold. Wow, I'm starting to think he's actually running.

They had a pow-wow today.

You must be logged in to read this quote.

That's politispeak for, "We breathed a sigh of relief when they both exited the conference room alive."

If Huck runs, his candidacy will be Willy Hortoned to death.

The whole "soft on crime" thing is so '80s/'90s, though.