Monday, December 31, 2007

Going out with a Bang

There isn't much to be optimistic about in 2008, politics-wise. Asking one to choose among the current batch of Candidates (particularly the front-runners) is akin to being asked what kind of grenade you want to lay down on - it's going to hurt like hell no matter what you say.

But the award this year for transparent politicking must go to Huckabee, who held a press conference to announce that he was taking the high road and not airing negative ads in Iowa, which is what Mitt Romney is doing to rebuild his lead in the state. That's all well and good, but then he takes it a step further. He apparently didn't think people would believe that a Baptist preacher could stoop to such levels when campaigning, because he then decided to show one of the negative ads the Huckabee campaign made to the throng of political reporters who were at the conference - to show what kind of stuff he wouldn't be doing.

What was he hoping to accomplish by airing this ad - in a room full of tape recorders and TV cameras recording? Am I just too much of a Cynic because I immediately jump to the conclusion that he was making an attempt to get his commercial on the air at newstime all across the state without buying ad time? Is it wrong that I think he's trying to have his cake and eat it, too? That he's trying to show how HE was being the good candidate while getting the negative ad out there at the same time?

I can't stand negative campaigning. But the duplicitous nature of this makes my stomach turn even more.

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