Huckabee Rebuts Romney, Talks Taxes

Dec. 2, 2007 — -- Former Gov. Mike Huckabee, R-Ark., told ABC News' "This Week" his campaign for the Republican presidential nomination as being "on a steady, slow, but upward trajectory, and things are looking good for us."

Things are indeed looking good, in Iowa at least, where Huckabee leads in-state rival and former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, 29 percent to 24 percent, according to a Des Moines Register poll released Saturday evening.

Huckabee has come under attack from Romney in Iowa over the past several weeks, especially on the issue of immigration. Romney sent a mailer out to Iowa voters late last week claiming Huckabee -- among others -- supports amnesty and special benefits for illegal immigrants.

Huckabee said of the attacks, "Well, he [Romney] knows it's not true. I don't support amnesty. I don't support special benefits. I support a secure border. I don't support the idea of sanctuary cities. I don't support amnesty. What I do support, George, is humane treatment of human beings. I support enforcing the law. I am for our support, a federal government that's competent enough to actually secure the border and get this thing right."

Romney, however, has not been the only vocal critic of Huckabee. The Club for Growth has released more than one ad this primary season criticizing Huckabee for his record on taxes.

When presented with figures showing a tax burden increase of $1,000 over his 10 years as governor, Huckabee argued, "Well, first of all, I plead to the charge of cutting taxes 94 times. I also recognize that the income tax was the same when I left office as it was when I started. The overall tax burden, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce, state and local taxes in my state, in the nearly 11 years I was governor, went up by 1.1 percent."When pressed on his level of experience, Huckabee pointed to his time running the government of Arkansas, saying, "You know, I've mostly been accused of being too long in the church and being a pastor. Now I'm accused of being a lifelong politician. Translate that into saying I've got more executive experience of actually running a government than anybody running for president, Democrat or Republican, 13 years in all."

He added that his experiences as a Baptist minister let him "know what hungry families look like. I could put a name and a face on them. I know what elderly struggling with how to pay for their medication look like, because I've been in their homes. I've sat with the families when they had to decide whether to take the life support off their 17-year-old in a motorcycle accident. I think that's pretty good preparation to lead a country, where people ought to come first before the paperwork."

On the issue of national security, Stephanopoulos brought up a speech Huckabee made last September criticizing some of President Bush's policies.

Huckabee responded and clarified this morning saying, "One of the most important things our nation must do in the next several years is to rebuild relationships with other countries -- not by capitulating, not by becoming weak. Because I believe the best way for us to be a secure nation is to having the strongest possible military -- so strong, in fact, that nobody wants to engage it in a time of war."

Before he left, Huckabee also addressed the news out earlier this week regarding fellow Republican candidate Rudy Giuliani's expenses for his security detail. Politico.com reported that money to pay for the former New York City Mayor's security during trips to see then girlfriend, now wife, Judith in the Hamptons were budgeted through multiple obscure city departments.

In what some might see as evidence of a possible Giuliani/Huckabee ticket, Huckabee defended Giuliani.

"If you have a security detail, they make decisions about how they handle that. I thought it was a cheap shot at Rudy ... unless they can specifically say that he personally ordered something," Huckabee said. "I know how it works in the security detail of a governor. Governors don't specifically say, 'Okay, here's how I want you to budget that.' Governors pretty much just take care of their business, and the security detail manages the manner in which they handle the security. And I thought it's a little bit of a stretch to go after Rudy for how his security detail accounted for their processes."