Thursday, August 2, 2007

Nobody Wins

There's been a small war of words between the campaigns of Mike Huckabee and Sam Brownback recently. For those of you who've missed out on the excitement, a Huckabee supporter criticized Brownback's Catholicism in an email. One of Brownback's PR people sent a message to the Huckabee campaign after catching word of the email:

"Why is Governor Huckabee hesitating to denounce the anti-Catholic comments from his supporter, Pastor Tim Rude?"

This type of communication between campaigns isn't uncommon, but the email I received today from the Huckabee campaign certainly is. Instead of tacitly apologizing by stating that the email originated from a supporter and putting an end to the matter, Chip Saltsman (Huckabee's Campaign Manager) used the opportunity to take a low blow at Brownback.



It's a shame someone like Huckabee--one of most sincere and personable candidates in the 2008 field--has resorted to attacks on John Edwards' hair, Michael Moore's belly, and now one of his fellow Republicans in order to get some press attention. There are ways second-tier candidates can make names for themselves without all of that dirtiness (look at Joe Biden's YouTube debate performance.)

The pastor's email was private and outside of the control of Huckabee, but the words of Huckabee's own campaign manager weakened his apology. I rubbed my eyes a few times after reading the email to make sure those guys are running a PRESIDENTIAL campaign.

The following are excerpts from the "IMMEDIATE PRESS RELEASE" that just showed up in my inbox:

"It's time for Sam Brownback to stop whining and start showing some of the Christian character he seems to always find lacking in others...For Brownback to claim that the Governor "owes him an apology" is nonsense and indicates that if Brownback is going to fall to pieces every time a supporter of the Governor says something he doesn't like, he clearly isn't tough enough to be President...The Governor strongly disavowed the statement by the supporter, but that wasn't enough for Brownback. He continued to cry about it."


I'm in high school, but I still remember those nasty letters that middle school girls would send to each other during their periodic feuds.



(photo credit: © 2007 by Luke N. Vargas. All Rights Reserved.)

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