Richard Tafoya
Apr 8th, 2007, 11:35 PM
NY Sun:
http://www.nysun.com/article/52053
Mitt Romney is drawing criticism from a rival Republican presidential contender, Michael Huckabee, who said it was a "major mistake" for the former Massachusetts governor to portray himself as a lifelong hunter when he had hunted only twice.
"It'd be like me saying I was a lifelong golfer because I played putt-putt when I was 9 years old and I rode in a golf cart a couple of times," Mr. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, said yesterday.
Mr. Huckabee is running well behind the GOP leaders in fund raising and in the polls. Even as he took Mr. Romney to task, he praised Mayor Giuliani for making what he called "a really gutsy move" in sticking by his support for federal funding for abortions, even while campaigning in South Carolina.
"I thought it was at least a statement of extraordinary honesty and candor on the part of Giuliani that he would go into South Carolina, a very pro-life environment, and just say, ‘Look, this is who I am. I'm not going to change just to get your votes,'" Mr. Huckabee said on CBS News's "Face the Nation."
...
The flap comes as Mr. Romney has tried to win the support of gun rights advocates. While he supported strict gun control measures when he ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, he joined the National Rifle Association months before launching his presidential campaign. He has also acknowledged changing his position on abortion in recent years; he formerly supported abortion rights, but now says he is "pro-life" and was "wrong" on the issue before.
Those shifts may provide an opening for another GOP hopeful, such as Mr. Huckabee or Senator Brownback of Kansas, to lay claim to the social conservative mantle, which has been influential in previous elections. "He's certainly wanting to appeal to a lot of the voters that I think I naturally appeal to," Mr. Huckabee said of Mr. Romney yesterday.
http://www.nysun.com/article/52053
Mitt Romney is drawing criticism from a rival Republican presidential contender, Michael Huckabee, who said it was a "major mistake" for the former Massachusetts governor to portray himself as a lifelong hunter when he had hunted only twice.
"It'd be like me saying I was a lifelong golfer because I played putt-putt when I was 9 years old and I rode in a golf cart a couple of times," Mr. Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor, said yesterday.
Mr. Huckabee is running well behind the GOP leaders in fund raising and in the polls. Even as he took Mr. Romney to task, he praised Mayor Giuliani for making what he called "a really gutsy move" in sticking by his support for federal funding for abortions, even while campaigning in South Carolina.
"I thought it was at least a statement of extraordinary honesty and candor on the part of Giuliani that he would go into South Carolina, a very pro-life environment, and just say, ‘Look, this is who I am. I'm not going to change just to get your votes,'" Mr. Huckabee said on CBS News's "Face the Nation."
...
The flap comes as Mr. Romney has tried to win the support of gun rights advocates. While he supported strict gun control measures when he ran for governor of Massachusetts in 2002, he joined the National Rifle Association months before launching his presidential campaign. He has also acknowledged changing his position on abortion in recent years; he formerly supported abortion rights, but now says he is "pro-life" and was "wrong" on the issue before.
Those shifts may provide an opening for another GOP hopeful, such as Mr. Huckabee or Senator Brownback of Kansas, to lay claim to the social conservative mantle, which has been influential in previous elections. "He's certainly wanting to appeal to a lot of the voters that I think I naturally appeal to," Mr. Huckabee said of Mr. Romney yesterday.