Benjamin Franklin once reportedly quipped, “Never pick a quarrel with someone who buys their ink in barrels.”
Nowadays, that adage can be extended to other forms of media: cable news, blogs, and — especially for conservatives — radio.
Emboldened by his sustained momentum in the face of snipes from the Left and Right, Huckabee’s campaign is cavalierly dissing Limbaugh. It started with a quote attributed to an unnamed “ally” within the campaign:
“Honestly, because Rush doesn’t think for himself. That’s not necessarily a slap because he’s not paid to be a thinker—he’s an entertainer. I can’t remember the last time that he has veered from the talking points from the DC/Manhattan chattering class. If they were praising Huckabee, he would be too.” “Also, I have to think that he’s dying to have Hillary in the White House. Bill Clinton made Rush a megastar. Having another Clinton back in power would make him the Leading Voice of the Opposition once again.”
When seeing this, I immediately thought, “Romney.” I thought it was pretty clever, too. So far, they’ve done a spectacular job at shoring up establishment support, even without The National Review endorsement. Drudge certainly hasn’t held back in linking to negative stories on Huckabee, leading many to assume he’s in the tank with Romney.
(more after jump…)
A few days later, Ed Rollins was asked by CBS News to elaborate on the “attacks … from a lot of Republican establishment figures.” The questioner noted Limbaugh had called him a “Huckster”. Rollins did nothing to deescalate the situation, and essentially reiterated the position made by the anonymous “ally” of the campaign:
Well, I think first of all [Huckabee] is not an establishment candidate. I don’t think anybody anticipated early on when he started to run that he would do as well as he’s doing. Some of these guys have picked other candidates.
And I think, to a certain extent, the alleged wise men have sat around in either the studios, or the newsrooms, basically writing magazine articles. They didn’t see it coming and I think they underestimated him.
The situation continues to escalate, with Huckabee expressing half-hearted praise of Limbaugh, and Limbaugh implying Team Huckabee is amateurish. At best, Huckabee’s in an awkward stalemate with Rush Limbaugh.
This dust-up could cost Huckabee Iowa / the nomination. Forget Dumond, taxes, gift registries, tortured dogs, etc. Huckabee should have called Rush personally to disavow the original statements by that “ally” of his, and Ed Rollins should have gone out of his way to kiss the ring.
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