Mike Huckabee is Trying to Have His Cake and Eat It Too

Mike Huckabee is trying to have his cake and eat it too. This isn't easy to accomplish in an environment that is difficult to even get a fair break.

For weeks Mitt Romney has opened his deep pockets in an effort to derail the Huckabee Express. The former governor from Arkansas has gone from minor player to the man to beat over the last few months. With an attitude that nears entitlement -- Romney has paid for this nomination after all -- he is throwing everything, including the kitchen sink at Huckabee.

Huckabee has based his campaign on being a nice guy, which has played no small role in fueling his success, in my opinion. Further, his wit and wisdom has made him stand out in an often unimpressive crowd.

It appears, though that Huckabee has had all he can tolerate and he has decided to go ugly, creating an ad that puts him on the offensive. He looked at it and concluded that it wasn't the kind of ad that Huckabee should run. It had the potential of doing more harm to his reputation than help it.

He was probably right, but ruined his good intentions by having a press conference announcing he wasn't going to run the ad and showing the media the “offensive” commercial his team had designed. The purpose was to say, "do you see what I could have unleashed on Romney?"

I assume Huckabee was hoping that the media would run the spot for him and give him free advertising, but with arms length distance from the campaign. There has been some play of the ad, but at the expense of his "good guy" image. This is not the kind of approach that has made Huckabee the serious contender he has become. It seems to be the results of a "Tier 2" operation representing what has become a "Tier 1" candidate. He might survive it, but if such tactics continue the future will not be bright for Huckabee, in my opinion.

As an aside, since people interpret such posts as endorsements or oppositions, I don't support Huckabee. In fact, his views on economic issues are very disconcerting (I suggest reading the Club for Growth reports of Huckabee and other candidates). I continue to strongly lean towards Fred Thompson and wait patiently for him to give me more reasons to do so.

Kevin Price is the Host of the Houston Business Show, M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650. You can hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Read his opinions at BizPlusBlog.com. He is also the Publisher of HoustonBusinessReview.com.