Romney: Huckabee = Clinton?

In a desperate attempt to save his skin in Iowa, Mitt Romney has launched a new campaign comparing Mike Huckabee with fellow Arkansas governor Bill Clinton.

“Governor Huckabee’s record is more liberal than our nation needs right now,” the former Massachusetts governor said in Iowa last week, seeking to link his GOP presidential rival to the former Democratic president who is loathed by many Republican loyalists.

Romney’s aides argue Huckabee’s record as governor undercuts his claim that he’s the only authentic conservative in the race. Romney himself has stopped short of explicitly saying his rival is simply another Clinton, though he’s less shy about it in campaign literature mailed to thousands of Iowa Republicans.

So let me get this straight: Mike Huckabee–a Southern Baptist minister who is firmly anti-choice, opposes embryonic stem cell research, and really, really hates the gays–is just like Bill Clinton? I don’t get it.

“They’re very different people, and obviously the area of concern relates to spending and taxation. We think of Bill Clinton as being a tax raiser and a spender,” Romney said — then mused that he had read somewhere that Huckabee had raised more taxes than Clinton when they were governors.

Ah, of course, it’s all about taxes. Mike Huckabee is just like Bill Clinton because Huckabee rose taxes, according to… something that Mitt Romney read… somewhere.

C’mon, Mitt, you’re going to have to do a little better than that, especially when your record on some of those issues… well, who knows what your record is?

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